What do Beatles fans want? "Let It Be" on DVD

One of the many bootleg "Let It Be" DVDs. 

We conducted an unscientific poll last week on Twitter on what people want the Beatles to release in 2017. (See the actual poll below). We gave four choices to choose from: Shea Stadium on DVD, "Let It Be" on DVD, a Sgt. Pepper 50th anniversary package or the Beatles music on Blu-ray.

The results weren't too surprising. Of the 194 votes that registered, "Let It Be" won by a landslide with 60 percent. Shea Stadium came in second at 20 percent. The "Sgt. Pepper" set was third with 16 percent and the Blu-ray Beatles audio was last at four percent.

This was kind of a test of the Twitter poll and we probably should have run it longer. But "Let It Be" is always coming up as a strong choice whenever these discussions arise. ("Hollywood Bowl" on CD was also in demand before its release last year.) The only question is how much longer we'll have to wait for "Let It Be" -- and whether it'll come while all of us are around.

(Be sure to check out our "That's What I Want Beatles Store" for a huge selection of everything Fab.)

What would you like to see the Beatles release in 2017? #beatles music

— Steve Marinucci (@SteveMarinucci) January 3, 2017

Magazine alerts: John, Paul, George and even some Ringo

UNCUT

Two recent magazines, one of which you'll want to get, the other you won't.

"The History of Rock 1971," out of England, continues the series that uses the archives of NME and Melody Maker. Besides the pic of John Lennon on the cover, the inside has a Lennon interview promoting the "Imagine" album and doing some trashing of McCartney. ("The thing with Paul, he wants all the action. He wants it all. It's not just the money. It's the principle.") He also defends Phil Spector's work on the "Let It Be." ("I'm glad the bootleg is going about, because it shows that Paul was wrong when he was putting down Spector. All he was trying to do was put down the album, because he was out then.") He's also asked if he and Yoko planned to play in the Concert for Bangladesh. ("That's George, but I won't be there because we have to go to the Virgin Islands to go to court about Kyoko.")

And there's a McCartney interview from that year with Macca hitting back. "He can't say all I did was 'Yesterday' because it's not true," the headline says. He also talks about "Let It Be." ("I said it was a new phase Beatles album and nothing was further from the truth.") Great pic from the year with Denny Seiwell, Linda, Paul and Denny Laine, too. There are also short items about the Concert for Bangladesh, George Harrison's copyright suit, Ringo calling McCartney a "spoilt child" and rumors that McCartney was going to sign with Robert Stigwood. The 150 page book also has stories on the Stones, the Faces, the Band, David Bowie, T. Rex ("We did get all that Beatlemania stuff," says Marc Bolan), Fleetwood Mac (pre-Buckingham & Nicks), Elton John and more. We love this series and like the rest of them, it's a good pickup. You can get it here.

Then there's the current (March 7) National Enquirer, which has among its sleazy cover headlines an ugly story about Paul McCartney. We won't go into the details, but if you really need to see it, go read it on the newsstand (it's on page 34). Don't bother to buy. It's tabloid trash.

Hear a bit of the Beatles 78 RPM disc being auctioned

Omega Auctions

This two-sided 78 RPM is being auctioned, as we've reported. Well, the BBC's "5 Live Drive" program played a clip of "Hello Little Girl." We've reported that it's from The Beatles' Decca sessions, but this clip is at a faster speed. But we think it's the Decca tapes at the wrong speed. Anyway, judge for yourself by listening here. Listening to it slowed down shows it's Decca. 

Beatles chart news for week of Feb. 13

Copyright Apple Corps Ltd. 

The "Beatles 1" dropped a few places in the latest Billboard 200 chart for the week of February 20. It now sits at No. 70, down from No. 64 last week. And on the Billboard classical album charts, Milos' "Blackbird: The Beatles Album" sits at No. 21, down from No. 14. A special CD-SHM/DVD package of the album was released in Japan.

On the jazz chart, Diana Krall's "Wallflower," which has a cover of the Beatles' "In My Life" and the previously unreleased McCartney ballad "If I Take You Home Tonight" sits at No. 12, down from No. 9.

In the UK, The Beatles "1" is at #50 on the album chart, while David Bowie albums with "Fame," sung with John Lennon hold multiple places.  The single album "Best of Bowie" is at No. 3, while the 3-CD "Nothing Has Changed: The Very Best of David Bowie" is at #13. And on the vinyl singles chart, the Paul McCartney-Michael Jackson duet "Say Say Say" made it return to the chart at No. 20.

The Cavern Club tape upgraded

Retro Net Online  has done a great job with fixing this tape. They really cleaned it up. You can even hear shouts for Pete Best.

Check it out.