rlr (11/01/82)
When I was out in California (San Jose) in October, I got a chance to listen to a radio station I had heard a lot about from friends at Stanford---not KSAN, but KFJC (Foothills Junior College) in Los Altos Hills. They play a good selection of *new* (and classic) new wave, as opposed to the Top 40 playlisted new wave that other stations play. Being a freak for this sort of music, I listened to KFJC regularly. One night, a wide variety of bizarre music was played. Amidst all of that, I heard "I Am the Walrus" and "Strawberry Fields Forever". Not unusual. Only this version of Walrus had no orchestral background, only what apparently was the Beatles themselves playing (bass, drums, guitar[?], electric[?] piano), without any additional flourishes (including strings, BBC radio fragments of Shakespeare broadcast and voices at end shouting "Got one, got one, everybody's got one"). Also Strawberry Fields was very different from the version we all know and love. Briefly, you may know that John Lennon had Beatles producer George Martin intersperse two recorded versions of Strawberry Fields Forever to create the final product. You can hear the two distinct "takes" in the song: one has flutes (probably Lennon/Martin on Mellotron from the sound) and the "usual" guitar (George), bass (Paul), and drums (Ringo, sometimes back- wards[?]); the other has brass and strings in a more orchestral setting. The first version is heard at the beginning of the song (remember the flutes?), and the other version seems to begin at "No other thinkers in my tree..." and continues for the rest of the song. In fact, Martin told Lennon that this juxtaposition was impossible when it was first suggested, since the two versions were in different keys and at different speeds. So much for what's impossible... Anyway, the version I heard on the radio contained only the first version I described above, with no strings/orchestral backing. I called the station, and the DJ told me that these were "acetate" pressings he had picked up at a Beatle convention. My questions are: 1) Are these "demo"s of these songs? 2) Where are they available? I was told that acetates run upwards of $50, and that they don't survive a significant number of playings. All I want is copies of these (and any other) Beatles "demo"s on tape, bootleg disk, whatever. Any pointers will be appreciated. Thanx in advance. Rich Rosen pyuxjj!rlr