Beatles for Sale
I was about to call this one,
The Beatles are Coming!!, but considering the prices involved, "Sale" seemed so much more appropriate. The links below show some -- not all -- of the major releases of Beatles stuff today. (Yes, the links all work, please use 'em to buy your Beatles stuff from Amazon!!). There are also various combinations involving t-shirts and even "collector's crate" editions (I linked one of them, just for laughs).
Of course, with the depressed state of the current CD market, the Beatles releases are utterly dominating Amazon right now, occupying 10 out of the top 11 positions (only Susan Boyle at #6 spoils a clean sweep of the top 10). All 16 new music releases are in the top 21. And this may well be the first time ever that the top
two positions at Amazon are both multi-hundred dollar box sets. And, of course, the Wii and Xbox versions of "Rock Band" have the top 2 positions in the Video Games chart.
So... yes, I broke down and ordered the mono box today. YES, IT IS OVERPRICED! And, yes, it means some other indulgences that won't be had this year. But it is also a bit of a holy grail of sorts. Mono was how The Beatles intended. Not that it was so apparent to me growing up, when it seemed so cool to have that German pressing of "With the Beatles" with the "true" stereo of "Money" to close it out. When the original CDs came out in 1987, and the first 4 were mono only, it was a big disappointment. So much so that when a bootleg called "Ultra Rare Trax" showed up not too long thereafter, I quickly snapped it up in substantial part just to get its sizzling stereo version (yes, with the voices on one side and the instruments on the other side) of "I Saw Her Standing There."
It wasn't until about 3 years ago, when reviewing notes for Dave Marsh's book
The Beatles' Second Album (Rock of Ages)
and listening to playbacks, that I fell for the mono versions. I listened to that same song, "Money." The stereo version was nice, but... not all that. The fakish stereo by then available from the Capitol record on
The Capitol Albums Vol. 1
was a nice enough curiosity. But the mono... when John screams out "I WANT TO BE FREE!!!" and John and George trill away in response, it smacked right between the eyes. Even with the dead sound of the original "With the Beatles" CD. So I wanted to have it fresh. And I want -- finally -- to have "Revolver" and "Rubber Soul" as the band intended. As some old ad copy once said, a splendid time is guaranteed for all... but Mr. Kite isn't topping the bill.
Labels: amazon, The Beatles
The Discography and Amazon, 2007 Q3
In late 2005, I established an associates account with amazon, going primarily from
my discography page. Any amazon.com sales generated by people navigating to amazon from my site generates commissions, that amazon eventually sends my way.
As I noted at that time, anything that comes my way from amazon.com will be turned over to charity, on a quarterly basis, doubled by a match from me. All selected charities will be from the set of charities documented at
http://bruce.orel.ws/charities.html.
During Q3 2007, a total of 54 items were sold by amazon off links from the site. Total commissions for the quarter were $50.35. With rounding, this quarter's donation+match is $100.00. This brings the total raised for charity since the inception of the amazon account up to exactly $1100, to 12 different charities. To see a list of the beneficiaries to date, please see
http://bruce.orel.ws/donations.html.
The donation for Q3 is to the Melanoma Research Foundation. The Melanoma Research Foundation (
http://www.melanoma.org) has been actively supported by Danny Federici. The foundation was mentioned on Bruce Springsteen's website when Danny recently took a leave of absence from the E Street Band in order to undergo treatment for melanoma. The Melanoma Research Foundation is The largest private, national organization devoted to melanoma.
If you buy things at amazon (doesn't have to be Bruce stuff), please consider going through one of the links off
http://bruce.orel.ws/discography.html, or the left panel link on any page within the sub-site
"The Songs of the Seeger Sessions". Or, if you're viewing the blog, just click to amazon logo above. You'll get the same prices as ever, and a percentage will end up with one of the charities. If you have any recommendations for the next recipient, please contact me at
matt@orel.ws.
Thanks to everyone who has participated!
Results for Q4, along with the next recipient, will be up in a couple months.
Labels: amazon, charity, discography
The Discography and Amazon, 2007 Q2
In late 2005, I established an associates account with amazon, going primarily from
my discography page. Any amazon.com sales generated by people navigating to amazon from my site generates commissions, that amazon eventually sends my way.
As I noted at that time, anything that comes my way from amazon.com will be turned over to charity, on a quarterly basis, doubled by a match from me. All selected charities will be from the set of charities documented at
http://bruce.orel.ws/charities.html.
During Q2 2007, a total of 43 items were sold by amazon off links from the site. Total commissions for the quarter were $32.19. With rounding, this quarter's donation+match is $65.00. This brings the total raised for charity since the inception of the amazon account up to exactly $1000, to 11 different charities. To see a list of the beneficiaries to date, please see
http://bruce.orel.ws/donations.html.
The donation for Q2 is being made on November 7, 2007. This evening, Bruce Springsteen is appearing at an event titled
Stand Up For Heroes: A Benefit for the Bob Woodruff Family Fund. To commemorate this event, the Q2 2007 donation is being to the Bob Woodruff Family Fund.
The Bob Woodruff Family Fund for Traumatic Brain Injury assists service members injured while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Special emphasis is placed on the "hidden signature injuries" of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – traumatic brain injury (TBI) and combat stress injuries including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The Fund works with private industry and government to develop public awareness and excellence in research, education, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, support and resources for the injured and their families as they reintegrate to duty or civilian life.
To donate to the Bob Woodruff Family Fund, please
click here.If you buy things at amazon (doesn't have to be Bruce stuff), please consider going through one of the links off
http://bruce.orel.ws/discography.html, or the left panel link on any page within the sub-site
"The Songs of the Seeger Sessions". Or, if you're viewing the blog, just click to amazon logo above. You'll get the same prices as ever, and a percentage will end up with one of the charities. If you have any recommendations for the next recipient, please contact me at
matt@orel.ws.
Thanks to everyone who has participated!
Results for Q3, along with the next recipient, will be up in a couple months.
Labels: amazon, charity, discography
The Discography and Amazon, 2007 Q1
In late 2005, I established an associates account with amazon, going primarily from
my discography page. Any amazon.com sales generated by people navigating to amazon from my site generates commissions, that amazon eventually sends my way.
As I noted at that time, anything that comes my way from amazon.com will be turned over to charity, on a quarterly basis, doubled by a match from me. All selected charities will be from the set of charities documented at http://bruce.orel.ws/charities.html.
During Q1 2007, a total of 58 items were sold by amazon off links from the site. Total commissions for the quarter were $49.01. With rounding, this quarter's donation+match is $100.00.
While I had considered going to a single charity going forward, recent tragic events made the choice of recipient very easy. I have selected Joan Dancy and PALS Support Group as this quarter's recipient. The donation is made in memory of Terry Magovern. PALS is a grassroots organization that helps and provides assistance, services and programs that support ALS patients and their families. PALS also aims to aid patients by loans of equipment, to award direct monetary grants to ALS patients and/or their families, to enlarge the body of ALS knowledge, to educate the general public on the disease and to encourage scientific research for the prevention, alleviation, care, treatment and cure of ALS patients.
Unfortunately, there website for Joan Dancy and PALS is still incomplete, and does not include online donation capability. To donate by check, send to:
Joan Dancy and PALS Support Group
Riverview Hospital
1 Riverview Plaza
Red Bank, N.J. 07701
Since I started the amazon association, more than 450 items have been sold at Amazon via links from bruce.orel.ws. These sales resulted in total donations of more than $900. A listing of the results by quarter is available at
http://bruce.orel.ws/donations.htmlIf you buy things at amazon (doesn't have to be Bruce stuff), please consider going through one of the links off
http://bruce.orel.ws/discography.html, or the left panel link on any page within the sub-site
"The Songs of the Seeger Sessions". Or, if you're viewing the blog, just click to amazon logo above. You'll get the same prices as ever, and a percentage will end up with one of the charities. If you have any recommendations for the next recipient, please contact me at
matt@orel.ws.
Thanks to everyone who has participated!
Results for Q2, along with the next recipient, will be up in a couple months.
--Matt
Labels: amazon, charity, discography
