„Expedice R’n’R Beatles” – (Supraphon 1113 3249)

In 1983, the Czech record label Supraphon released one of the strangest Beatles compilations ever created. Expedice R’n’R Beatles is a set of 16 rock’n’roll covers and does not contain a single original song by Lennon or McCartney, but that is not where its uniqueness lies. The album is released in such a way that the cover does not clearly indicate that the songs are actually performed by the Beatles, and when you pick it up you may get the impression that it is a set of songs performed by their first performers, and The Beatles are just a marketing element. When I picked up this album, I wondered for a moment whether I had ordered the right one. I had to play it back to be completely sure, and all the confusion stems from the extremely… strange cover. Presumably, buyers of this album in Czechoslovakia in 1983 did not have such a problem, because on the back of the cover there is extensive text about the Beatles, their albums, and the songs selected for this release.

Cover

The cover was designed by the late Dimitrij Gaydečka, a Czech graphic designer (died in 2006) who created over 140 album covers released by Supraphon from 1972 to 2003.

If we focus on the list of songs, we will notice that above each title there are the names of the authors, although the way they are written rather indicates that they are also the performers. In most cases, the average listener has no idea who originally sang the song „A Taste Of Honey”, and this is where the problem with the cover design comes from.

Speaking of „A Taste Of Honey”, this opening song was exclusively instrumental and was written in 1960 by the author duo Bobby Scott and Ric Marlow for the play of the same title, staged on Broadway and filmed a year later. The version with lyrics was first recorded by Billy Dee Williams, but it was Lenny Welch’s performance that popularized the song, and it was this version that the Beatles based on, releasing it in 1963 on their debut album Please Please Me.

Interestingly, in 1963, Barbra Streisand recorded this song and released it on her debut album, The Barbra Streisand Album.

There is one more tidbit on the track list. Well, the song A6, i.e. „Baby It’s You”, was officially written by the famous American pianist, arranger, conductor, producer and composer Burt Bacharach (author of the music) and the creator of hundreds of hits Mack David, who in this case wrote the lyrics. For some reason, producer Luther Dixon (under the pseudonym Barney Williams) is listed as the third creator in the literature. Meanwhile, on the cover of the Expedice R’n’R Beatles album, next to the title „Baby It’s You”, we find the names of Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David, who wrote many songs together (including for Dionne Warwick), but not this one. The error could have been due to a simple reason: Mack David and Hal David are brothers and apparently the author of the list of songs on Expedice R’n’R Beatles did not read the exact date sheet of this particular song.

Tracklist

The Expedice R’n’R Beatles album includes songs released by The Beatles on the albums: Help!, Beatles For Sale, Please Please Me, With The Beatles and the mini-album Long Tall Sally.

Rock And Roll Music (2:30)
Long Tall Sally = Dlouhatánská Sally (2:02)
Dizzy Miss Lizzy = Mám Z Vás Závrať, Slečno Lizzy (2:54)
Slow Down = Zpomal ! (2:58)
Chains = Pouta (2:26)
Baby It’s You = Milá, To Jsi Ty (2:36)
Boys = Kluci (2:25)
Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby = Každá Mě Chce (2:23)
Twist And Shout = Tancuj A Křič (2:35)
Kansas City (2:36)
Honey Don’t = Miláčku, Ne !(2:56)
A Taste Of Honey = Příchuť Medu (2:02)
Mr. Moonlight = Pane Moonlight (2:38)
Money = Peníze (2:50)
Please Mr. Postman = Pane Pošťák (2:33)
Words Of Love = Slova Lásky (2:00)

Labels

On the labels on both sides, next to the Supraphon label logo, there is also the EMI logo. All texts (except the titles) are in Czech, except Made in Czechoslovakia.

There is also a production code on the label under the year of production: 83 1.

Matrix / Runout

Several combinations of virgin dies are known. Page 1: E 5917/A C N T 8, E 5917/A C T M 17, E 5917/A II A M V 17 Page 2: E 5918/B II A MN 4, E 5918/B II A M T 11, E 5918/B B NT 15 The album was reissued in 1984.

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