Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 21, 1995 TAG: 9511210093
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The first airing of the new Beatles song ``Free As a Bird'' touched off a second round of Beatlemania - this time minus the screaming fans. The new album arrived at stores Monday under extraordinarily tight security.
A convoy of trucks carrying the CDs from the Capitol Records factory in Jacksonville, Ill., was tracked by satellite and radio as it crossed Indiana on Sunday. The record company had an exclusive deal with ABC-TV to air the song first and went to great lengths to prevent leaks.
Radio stations, even all-news stations, aired the new song incessantly and many music stores across the country planned to stay open past midnight to start selling the album today.
``A lot of Beatles fans have called to say how emotional it is to listen to it,'' said Andre Gardner, program director at New York City's WXRK-FM, which played the song every hour. ``Even if they're not Beatles fans, they're calling to say it's a great song.''
``I walked in the door this morning and had three calls before I could put my purse down. The phone hasn't stopped ringing since then,'' said Karen Aamodt, clerk at the Music Disc store in Denver.
``Free As a Bird'' was first broadcast Sunday night during ABC-TV's airing of a documentary on the band, which split up in 1970. ABC estimated 47 million people watched the show. The Beatles' first appearance on the ``Ed Sullivan Show'' in 1964 drew 73 million viewers.
The midtempo ballad was originally recorded on a home cassette player in 1977 by the late John Lennon. Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr added their voices, instruments and new lyrics.
With Harrison's slide guitar and production by Jeff Lynne, its sound owes as much to the Traveling Wilburys as the Beatles. The composition is reminiscent of Lennon's 1970 solo song ``Love,'' and Harrison's Beatles elegy, ``All Those Years Ago.''
Although a number of previously recorded songs have been released over the past 25 years, ``Free as a Bird'' was the first new Beatles song issued since the group disbanded.
Reaction was mixed among some longtime Beatles fans. Charles Rosenay, publisher of the Beatles fan magazine Good Day Sunshine, said he had hoped for something infectious and bouncy.
``It didn't meet up with what I expected,'' said Rosenay, of New Haven, Conn. ``It wasn't a mop tops song, and it was probably naive to think that's what it would be.''
Geoffrey Giuliano, author of several Beatles books, said the song was only a fragment of an idea that Lennon probably would never have wanted released.
``I think it was a horrible idea,'' he said.
The song is included on the two-disc ``Beatles Anthology I'' album. The highly anticipated album also features previously unreleased material from the band's early days, such as the audition tape sent to a record company that turned them down.
Music stores eagerly awaited the album. They hoped it, coupled with other high-profile albums due out today by Garth Brooks and Bruce Springsteen, would improve a slow fall sales season.
``The world is going to come to a stop. We're planning on that,'' said Tim Devin, general manager of a Tower Records store in New York City's Greenwich Village, which stocked 4,000 copies of the Beatles release.
by CNB