Oil Well Bootlegs - RSC CD: The Beatles – It's Only Love Oil Well

The Beatles – It's Only Love
Oil Well – RSC 031 CD

1 I Saw Her Standing There
2 The One After 909
3 She's A Woman
4 I'm Looking Through You
5 If You've Got Trouble
6 How Do You Do It
7 Penny Lane
8 Strawberry Fields Forever
9 From Me To You
10 Besame Mucho
11 The Fool On The Hill
12 Paperback Writer
13 Can't Buy Me Love
14a There's A Place
14b There's A Place
15 That Means a Lot
16a Day Tripper Take Announcement
16b Day Tripper
17 I Am The Walrus
18 Misery
19 Leave My Kitten Alone
20 We Can Work It Out
21 A Hard Day's Night
22 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

Note:
All songs by Lennon/McCartney unless noted
~~Live in Bristol, September 5, 1966~~

Track 1: Take 2 recorded on 11 Feb 1963
Track 2: Take 2 recorded on 5 Mar 1963
Track 3: Take 2 recorded on 8 Oct 1964
Track 4: Take 1 recorded on 24 Oct 1965
Track 5: Take 1 recorded on 18 Feb 1965
Track 6: Take 2 recorded on 4 Sep 1962
Track 7: Take 9 recorded on 7 Jan 1967
Track 8: Take 26 recorded on 15 Dec 1966
Track 9: Take 2 recorded on 5 Mar 1963
Track 10: First EMI Session recorded on 6 Jun 1962
Track 11: Demo - Take 1 recorded on 6 Sep 1967
Track 12: Take 2 recorded on 13 Apr 1966
Track 13: Take 2 recorded on 29 Jan 1964
Track 14:Take 4 recorded on 11 Feb 1963
Track 15: Take 2 recorded on 20 Feb 1965
Track 16: Take 3 recorded on 16 Oct 1965
Track 17: Take 17 recorded on 6 Sep 1967
Track 18: Take 1 recorded on 11 Feb 1963
Track 19: Take 5 - Sessions Mix recorded on 14 Aug 1964
Track 20: Take 2 recorded on 20 Oct 1965
Track 21: Take 3b recorded on 16 Apr 1964
Track 22: Take 4 recorded on 21 Oct 1965

Lineup:
John Lennon - guitars and vocals
Paul McCartney - bass and vocals
George Harrison - guitars and vocals
Ringo Starr - drums and vocals

This rare bootleg contains unreleased tracks, alternate mixes and out-takes.
This album is a clone of "Ultra rare tracks vol.1" and " Ultra rare tracks vol.2" - The Swingin' Pig – TSP-CD. This Oil Well version has a fine cover, fine quality.
Limited to 200 copies only. Due to its rarity and good quality, this disc is recommended.

This Disc purports to be Live in Bristol 25th June 1966 , yet another fake statement from Oilwell who haveput out another variation of the Swingin' Pig Titles Ultra Rare Trax . However this time it is at least good value being two albums for the price of one.
Note the disc art shows the catalogue number as RSC CD 031 as does the matrix.
There are also two commercially released CDR FAKES , see disc images below, the artwork for these is Low Quality copies.
http://www.beatleg.info/music/docs/beatles/boots/cd/rsc031cd.htm

Some of the material on the Ultra Rare Trax series was subsequently officially released on the Anthology series in the mid-1990s, though Michael Callucci,
writing for Classic Rock magazine, claims the original bootlegs are still worth hearing as they contain material not on the official release
Read below for other infos about this bootleg!

Audio quality:

Quality content:

© Official released material:
Tracks 2, 4,5, 6, 7, 10,11, 13, 19 have been released officially on: "Anthology" (1996)

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Ultra Rare Trax
Ultra Rare Trax was a series of bootleg recordings of the Beatles, featuring studio outtakes, that first appeared in 1988.It took advantage of a legal loophole known as the "protection gap" that allowed bootleggers to release old recordings due to ambiguous copyright laws. In all, eight volumes were produced. It was not the first Beatles bootleg to appear on compact disc but it was the first one to achieve widespread attention with bootleggers, because its sound quality showed what digital remastering was capable of.

In the 80s, the Ultra Rare Trax series were one of the most famous because it gathered in an excellent quality and with reasonably exact liner notes, some of the best material available.
Today, this material has been booted numerous times and most of it appears on the Anthology. However, for beginner collectors, this collection might be interesting to trade. Once completed, you'll have a good selection of what is available (concert material and Get Back sessions omitted).
This first CD has not much too offer since the Anthology.

The bootleg appeared after John Barrett, an engineer at Abbey Road Studios, performed an audit of the material in the studio's archives in 1984 and made backups onto tape with the strict condition that they were not to be copied or sold. However, a Dutch collector managed to purchase some studio tapes for $20,000, which were subsequently resold to a German fan, Dieter Schubert. Schubert believed that any studio recordings made before Germany's ratification of the Rome Convention in 1966 were public domain in that country, and therefore decided to create his own bootleg label, Swingin' Pig, and released his titles on CD. The logo and name were based on the earlier Trademark of Quality bootleg label that regularly featured William Stout's artwork on its covers.

One bootlegger claimed it to be "the single most important release in the history of CDs ... the quality just blew people's minds".
Author Clinton Heylin believes some tracks on the Ultra Rare Trax series sounded even better than the then recent CD reissues of official material from EMI.

Anthology review
In the mid 1990's, the three remaining (I refuse to say surviving) Beatles got together to finish a John Lennon song called "Free As A Bird". The recording of the song was challenging, as they had to overdub their individual parts onto a circa fifteen year old tape, without ruining the original track with John singing. Despite the pressure, the song was completed and a new Beatles compilation had a very interesting opener.

Generally agreed upon as being only for the most loyal of fans, Anthology 1 lives up to that billing while simultaneously blasting it to pieces. There are plenty of things on here that even a casual listener could enjoy, such as a jaunty (and in my opinion better) version of "Can't Buy Me Love" on disc two, as well as a lovely live version of "Twist and Shout".

For the most hardcore of Beatles fans, there are rare gems such as the groups' first ever recording (That'll Be The Day-Buddy Holly), the infamous "Jewelry quote" where Mr. Lennon shows some sass to all the wealthy ones in the audience; which includes the Queen, and of course, alternate takes on beloved Beatles classics which shows the boys not only trying something new, but screwing up as well. Also running rampant are mini-speeches by the group and its' manager, Brian Epstein. These could be fascinating... If they weren't about 22 seconds long each. Indeed, sometimes you can't figure out just what they hell the guys are commenting on, a task only made more difficult if you take into account that the questions that were asked do not show up on the recording.

However, these speeches are, as mentioned above, short and therefore don't really ruin the record. Everyone knows thats' what lesser tracks are for, and there isn't a shortage of them here. "Ain't She Sweet", "Cayenne", "Sheik Of Araby"... Just the tip of the iceberg. Yet even these have a youthful charm and are worth a listen, even if they are amateur.

Sometime into the first disc, I recieved a pleasant surprise in the form of a very early take on "One After 909". The quality is surprisingly good, and the song oddly gets even better after they f*ck up and try it again. It's common to hear The Beatles members making fun of each other after these little mess-ups, and I find it very interesting to listen to, as they're almost as famous for their wit as their tunes. Just as I was starting to believe nothing else could possibly be thrown into this odds-and-sods collection of audio Beatle memorabilia, I stumbled across a few televison appearances the group made during the height of Beatlemania. The skits include John and Ringo cracking wise every couple of seconds with legendary comedy duo Morcomb and Wise, to an amusing take on "Moonlight Bay".

Many will consider these things not worth the record price, and for many that may be so. I, however, found these to be a rare insight into the way the biggest band of the 20th century operated in the beginning, before the acid, before the fighting, and before the Yoko.
While I wouldn't recommend this to anyone wanting to get acquainted with the group (I'll let "Abbey Road" handle that), If you are familiar with the Beatles in anyway, be it a casual listener to a fan since February of 1964, I guarantee this will be an amusing and entertaining purchase, at least for the first few times.

Pros:Interesting outakes/ Famous quotes come to the surface/ Some songs are better on here than released versions. Cons:/ Short speeches/ Lesser tracks get old fast/ Expensive