THEIR GREATEST UNRELEASED
Company: Melvin records MM-01
Matrix number: OVL 84-1 340 / OVL 84-2 340
Release Date: January 1975
Country: USA
SIDE A
1. LUCILLE
2. I'M GONNA SIT RIGHT DOWN AND CRY (OVER YOU)
3. I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND
4. LOVE OF THE LOVED
5. CRYING WAITING HOPING
6. THE HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE
7. SOLDIER OF LOVE (LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS) (incomplete)
8. DON'T EVER CHANGE
9. THE HONEYMOON SONG
SIDE B
10. WHAT'S THE NEW MARY JANE
11. STEP INSIDE LOVE
12. Medley: BESAME MUCHO/COTTONFIELDS/THE WALK/JAZZ PIANO SONG/SUZY PARLOUR/THOSE WERE
THE DAYS
13. intro BYE BYE BYE (NICE TIME)
14. ALL TOGETHER ON THE WIRELESS MACHINE
15. HAVE YOU HEARD THE WORD
sound quality: variable
source:
1: BBC radio "Pop Go the Beatles", September 17, 1963
2, 5, 9: BBC radio "Pop go the Beatles", August 6, 1963
3: BBC radio "Pop go the Beatles", August 20, 1963
4: Decca Studios, January 1, 1962
6: BBC radio "Pop go the Beatles", June 4, 1963
7: BBC radio “Pop go the Beatles’’, July 16, 1963
8: BBC radio "Pop go the Beatles", August 27, 1963
10: unreleased Plastic Ono Band single, December 5, 1969
11: Paul demo, January, 1968
12: (Cottonfields/Those were the days): EMI Studios, June 5, 1968, Kenny Everett interview
12: (Besame mucho/Jazz Piano Song/Suzy Parlour): from LET IT BE SOUNDTRACK
13: Kenny Everett TV show 1969
14: Radio One jingle for Kenny Everett, "Where it's at", aired November 25, 1967
15: the Fut, 1970 (no Beatles involvement)
COMMENTS.
The first in a series of 14 between bootlegs and pirate records released by the Melvin company between late 1975 and 1980. This company was lead by a few collectors that at first distributed their products at a record shop named Odyssey, a store one of them owned in Charleston, S.C. The overall pressing quality of the records and the vinyl that the company used was often less-than-good, but their releases became quite famous for the nice cartoon drawings on the custom labels of the discs.
This first release is simply a compilation, without a specific theme, derived from various previously released bootlegs, so it does not have any particular musical interest.
The release of this LP was advertised by the producers on their journal "Carolina Moon" of January 1975.
RELEASES
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The record came with a yellow cover, and track listing with some notes on the back cover. The disc labels with the cartoon drawing were printed on grey paper. According to the producers, this record was pressed in only 100 copies.
Early 1976. Two versions of a second insert were used for a batch of records on which the green disc labels of the second Melvin Records, 21, were used by mistake.This second version is said to have been pressed in 50 copies. One insert has the dog on bottom right with close mouth, the other insert is identical, excepting for the dog showing its teeth.
INTEREST. Although musically completely useless, this record, together with another Melvin title, MM-04, has become one of the most sought-after items in the entire Beatles catalogue, bootlegs as well as legit releases. It is very rare, but there are other equally rare records, though less known and more obscure, so they never reached the same interest among collectors. The Melvin Records are well known, and this explains why the rarest ones can reach unbelievable (and unjustified for a bootleg) prices. Copies of THEIR GREATEST UNRELEASED were recently sold at more than $2000, one even reached more than $3000!. *****