Fresh From Apple Records: The Missing 45s

Here's another round of examining the "Fresh From Apple Records" boxed set from 2010.  I remember when it came out, I figured I would wait to buy it till used copies were cheaper, which I predicted would be right around the time "Fresh From Apple Records, Volume 2" was released.  Well, it's been seven years and there's no sign of a second box ever happening.  So let's look at what is NOT in the 2010 box.  I'll be doing this in a series of posts, focusing on different facets of Apple-dom.
For reference, "Beatles Blogger" has a nice post about unboxing the "Fresh" boxed set.  He also has an excellent post on the (slightly different) 1990s Apple reissues, which came out on cassette, CD and vinyl (the 2010 reissues were CD and digital download-only).  And finally, this is a listing of all the tracks on the 2010 box.  I'm using the box as my reference point (instead of the individual reissued CDs) because the box includes two whole disks of bonus cuts, which are otherwise available only as digital downloads.

Included in the 2010 box is a standalone compilation, "Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records."  About half the tracks are non-album A-sides... which means there are a bunch of errant B-sides that remain uncollected or buried in other compilations.  So, looking over the track listings for this CD, and the 2010 boxed set, it seems the following single sides are still MIA...

-Apple #1: Frank Sinatra, "The Lady Is a Champ - But Beautiful"... this was a one-off acetate for Ringo's wife, Maureen.  No idea why it was given an official Apple number, and considering Sinatra's feelings about popular music, it's surprising he even agreed to do this.  But it's been unearthed in recent years (in so-so sound quality), and the copyright nightmares it entails probably ensure it will never get an official release.

-Apple DPR-108: This is a promo issued with the "First Four" singles boxed set in Italy.  It features an interview (one part on each side) with John and Ringo during the recording of The White Album, conducted by BBC DJ Kenny Everett (who would go on to produce their 1968 and 1969 Christmas flexi-disks).  Here's part one and part two.

-Apple #4: The Black Dyke Mills Band, "Yellow Submarine"... this somewhat lifeless take on The Beatles' classic was the b-side to "Thingumybob" (which IS on the best of CD)

-The band Trash (aka White Trash, no relation to Edgar Winter's band) is notable for releasing a cover of "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight" as the A-side to Apple #17.  That track is on the best of CD.  The band's other releases are still missing: Apple #6, "Road to Nowhere"/"Illusions" and the B-side to Apple #17, "Trash Can."

-Brute Force's "King of Fuh"/"Nobody Knows" (Apple 8) was only released as a promo, even though the a-side had zero chance of ever getting airplay.  It's on the best of CD.  The b-side is actually not bad, and is still not on CD (although for a time, Brute Force himself would send you a CD-R compilation with the song).

-Ringo's first 45, "Beaucoups of Blues," was only released in the U.S., as Apple 2969.  That song is the title track to Ringo's surprisingly enjoyable 1970 country album, and it's also on the 1975 compilation "Blast From Your Past."  The b-side ("Coochy Coochy"), however, is only on the short-lived 1995 reissue of the "Beaucoups" album.  That CD has another exclusive bonus track, the previously unreleased "Nashville Jam," which is just that.

-A dialogue promo from 1970 was the one-sided release of three excerpts of dialogue from the film "Let It Be."  This seems to be an ABKCO idea more than an Apple one, although both companies are credited on the label, which has no catalog number except "PROMO-1970."  This disk has never seen any other release.

-The B-sides to Apple 18 ("Living Without Tomorrow" by the Hot Chocolate Band) and Apple 33 (Ronnie Spector's "Tandoori Chicken") are both MIA.  Read all about Ronnie's projected solo album.

-The B-side to Apple 44 is also missing: "Valse De Soleil Coucher" by The Sundown Playboys.  This was acquired from the band's tiny Swallow Records label, and in fact could still be ordered on a CD compilation from their website until recently (the link may still be out there, I just can't find it).  This is also notable as being the only Apple release that also came out both as a 45 and in the retro 10" 78rpm format!

-The B-side to Apple 36 ("Do the Oz" by Bill Elliot and the Elastic Oz Band) is really a John Lennon recording, which is only available on the 1998 "Lennon Anthology" boxed set.  Incidentally, that set also has a recording of the a-side ("God Save Oz") with John on lead vocal instead of Bill Elliot (and the same backing track).  The Elliot-led version is on the "Come and Get It" best-of CD.

-Apple 37 was really an EP: Ravi Shankar's "Joi Bangla," "Oh Bhaugowan" and "Raga Mishri."  The middle track is findable on the 1996 Shankar boxed set "In Celebration," but the other two remain vinyl-only.

-Chris Hodge has one song on the best of CD, "We're On Our Way."  It's about UFOs.  Ringo found Hodge and liked him and brought him aboard.  Weird weird weird.  That song is the a-side of Apple 43.  The B-side ("Supersoul") is MIA, as is Hodge's follow-up single, "Goodbye, Sweet Lorraine"/"Contact Love" (only released in the US, as Apple 1858).  Chris Hodge himself is MIA, by the way.

-Yoko's "Joseijoi Banzai" was recorded with Elephant's Memory, and may have been slated for "A Story" at one time.  It's only vinyl release was in Japan as Apple EAR-10344 (the song is split over the two sides), with a picture sleeve (Toshiba/EMI, and most Japanese record companies, always like adding inserts and deluxe packaging, plus extra tracks, to their releases).  The song is buried near the end of 1992's "Onobox," and is also on what appears to be Yoko's one and only bootleg, "This Is Not Here" (complete with graphics copying 1969's "Live Peace In Toronto").

-In 1974, to promote John's "Walls & Bridges," EMI/Apple put out a promo 45 in the UK (PSR-369) with "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" on one side, and an interview with John, conducted by EMI exec Bob Mercer, on the other.  It's one of the rarest records in the world, and the interview finally turned up on the 2005 CD reissue of "Walls & Bridges."  Incidentally, one of the comments on the page linked above says a similar exercise was done later in the year (for Ringo's recording of "Only You," featuring John), but I have found no evidence of this.

-Not a single, but Jackie Lomax's "Won't You Come Back" was only released as a bonus track on the 1991 reissue of "Is This What You Want?" and is not listed on the new box.

-There's one last Apple track that's so elusive, it may not even exist: in the liner notes to the 1991 reissue of the "James Taylor" album, the author writes that a forthcoming Apple rarities CD would include an early version of Taylor's "Fire and Rain."  This seems very unlikely, as I had always read that he wrote that song while in a sanitarium following the release of "James Taylor."  (In fact, the album supposedly didn't do well because James was locked up and couldn't go out and do any promotion... at least he got a hit song and a new record contract with Warner Bros. out of the ordeal).  Anyhow, no version of "Fire and Rain" was included with the "Fresh From Apple Records" boxed set, nor was an Apple rarities CD released any time before 2010.