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The New Releases page has been updated to include music CD, DVD and Blu-ray releases for February.

Highlights for February include:

• Richard Thompson’s “Electric” in standard and deluxe editions (5 Feb)
• the Bee Gees “Festival Album Collection – 1965-1967” (12 Feb)
• a range of “Threads & Grooves” music/tshirt collections from Sony featuring artists such as Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Jimi Hendrix (12 Feb)
• Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell’s “Yellow Moon” (26 Feb)
• Sun Records 6-CD box set “Country Music Recorded by Sam Phillips 1950-1959” (26 Feb)
• the 40-CD “Rock a Billy Dynamite – 1000 Explosive Hits” box set (25 Feb UK).

Mick Hucknall and The Stereophonics are among the artists who will gather at Abbey Road Studios next month to re-record the songs featured on The Beatles’ 1963 debut album “Please Please Me”.

The 50th anniversary celebration takes place on February 11 and will be broadcast live on Radio 2. The publicity says that all tracks will be recorded in the same order as the original album and the musicians will have 12 hours to complete the recordings, in keeping with the original marathon session. This suggests that rather than emulating precisely what was recorded on February 11, 1963, the artists will attempt to reproduce the album’s original 14 tracks. “Ask Me Why,” “Please Please Me,” “Love Me Do,” and “P.S. I Love You” all appeared on the “Please Please Me” album but were not recorded at the February 11, 1963 session. There were also two tracks recorded on the day (“Seventeen” and “Hold Me Tight”) that did not make the album.

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Today is the 32nd anniversary of the death of John Lennon. The rock legend was murdered outside the Dakota building in New York City on December 8, 1980.

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Bonham’s Entertainment Memorabilia auction on December 12 will include over 400 items of music and movie memorabilia, including 71 Beatles-related lots.

Among the stand-out lots are George Harrison’s leather jacket (est. £90,000 – 120,000) and leather boots (est. £12,000 – 15,000) worn during his days in Hamburg and at the Cavern Club.

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The New Releases page has been updated to include music CD, DVD and Blu-ray releases for December.

Highlights for December include:

• “The Who – The Studio Albums” vinyl box set (Dec 4)
• The 63-CD “Johnny Cash – The Complete Columbia Album Collection” (Dec 4)
• T. Rex’s “The Slider – 40th Anniversary Box Set” (Dec 11)
• The Jam’s “The Gift – Deluxe Edition” (Dec 11)
• Eric Clapton’s “Slowhand 35th Anniversary” in super-deluxe, deluxe and standard editions (Dec 18).