The 1968 Demos

Cover

Disc

Rear Tray

Another reissue of the Howdy title , the artwork remains unaltered from the 1994 Howdy reissue with no mention of Vigotone. As is usually for Vigotone releases of this period the release was on CDR with stamped title, the make size and dye type various depending upon the issue date. The artwork is still commercially printed rather than inkjet/photocopy.

So watch out for fakes, I have seen PC printed CDR discs, and some are very close matches to the originals.

None of the artwork variations list track 26 , Happiness Is A Warm Gun recorded at John and Yoko's Montreal Bed In during May 1969 ,could this be why it is not listed? This has been lifted from a Home Video, which has no doubt now been copied to budget DVD , which should be your source, to include the visual aspect.

The disc has two clear parts ' Esher Demos' recorded at George's house in May 1968 and a collection of Johns Demo's including Solo only efforts. The 'Esher material was originally core material but this material can now be found on Vigotone's - From Kinfauns to Chaos , in better quality and it is suggested that within trade circles there are improvements on this source; so why oh why NO official release?

As of 2004 Tracks 17-21 retain their 'core' status and the final listed tracks are as unremarkable and just as good here as anywhere else.

Whilst I have not been able to do a direct comparison of the musical content , I think it is fair to say that whilst not reported anywhere that the mastering is likely to vary between the various issues . If you own an original could you please confirm the CDID and provide either a cue sheet or the timings of each track, Using Exact Audio Copy , this is as simple as saving the database

The Bootleg Zone review has track 26 including 'Because' also from the Montreal bed-in , but I have yet to confirm the existence of this version , or whether this is an error that has crept into this open database.

Some sources also list only a 25 track version, again it is unclear whether this is due the artwork track listings just been copied or if their has been a pressing error on one version similar to Vigotone's earlier title Arrive Without Aging .

The Italian Label, The Genuine Pig has reportedly cloned this title and used the Original Howdy artwork as a base for their 1994 release. Whilst they should have been able to produce an audio clone , their past history is not good and I wouldn't be surprised if there has been a loss of quality.

This Reissue

Gold Mitsui 74 CDR
1997-98

Mitsui CDR Reissues
1998-2000

Wanted details of:

Kodak Gold CDR or White label versions

Late 2001 Mitsui Issues without barcode on CDR

2001 SKC printed CDR

The 1968 Demos

The Genuine Pig

Alternate mastering.

Artwork based upon Original Howdy release

First CD Issue

Cover/Insert same as Howdy Original - with colour images.

Cover Title justified to the Right Hand Side

Artist and Title 'S' aligned

CDR Reissues

Cover/Insert same as Howdy/Vigotone Reissues- with B/W images.

Cover Title NOT justified to the Right Hand Side

Artist and Title 'S' not aligned

Howdy tray insert - NO Slip case

Previous 1991 Howdy + 1993 Vigotone First Pressings