>>>>FWIW I was working with Joe when 'Bathroom Window' was recorded and seem to remember that at one stage McCartney actually offered him first use but then changed his mind. IAC we'd certainly heard the song a while before the Beatles released it.
>>>
>>>I sort of remember that Joe's version was the first one out... but then I heard that one really early on, 'twas on the radio, but didn't get my hands on Sgt Pepper until '76, and only then I heard their version.
>>
>>Wasn't the Beatles version on Abbey Road ?
>
>I meant the "with a little help...", which was the first time I heard (about) Joe Cocker. But yes, the same thing happened with Bathroom window too, I didn't hear the Abbey Road until about '73 or so, and even that I borrowed. Jugoton (now Croatia Records) had the rights, but didn't think that Beatles albums would make enough money (damn socialist self-managed workers' profiteering outfit), so they kept churning singles and didn't really publish albums at all. There was a red double and a blue double album, the two retrospectives, pressed in 1975 or so, but the actual Beatles albums were, IIRC, never published in Yugoslavia. Interestingly, though, they turned to publishing individual Beatles - I think everything was published, from Imagine, All things must pass... to the last Wings and Do it on Monday (IIRC - Ringo's).

Interesting. Was Jugoton state owned? Any other native labels?
Regards,
Viv