GEORGE HARRISON’S GUITAR – THE FRETLESS “MAD” GUITAR
Very rarely have I taken the time to read a book about a specific guitar, so this is a first. Written by author Paul Brett, it tells a fascinating story which you will find quite interesting. Here are a few quotes from the Amazon description of the book.
From the Amazon description of the book: Copies of the book can be found at Amazon, Ebay, and most book search services such as Abe Books.
“The prototype fretless model was gifted to the Beatles legend by Hollywood session player and music shop owner Al Casey, whose wife Maxine took it to Blue Jay Way in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles while Harrison was staying there in 1967.
Returning to the UK with his new acquisition, it was used by Harrison and John Lennon on sessions for ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’ and ‘Helter Skelter’ as the legendary Liverpool outfit recorded classic 1968 double-album The Beatles, aka The White Album.
Guitar experts and aficionados were previously unaware of the prototype’s important part in Beatles mythology, its history a mystery until 2019, after UK session guitarist Ray Russell asked, ‘Who knows anything about this guitar George Harrison gave me in 1985?’
Finding Fretless also brings in the guitar’s associations with Charles Manson’s infamous murderous cult, a million-dollar lawsuit, fire, frying pans, drunken fistfights, corporate shenanigans, Elvis, The Wrecking Crew, and much more.”
I received my signed copy of the book from the author of this fascinating book back in 2021. Paul was a member of my old FB group before I left the social medium. Paul was one of more than 100 Beatle-related book authors that were members of the group. “
Finding Fretless George’s Guitar
This Day in Music Books-PublisherPublication date – November 4, 2021
QUESTION: Do you enjoy books about The Beatles instruments? Let me know below.
A question that should be asked, but rarely is asked, is how did The Beatles get records? The story of the “Cunard Yanks” is one that’s grown to mythical proportions in Liverpool and beyond.
The way it’s been told is that sailors from the families of Liverpool musicians brought back American records for the groups to learn. The story is partly true, as many Liverpool families had brothers, fathers, or uncles at sea who returned home with American records before they were released in the UK. In fact, the record that turned John Lennon on to rock ‘n’ roll was an imported “Long Tall Sally,” brought in from Holland.
Without question, this is the best Beatles discography in the world that I have encountered and only 500 copies of this 2009 book are in existence. This book sold out so fast that it was one of the rare Beatles-related book titles that I missed out on its initial sales pitch. I was only to discover the book much later and spent over a year trying to find a copy reasonably priced which I eventually did.
That really is a shame as more people should be privy to the wonderful worldwide research that the author Joachim Noske undertook to create this volume of nearly 800 pages. Housed in a slipcase that has the same cover as the book, with full-color photographs provided throughout this masterwork. It must have been incredibly expensive for Mr. Noske to produce this title and why he may be reticent to produce an updated version of the book.
As a Beatles book collector who also terms himself as a completist, discographies pose one major problem to me personally. First of all, I only collect print media and not digital copies of a book, so electronic updates of new material do not interest me. Secondly, the problem with discographies, even the BEST ONES, is that they become immediately out-of-date when a new release by the artist is issued. So you may be holding a valuable reference work in your hand with the excellent discography that you have, but in a few years, if the record company keeps mining their archives with additional releases, your book becomes more and more incomplete.
However, the slight criticism I expressed above does not discount or diminish the special beauty of this wonderful book and the incredible amount of time it must have taken Mr. Noske to produce it. Two kind associates who I met on Facebook that live in Israel, brought the knowledge of this book to my attention and I will always be grateful to them for doing so!
The Beatles Covered Discography
The back cover of both the slipcase and the actual book:
The Beatles Covered Discography
The German publisher of this stunning 2009 Beatles discography:
The signature of Mr. Noske on the book’s foreword of my copy #326 of the 500 copies
The credits and copyright information for the book:
The Table of Contents of this wonderful book is provided to show you the wide scope of the work undertaken by Mr. Noske:
Table of Contents (Part 2):
A wonderful sampling of the beautiful colors you are exposed to when you open the book:
A photo of the spine and binding of this enormous and heavy volume of nearly 800 pages:
Mr. Noske’s book Introduction where he explains the scope of his discography:
One sample page from his book:
Hope you enjoyed this piece about the world’s best Beatles Discography. One of the questions as a result of this book is: In the future when the surviving Beatles are no longer here and maybe 20 or so years after they have passed, will someone attempt to produce a complete and thorough worldwide Beatles discography?
I know the answer to my second question to that is: If they do, I am certain it will only be a digital-only copy…..LOL!!!
Here are photos of the covers of my complete collection of Paul and Linda’s Club Sandwich, their Fan Club magazine which started printing in 1977 and ended with Linda’s passing with issue #86 in the 90’s. Two of the issues are double issues. The issues are not presented in this post in chronological or numeric order. Most of this post will be comprised of the covers of the issues in my collection. Occasionally a comment or observation will be added to fill in a possible interesting detail for your consumption. Hope you will enjoy it!
Being a subscribing member of this club was a lot of fun and it had many advantages to be a member as choice tickets for McCartney concerts were often made available to fans through the club. I got to see a McCartney rehearsal in a small theater in NY as a result of being a member. I was also able, through the club, to get tickets to see Paul present a playing of his “Run Devil Run” album in a personal appearance, once again in a small NY venue. I stood there while Paul gave his promotional speech about the album and he was about 10 feet away as he talked about how important early rock ‘n’ roll was to him. I was standing on crutches as I had broken my leg several days earlier but that certainly was not going to stop me from getting to see Paul McCartney!!! As a member, we also were able to receive special treats like being able to obtain copies of Paul’s Russian LP.
Hopefully, this post will serve as a good reference point for those who may collect this magazine and are missing or are looking for specific issues. At least you will know what is on the cover….
(These are all copies from my personal collection and are shown for informational and educational purposes only under fair use) Special thanks to my daughteer Erin who took the photos of the covers for her dad which was a time consuming process indeed!
Issue #9
Club Sandwich – Number 9
Issue #10
Issue #11
Issue #7
Issue #3
Issue #8
Issue #6
Issue #5
Issue #4
Issue #1 (Features the standup bass played on the Elvis recording of Heartbreak Hotel which Linda McCartney obtained as a gift to Paul)
Issue #12
Issue #2
Issue #14
Issue #15
Issue #13
Issue #21An issue that deals with Paul’s fascination with Buddy Holly which he hosted many tribute shows for over the years. He also owns the publishing rights to most of Buddy’s songs! Smart businessman-that Paul!
Issue #20Linda is featured for the wonderful animated feature of her song, “Seaside Woman.”
Issue #19
Issue #17
Issue #18
Issue #16
Issue #22
Issue #23 Linda and Paul’s tribute issue to John
Issue #26
Issue #24Two Musical Giants-Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder!
Issue #25
Issue #27
Issue #63
Issue #65
Issues #47 and #48 (double issue)
Issue #67
Issue #66
Issue #62
Issue #50
Issue #49
Issue #53
Issue #52
Issues #37 and #38 (double issue)
Issue #51
Issue #43
Issue #39
Issue #40
Issue #42
Issue #41
Issue #44
Issue #31
Issue #30
Issue #29
Issue #46
Issue #28
Issue #45
Issue #33
Issue #35
Issue #36
Issue #32
Issue #81
Issue #34
Issue #82
Issue #86 (The final issue of the magazine following Linda’s passing from cancer)
Issue #68
Issue #83
Issue #84
Issue #85
Issue #73
Issue #71
Issue #70
Issue #72
Issue #74
Issue #69
Issue #78
Issue #80
Issue #77
Issue #76
Issue #79
Issue #75
Issue #60
Issue #61
Issue #59
Issue #58
When Beatles book author Mark Lewisohn worked for the Club Sandwich magazine, he ran a contest inviting subscribers to submit questions to Paul. I submitted a question that I had been alerted to by reading Mark’s “The Beatles Recording Sessions” book. The book quickly mentioned an unreleased McCartney track that he had recorded in the studio back in 1968 and then took the recording home, provided to him by the engineer. The track was called “Etcetera.” Supposedly the track was written for Marianne Faithfull.
I submitted the question to the magazine about the track and I was surprised to see the question was chosen for publication in one of the Club Sandwich issues.
Here is a photo of the question I asked and Paul’s response.
Many learned Beatle authorities speculate that the melody for Thingumybob was actually Etcetera without the lyrics.
Prior to the 86 issues of the Club Sandwich, Paul had an early version of the magazine. I only have a few issues of this magazine and here are a few examples. I acquired Issue #1 shown below a while back:This is an original of the first issue. There is a vendor on Ebay that I have seen is offering reproductions of the some of the original issues at a reduced price. I would consider getting all of the older pre-Club Sandwich issues if I could find them at a reasonable price…
This is Issue #2
A special 1975 UK Tour issue which I acquired a while back:
Storing Club Sandwiches
Storage problems were the biggest problem of having all of these issues because the Club Sandwiches were so large, they needed to be kept in a box and they needed to be protected by plastic to prevent yellowing of the early newspaper-like issues. The various sizes of the issues was another hinderance. The content though was always first class and interesting and I genuinely miss not receiving a new issue in the mail!!!
HOPE YOU HAD A LOT OF FUN VIEWING THIS POST!!!
Did you subscribe to Club Sandwich? Did you have a favourite issue? Let me know.
– A SPECIAL PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK PUT TOGETHER BY KISHIN SHINOYAMA & YOKO ONO
This beautiful book, “Double Fantasy”, was put together as a collaborative effort between the photographer Kishin Shinoyama and Yoko Ono. Kishin Shinoyama took the Double Fantasy album cover photograph. It was Yoko Ono who requested the photographer to photograph and create the gorgeous 174-page limited edition book “Double Fantasy” for Taschen Publications.
I know this post will generate some controversy as I will probably receive comments about the high cost of the book and will be questioned about the wisdom of posting books that are not affordable to many of the potential people interested in obtaining a copy. I can understand that frustration as most Beatles-related book collectors who see a book they may wish to acquire, yet they can not afford, can cause anger and great disappointment in some.
That is why with books such as this, I wish the publishers could work out an arrangement with the respective estates to also print a much more economical version of the book so that more people can add the book to their respective collections and enjoy the wonderful photos as a result. The other side of the issue would state that high-quality photography is very expensive to produce in a limited edition book and therefore the high cost is justified. I just wish a happy medium could be reached in order to satisfy all those who would have interest in the title.
Nevertheless, I will always be grateful that I was able to afford the book at its release. Now that I am retired, I am not so sure that I could do that anymore. In any case, I am happy that I was fortunate enough to add this beautiful book of photos to my collection!
This is the slipcase containing the 2014 Double Fantasy book:
My copy of this gorgeous book is number 522 which Yoko may possibly see as a good number as the digits 5 + 2+2=9. It is just a numerology supposition on my part…LOL! I tried to obtain copy #1980 (the last numbered and signed copy) for my collection when I purchased my copy, but they could not assign specific copies to purchasers.
Both Yoko and the photographer signed this book and the signatures appear below…
Double Fantasy John Lennon & Yoko Ono – signed copy
The actual cover of the book contained within the beautiful slipcase:
Double Fantasy Cover with John Lennon & Yoko Ono
The spine of the book:
Some biographical information about Kishin Shinoyama on Wikipedia. Mr. Shinoyama was to pass away in January of 2024.
Have you ever expressed any kind of resentment towards fellow collectors who may have been fortunate enough to be able to acquire a Beatles-related item that you were not able to afford at the time of the item’s release? If so, what is the main reason for the feeling of resentment? Is it mainly held towards the publisher, the artist or the actual fan who shells out the funds?
Let me know in the comments below.
BUZZ
More Books About John Lennon at the Beatles Bookstore
The Applejacks were an English beat group from the 1960s. They had a strange classification as a “Brumbeat” group which translates, according to Wikipedia, as being from the West Midlands -Birmingham area of the UK. They also had the distinction of being the first band from that area to have a top ten UK single in the UK singles charts. Another unusual feature for the band (at that time in history) was having a female bass player.
The Applejacks met the Beatles during rehearsals for a television appearance where Lennon and McCartney provided the group with a song which was to be their second single entitled “Like Dreamers Do.”
“Tell Me When”, their first single, was released in February 1964 (something else very important also happened that month in the US as well) and “Tell Me When” got to the No. 7 position on the UK singles chart.
“Like Dreamers Do” only reached #20 on the UK singles charts, however. Other than the Decca audition Beatles version of the song, the Beatles were never were to officially record a studio version of the song for their own EMI/Capitol label.
The cover of the Applejacks CD compilation disk that I recently purchased on eBay!
Original Applejacks band member signatures that I recently acquired on eBay:
Al Jackson-lead vocals(left the band in 1966)
Martin Baggott-lead guitar
Don Gould-piano
Phil Cash-rhythm guitar
Gerry Freeman-drums–(left 1967)
Megan Davies-bass guitar
It must be noted that this was not the only band configuration of the group.
2 New members were to join the band when two of the original members, Al Jackson and Gerry Freeman, left the group. The band finally went their separate ways in 1967.
Paul Willetts-drums (joined 1967)
John Washington –lead vocal (joined 1966)
These are the signatures of the original 6 members of the band, which I used as a bookplate for my copy of their hardcover biography by Andrew Phillips!
Applejacks Signatures
The great Cherry Red label put together this special compilation CD of much of the Applejacks recorded material for the Decca label. It’s interesting to see that not only Lennon/McCartney provided a song to them but also Ray Davies of the Kinks. Copies of this CD are available both on Ebay and on Discogs, the record seeking search service for collectors.
The Applejacks including Like Dreamers Do
Saw this wonderful link by Malcolm Drew on YouTube which presents the Applejacks at the BBC:
In the past, I have stated clearly that some of my favorite books about the Beatles era are books that fill in lesser-known information about Beatles-related activities and about the other artists who may have interacted with them. I especially love stories about singers or groups that the Beatles gave away some of their early songwriting efforts too. This is particularly true about songs that the Beatles themselves never got the chance or had the desire to record in the studio during the Capitol/EMI time frame.
Here is a book that fits the bill of my description above:
Andrew Phillip’s book about the Applejacks: “Like Dreamers Do”Self-published on the 3rd ofMarch,2023. The book was published with the complete cooperation and help of the original Applejack members.
I was recently able to secure the last hardcopy version of his book. Andrew still has softcover edition copies available athis website:
The front cover of the sold-out hardcover edition of the book:
Like Dreamers Do – The Story of the Applejacks
The back cover of the book which features some fascinating questions:
Like Dreamers Do – The Story of the Applejacks
The author’s signature in my copy of the book:
The is a great book to acquire if you want to learn more about early 1960’s UK beat groups and the trials and tribulations of being a musical group during those times. It was an exciting time but it also involved a lot of hard work and travelling. Andrew did a fantastic job with this title and he has greatly enhanced and expanded our knowledge of this band and their relationship to Beatles history!
Nigel Pearce’s interview with the band:
The November 24th program of Groove Britain features Nigel Pearce’s excellent interview with the Applejacks. Click on the link provided below and scroll down until you see the November 24th, 2024 program. I do not know how long this program will be available at the link below but you can contact Nigel Pearce at redleadernigel@hotmail.co.uk if you have trouble locating the Applejacks interview which also features the author of the Applejacks book, Andrew Phillips!
The Decca 45 of the Applejacks version of the Lennon/McCartney “Like Dreamers Do” number appears below. Only recently did I acquire this item for the collection. You may notice a couple of familiar names on the label (shown below).
One was Mike Smith who with Dick Rowe were part of the decision-making team allegedly that was to decline the Beatles a recording contract based on their Decca audition in Jan of 1962. The other name Mike Leander was the man who was to eventually do the string arrangement for “She’s Leaving Home” on the Sgt. Pepper LP when George Martin was not available for the session when Paul wanted to have the arrangement done. He asked Mike Leander to do it and as a result George Martin later felt hurt that Paul had asked Leander to do the string arrangement for the song.
To me it is also very ironic that one of the men who was involved in the production side of the failed Decca audition of the Beatles was producing a song that the actual writers of the song had performed at that famous Beatles audition. Like Dreamers Do was one of the 15 numbers that the Beatles had performed for Decca in Jan of 1962. Do you think that Mike Smith was ever caught reflecting on that moment and asking himself “what if” we had signed the Beatles?
This is a picture of my copy of the “Like Dreamers Do” 45. I bought it primarily as an example of irony, seeing Mike Smith’s name on the song the Beatles performed at the 1962 audition and Decca being the label that turned the group down. Also bought it for the connection Mike Leander had with the “She’s Leaving Home” Sgt. Pepper track.
I also love to collect obscure cover versions of Beatles-authored songs!
It is great to see that the Applejacks did a great version of the song!
Fate can certainly be fickle and strange!!!
Like Dreamers Do – by The Applejacks
A performance picture of the the band that appears under the discography listing for the Applejacks at Discogs:
Andrew Phillips, who wrote the book shown above about the Applejacks, has recently collaborated with blog administrator David Bedford, on a new Beatles book to be issued in the spring of 2025. “What If” we wait to tell you what the premise of that book is going to be? You will be both startled and pleased!!!
