Occasionally on this blog we like to spotlight Beatles-related book titles from our friends in Europe. This blog post will highlight two German book titles by author, Andreas Rohde.
Alfred Ebeling, a friend of mine in Germany, has a fantastic Beatles book collection. He works for The Beatles Museum in Germany which stocks an enormous collection of Beatles book titles that exhibit and demonstrate the European viewpoint and perspectives about the Beatles.
Andreas Rohde
Alfred knows that I understand a bit of German and he recommended to me that I look at and peruse a couple of titles by German Beatles scholar, Professor Andreas Rohde.
I thank Alfred for sharing these great tiles with me and helping me to increase my Beatles book library! They are both excellent large format books, the McCartney one is a hardcover and it exceeds 550 pages and published by the Beatles Museum. The Harrison one is a softcover originally published as a hardcover and is over 400 pages long. The Harrison softcover was published in 2013, so the years 2014 and beyond are not covered. (Publisher: Nicole Schmenk).The only drawback I can see in either volume is the lack of photos, probably due to the high cost of obtaining copyrights to the pictures but that is made up by the excellent detail and content provided by the author in covering the topics detailed in the book descriptions in English below.
The McCartney title published in April of 2025, is incredible in its detail. I hope the author will strongly consider an English translation one day, however it can be said that you do not need to have a command of the German language to enjoy the book in my opinion. The McCartney work recognizes and acknowledges the excellent work done by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair in their marvelous McCartney Legacy book series.
If these books interest you, you can write to Alfred Ebeling for further details at:
alfred.ebeling@t-online.de
The McCartney title: Let Me Roll It Paul McCartney/Wings 1966-1981 which explores McCartney’s solo output from 1966 onward including his involvement with Wings in the ’70s, until their dissolution in 1981!
The back cover of the Rohde McCartney title:
A message from the author:
The description of the book provided by the publisher, in the English language:
Saturday 12 April 2025: Book LET ME ROLL IT – PAUL McCARTNEY / WINGS 1966 – 1981.
Authors: Andreas Rohde / Publisher: Beatles Museum Verlag, Germany. ISBN-13: 978-3-00-082216-2
Hardcover with thread binding / Format: 24.5 cm x 17.5 cm / 584 pages / German language.
Content: Foreword / LPs, CDs and Singles 1966 – 1981 / Projects / Live / Sessions (for others).
Press release:
By far the most comprehensive documentation of Paul McCartney’s music in the decade after the Beatles in German!
Let Me Roll It traces Paul McCartney’s musical solo journey through the late sixties and seventies to the end of Wings in 1981. Fascinating stories and anecdotes that accompany the creation of the albums and singles find their place here as well as documentaries about the recordings of all known demos, outtakes and other variations of songs. All official as well as all known unofficial publications are taken into account. The book also discusses music projects that were either never released or were released decades later – including the recent One Hand Clapping – as well as all live concerts between 1972 and 1979. You can also find out on which recordings the live shows can be found. For the research on Let Me Roll It, the author used all relevant English-language sources – including the most recent ones in the McCartney Legacy series – in order to present the most reliable picture possible of Paul McCartney’s work solo and with Wings.
Let Me Roll It pays tribute to the musician as well as to McCartney as a person, while always remaining committed to the facts, and is aimed at all fans who are interested in this exceptional artist beyond his musical work with the Beatles.
Andreas Rohde is Professor of English Linguistics and Language Didactics at the University of Cologne.
Here is the cover of his 2013 book about George Harrison: Publisher: Nicole Schmenk
Back cover of the book:
Another nice gesture from Mr. Rohde:
June 2013: Paperback GEORGE HARRISON SOLO – A MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY. The English deescription of the book
Author: Andreas Rohde. Publisher: Nicole Schmenk, Oberhausen; ISBN: 978-3-943022-16-2.
Portrait 24.5 cm x 17.0 cm; 448 pages
Press release:
Probably the most detailed chronicle of the musical work of the ex-BEATLE.
The author Prof. Dr. Andreas Rohde about his book: “As a child, I primarily collected the music of the BEATLES, but GEORGE HARRISON quickly became my favorite BEATLE. His songs have something warm, longing, unfathomable about them that particularly touches me. Luckily, there was a boy in our village who got a lot of pocket money and owned all his LPs, even the then almost priceless boxes ALL THINGS MUST PASS and THE CONCERT FOR BANGLA DESH. In order not to have to endure my whining any longer, he gave in at some point and lent her to me. That was well over thirty years ago, but my fascination with George Harrison’s music and his person has never faded.”
For GEORGE HARRISON SOLO – A MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY, all relevant English-language sources were studied, information and data were compared and critically examined. The result is a musical biography of the ex-BEATLE, which traces his life from 1967 to his death in 2001 in detail through his songs and their origin stories. GEORGE HARRISON was by no means the “quiet BEATLE”, he had a lot to say, and he did …
About The Author:
Andreas Rohde was born in 1962 in Böel (Schleswig-Holstein). He studied English, Romance languages and general linguistics in Kiel. This was followed by his doctorate and habilitation. Since 2004 he has been Professor of English Linguistics and Language Didactics at the University of Cologne. He has been a BEATLES and HARRISON fan since the age of ten. From the 1970s to the 1990s, he played in various bands. In 1987 he appeared in the ARD quiz show “Alles Oder Nichts” with the theme BEATLES and won 10,000 DM.
BEATLES MUSEUM:
This book (hardcover, now discontinued) was published just in time for GEORGE HARRISON’s birthday; he was born 70 years ago. Due to its success, the paperback edition will be published in June 2013.
Michael Kummer, M.B.M.sp (*1966) from 06118 Halle (Saale):
The stories behind the songs, the recordings, every HARRISON release to date.
The book concludes with a 74-page chronicle of GEORGE’s life and work, deliberately starting with his solo works from 1967 until his death in 2001.
A lot of reading material, where it is not at all noticeable that there are actually no photos. The book has the makings of the German HARRISON “Bible”. Clearly: Reading tip!
THE BOOKS
If you are interested in either title described above you can contact Alfred Ebeling at alfred.ebeling@t-online.de and he can provide you with the information that you need or request!
BUZZ
OUR BOOK OF THE WEEK
Songs We Were Singing
Take A “Magical Mystery Tour” through the Beatles’ Deep Tracks. The Beatles’ music has become so ingrained in our culture that their songs have become an integral part of our everyday lives. Who doesn’t know the words to “Hey Jude” or “Let It Be”? Who hasn’t been moved by the poetry of “Eleanor Rigby” or energized by that opening chord of “A Hard Day’s Night”?
Songs We Were Singing uncovers the buried treasures that deserve a second listen.
£15.20
