As most members of this blog are aware, the primary purpose of the blog is to make people aware of the voluminous amount of print material about the Beatles that exists, or may be available in the marketplace.
The ideal function of the blog is not only to present the older and more obscure print material but also new and forthcoming titles as well. According to Amazon UK, the following book about the Beatles is due to be published in June of 2025.
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THEIR FRIENDS: The story of the world’s biggest band. With a little help from their friends. Hardcover – 5 Jun. 2025-by Stuart Maconie (Author) Publisher: HarperNorth
Here is the Amazon UK description provided about the book:
Everyone knows a Beatles tune. But their story goes beyond the omnipresent songs and iconic albums. Theirs is a tale that has become one of the core stories we tell about ourselves as a nation. The Beatles narrative has both shaped and reflected the country we live in today. Four lads from Liverpool have taken a seat alongside Shakespeare as one of our key cultural exports to the world, a world they changed and re-made in their own image in a blaze of creativity. But these four distinct personalities changed the world not in isolation but with more than a little help from their friends.
Like all the best stories there’s an incredible supporting cast, and all the most compelling elements of the great dramas: ambition, power, triumph, disaster, heartbreak, tragedy, drama, intrigue, lust…and of course, love.
Split into 3 sections, Before The Beatles, With the Beatles and Beyond the Beatles, bestselling writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie tells the epic tale of the people who made the band who made Britain, and along the way adds his own experiences, encounters and conversations that show the Beatles like you’ve never seen them before.
With A Little Help From Their Friends
AFTERWORD:
Since the book has not yet been published I certainly can not give a fair opinion about the contents contained within. However, I am certainly interested in the angle used to tell this world famous story!!!Looking forward to reading the book when it arrives!
A pair of Beatles Rarity related print oddities: Beatbook One and Beatbook Number Two issued in the 60s, followed by a fascinating story about A VERY RARE GEORGE HARRISON CASSETTE TAPE that well-known Beatles fan, Dave Morrell had listened to at an auction house.
The article was written by Beatles information specialist, Steve Marinucci. The tape featured George performing several John Lennon compositions before a group of people in India.
A Beatles Rarity Book
Enjoy the wonderful story…! The Beatbook books were found through Ebay and a Beatles fan on my old FB group!
Beatles Rarity Beatbook One and Two
A STORY ABOUT A VERY RARE GEORGE HARRISON CASSETTE TAPE
The article about the rare George Harrison cassette written by Beatles info specialist, Steve Marinucci:
Bob Wooler was the man who introduced many groups in the club that were to become a major part of the Mersey Sound that was to spread across the world.
Links to the Beatles have established an extended sense of immortality to people that were associated with them over the years, and one such man was Bob Wooler, the Cavern Club announcer who announced and introduced the group so many times in the early sixties.
Here are two books of interest about Mr. Wooler. The first book is a collection of some of his personal memorabilia. The book was put together after his passing to highlight some of the keepsakes he kept in his personal collection.
BOB WOOLER –LIVERPOOL MUSIC ROOTS – This Day in Music Books 2021
The Memorabilia of Bob Wooler
The Best of Fellas: The Story of Bob Wooler: Liverpool’s First DJ, the Man Who Introduced the Beatles Paperback – December 1, 2002
Spencer Leigh
Drivegreen Publications
This book is more of a biography and was written by author and radio announcer, Spencer Leigh!
Those that may be interested in these books, check Abe Books, eBay, and both Amazon US and Amazon UK! If that fails try to use a book search service site!
BUZZ
DISCOVER MORE ABOUT THE CAVERN IN THIS GREAT BOOK BY DEBBIE GREENBERG
Cavern Club – The Inside Story
This first-hand account of Debbie’s teen years frequenting and eventually helping to run the original Cavern Club is the authentic inside story of the Beatles launch pad, full of triumphs and failures – and surprise celebrity encounters.
£17.25Original price was: £17.25.£13.50Current price is: £13.50.
Charles Rosenay, a fellow Nutmegger and a great Beatles and Monkee fan, recently suggested to me that an interesting blog post would be about Stu Phillips who conducted the Hollyridge Strings covering instrumental versions of Beatles songs on multiple LPs released on Capitol Records over the years. Stu Phillips, who is now 95 years old, signed some album covers for Charles. Charles is aware of my interest in collecting signatures of people that played some type of role in the Beatles story, and alerted me of the autographed albums. Stu Phillips has quite the musical resume’ as is witnessed at this Wikipedia link: (You will be amazed at what he has accomplished during his illustrious career).
It was obvious that Capitol was aware that there was a marketplace for instrumental versions of the wonderful Beatles musical catalog as is evidenced by the 6 volumes that they issued of this series though not all six of the volumes were conducted and arranged by Stu Phillips. In his time away from Capitol Records, he was heavily involved with Colgems/Colpix and The Monkees.
Screenshot
One of Stu Phillips notable accomplishments was that he was nominated for a Grammy Award in the following category in 1964
Nominated: 1964 Best Instrumental Performance – Non Jazz, The Beatles Song Book (Hollyridge Strings).
My special thanks go out to Charles Rosenay, for providing the photos for this post!
Front Cover of Vol 1:
Back cover:
Vol 2 Front cover:
Vol2 Back Cover:
Vol 3 Front Cover:
Vol 3 Back Cover:
Stu not involved with this release: Vol 4 Front Cover
Vol 4 Back Cover:
Stu was not involved with this one as well:Vol 5 Front Cover
Vol 5 Back Cover:
Stu comes back to conduct and arrange the Beatles songs on Vol 6 (the front cover). This is the signed LP that I acquired from Charles:
Vol 6 Back Cover:
QUESTION:
What is your favorite instrumental that you have heard of any Beatles song? My personal favorite was the version of “This Boy” that George Martin conducted.
A Great Beatles Genealogy book – published in 2018 by AR Heritage Publishing and authored by Richard A. Edmunds.
A brilliant book tracing the heritage and lineage of four of the world’s best known personalities. You will be amazed at some of the details provided in this book. Understanding where one comes from as was exemplified in the hit TV miniseries “Roots” helps to shed some light as to the synergistic properties that help to predict or lay the groundwork for the future.
Beatles Genealogy
Thoroughly enjoyed this book which helps to dispel some common Beatle myths and also adds significantly to our knowledge-base. Reading this book helped me to understand the magical prescription that helped to develop the fantastic story that would unfold over the years!
The Beatles Genealogy book – Inside the Beatles Family Tree
The best source to find this wonderful book is either on Ebay or Abe Books!
BUZZ
OUR FEATURED BOOK AT THE BEATLES BOOKSTORE
In Your Mind – The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono (Signed Hardback)
Now in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archives
Acclaimed by MOJO & Goldmine
Recommended by Olivia Harrison
Spotlighted on The Beatles Channel, Sirius XM Radio
The true story of the woman John Lennon loved. Includes the work and music they made together, the love story of John & Yoko, and her relationship with the Beatles.
Ono’s incredible story goes way beyond what most people know.
There are astounding details about Yoko’s life (thirty-three years before meeting Lennon, twelve years with him, and over forty years of creativity since his death).
The author has followed Ono’s career since the mid-1960s, assembling a vast media archive on the artist. Yoko’s own voice, along with Lennon’s and others (in cited, published interviews) tell her undeniably true and complete story, disproving many myths. Bocaro has spent valuable time with Ono, gaining incredible insight.
Here is the ultimate exploration of Yoko’s childhood, her relationship with Lennon, her art, films, music and activism for peace and women’s rights.
JOHN & PAUL – THE RELATIONSHIP THAT HELPED TO DEFINE POPULAR MUSIC POST 1963 – LENNON AND McCARTNEY
Spotlighting a new book by author Ian Leslie about the chemistry that these two legendary songwriters had in their creation of so many memorable songs that will live forever. Not only their writing and musical talents are explored but that dynamic interchange of personalities. The book is a great psychological analysis of the interplay of both men having lost their moms at an early age and their common love for the early rock ‘n’ roll writers and singers of the 50’s and the rhythm and blue artists that came earlier.
Their music became their emotional salve to deal with events in their lives. With these two personalities, when one had a weakness, the other individual provided the strength and vice-versa. Competitive, yes, but that led to the consequence and the end result of being able to create better songs and their dual sound experimentation was unparalleled in the history of popular music. The same emotions that all friendships encounter with varying degrees are explored in this book. Jealousy, insecurities and pride, and all expressed in different ways by these unique individuals. One was more blunt and direct “publicly” and the other internalized his emotional feelings.
Fans should be careful of being too quick and impulsive about their judgements about the respective personalities of John and Paul. For example, for several of the early years, the Beatle who publicly exuded the most self-confidence and bravado, was possibly the most insecure in reality. The other side of the coin presented a man who had no trouble putting his best foot forward in front of the public, yet had great difficulty in expressing his emotional feelings in front of the public or in a public setting.
Before we continue to discuss the new John and Paul book by Ian Leslie here is an interesting story about the two developing songwriters performing a few gigs with the one-off name known as the “The Nerk Twins.”
In 1960, John and Paul performed at a pub run by Paul’s cousin and for a couple of performances at the club, they performed as a duo known as the Nerk Twins.
The Beatles Bible reported some of the details of their performance at the following site:
A recent article in the Sunday Times magazine in the UK–THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE March 16th, 2025 which details the new book by Ian Leslie:John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs (The photo is John and Paul rehearsing at 20 Forthlin Road, Paul’s home)
HERE IS THE BOOK THAT DEALS WITH THE THESIS PRESENTED ABOVE. I HAVE ALWAYS HOPED FOR SOMEONE TO WRITE A BOOK GIVING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE AND ANALYSIS OF PAUL McCARTNEY AND JOHN LENNON
AND WHY BOTH THEIR SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES HELPED TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE MAGICAL MUSICAL RECIPE.
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs
-This is the US version of the book.
Published by Celadon Books on April 8, 2025. Authored by Ian Leslie
John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs
John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs
A few samplings of the internet covering and reporting of Ian Leslie’s John and Paul book
Recommend you listen to these thought provoking programs:
John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs Published by Faber & Faber April 8, 2025 written by Ian Leslie.This is the UK version of the book: I bought the UK version of the book because I preferred the UK cover!
Back cover of the UK book: (Seamus Hayes)
The author’s signature on my copy of the UK version of the book:A special thanks to my UK friend Seamus Hayes who was able to obtain the signed copy of the book for me!
The sad thing in many Beatles-related books I have read over the years is the tendency of the author to pit John against Paul, and Paul against John as if they were polar opposites and enemies. They were not. They were human beings that had a different set of coping mechanisms to deal with their emotions and problems. “CHEMISTRY” is the key word here. For an extended period of time they were able to spark each others creativity and for a multitude of reasons, that spark was to eventually fizzle out. This book gives a more balanced and analytic view of the interplay between these 2 great songwriters.
Whether you had a preference for Paul or a preference for John in the context of the Beatles or their solo careers is basically irrelevant as it was the creative musical interaction between the 2 of them which will always hold a special place for many of us. It was truly a magical time…for both John and Paul and luckily, for the rest of the world as well.
Would love to hear your opinions of this new book! I look forward to your comments and perceptions…
