Posted on 2 Comments

BEST McCARTNEY MACCAZINE IN THE WORLD

The best way for me to introduce what I personally feel is the best regularly printed magazine about Paul McCartney – MACCAZINE – in the world is to present a small section of their own magazine description from their website, as I believe it to be a very accurate summary of the contents of the magazine. In the digital world in which we live in, it is a refreshing thought to know that this organization based in the Netherlands, publishes two special McCartney magazines peryear.

However, the word magazine is not the correct term to use to describe the issues as the two magazines that arrive each year are actually equivalent in both appearance and content to receiving two new oversized McCartney paperback “books” inundated with great information and fantastic photos. It can be truly said that Maccazine can’t be beat!!! There is not a better magazine in existence about the world’s most successful composer!

All I have is praise and accolades for this wonderful well-written and researched McCartney magazine that arrives at my mailbox twice a year. Before I show you photos of the covers of the 49 English language issues that have been printed up until January of 2025, I would like to present a list of of some of the stellar staff members of this excellent MACCAZINE:

The Maccazine Team
The Maccazine Team

The chief editor of the Maccazine, Edward Eikelenboom, has graciously consented to give me and this post a little personal background to the magazine’s history which is provided here:

From Edward:

1) We started as the Dutch Paul McCartney Fanclub in 1973 after contacting the UK Fun Club address on the back of the “Red Rose Speedway” album sleeve. We also received official approval from EMI Bovema, the Dutch record company.

2) At first we distributed the British Fan Club newsletters to the Dutch subscribers and in April 1975 we started to publish our own magazine Wings Words. From the start all our magazines were published in the Dutch language.

3) Up until 1983 we published 6 magazines a year. Because Wings officially disbanded in 1981 we retitled our fanclub magazine to McCartney Magazine in 1984, followed by the name Maccazine in 1992. As our magazine improved over the years in quality and in quantity (more pages in each issue) we decided to publish 4 magazines a year starting in 1983. All Maccazines were still published in Dutch with a print in black and white.

4) In 2005, twenty years ago, we decided to change our policy. This was partly due to the Internet, but also we wanted to reach more readers in other countries. So we began publishing Maccazine in English with a full colour cover. We also decided not to focus on the recent news, but to issue specials about a certain topic, like a McCartney album, a concert tour or another them. Our first issue was “Venus And Mars”.

5)   It’s now 20 years later and so far we have published 49 Maccazines (in English). The amount of pages, quality of print and even the inside pages of Maccazine are now printed in colour. So we keep improving our Maccazines. We are a non-profit organisation (organization) so all money that comes in we spent on our issues.

6) The people who read Maccazine are from all over the world. Most readers are situated outside The Netherlands. The best way is to save money is to subscribe, but you can also order (back) issues from our website.

MACCAZINE’S PARTIAL WEBSITE DESCRIPTION ABOUT THEIR SPECIAL MAGAZINE THAT APPEARS AT THEIR WEBSITE:

MACCAZINE is a hard copy magazine about Paul McCartney published by the Paul McCartney Fan Club. MACCAZINE is one of a kind, bringing you exclusive information in a world ruled by the internet. Take a look inside and discover MACCAZINE! Once you have read one, you want to read them all!

MACCAZINE is published by the Paul McCartney Fan Club. All MACCAZINES are offered at prime cost. The Paul McCartney Fan Club is a non-profit organization, run by volunteers. Let it be clear that no money is made from the publication of these MACCAZINES. All for the love of Paul.

Maccazine is a hard copy magazine (a bound paperback) about Paul McCartney. It is published (*) twice a year. Due to the fact that  the Internet has taken over the world and the fact that the latest Paul McCartney news is to  be found on hundreds of websites, we have decided to focus on creating an informative paper magazine about Paul McCartney.

Most of our Maccazines are 58+ pages magazines (a bound paperback) with a full colour cover about an event in Paul McCartney ’s career after the Beatles break-up; for instance an album by Wings, a solo album or a concert tour.

  • All Maccazines are written in English and contain lots of photos and illustrations.
  • You can buy Maccazines as back issues, but when you choose to become a member, you will automatically receive the latest issue at your home address.                                

Our aim is not to provide you with the latest news about Paul McCartney, but to deliver an interesting magazine with facts that have been obtained through extensive research by our editors.

SUBSCRIBE?

Should you be interested in becoming a subscriber of the magazine or you possibly would like to purchase a specific issue, you can use the contact information provided at the link below to learn how. Any specific questions you may have about the magazines content can be addressed by someone at their website:

Maccazine – The best magazine about Paul mcCartney!

At this juncture I would like to present the front covers of all of the issues of this superb McCartney magazine that I have obtained over the last several years – Issues 1-49. Enjoy the ride! The reason that the numbering system on the covers of the magazine does not match the numeric 1-49 issue numbers I have placed on the post is that Maccazine started in 1973 and since 2005 they began to publish them in English. For example, 2023 is therefore the 51st year.

I was so impressed with the magazine that I just had to acquire the entire English language collection for my personal archive! Here are the covers of the 49 English language issues published thus far:


#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15

#16

#17

#18

#19

#20

#21

#22

#23

#24

#25

#26

#27

#28

#29

#30

#31

#32

#33

#34

#35

#36

#37

#38

#39

#40

#41

#42

#43

#44

#45

#46

#47

#48

#49

Sincerely hope you enjoyed viewing the 49 issues of Maccazine that were presented here. I would like to close this post by posting a generalized question about Beatles-related fanzines that you may be a subscriber to or at one time subscribed to.

QUESTION FOR YOU

Before the internet, what was your main source of Beatles information or news? Was there a Beatles fanzine or a solo Beatles fanzine that you depended on to give you the information that you sought on a regular basis? If so, please let us know in the comments what that was and why it appealed to you. Thank you!

BUZZ

Discover More About Paul McCartney at The Beatles Bookstore

Posted on 2 Comments

GEORGE HARRISON’S FRETLESS GUITAR

George Harrison's Guitar
George Harrison’s Guitar
George Harrison's Guitar
George Harrison’s Guitar

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
Finding Fretless George’s Guitar

This Day in Music Books-Publisher Publication date – November 4, 2021

QUESTION: Do you enjoy books about The Beatles instruments? Let me know below.

BUZZ

Discover More About The Beatles and Music

Posted on 6 Comments

Cunard Yanks or Radio? How Did The Beatles Get Records?

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.

Radio Luxembourg on the Radio Dial
Radio Luxembourg on the Radio Dial

Find out more here at Culture Sonar

https://www.culturesonar.com/how-the-beatles-heard-the-latest-records

David Bedford

Get David’s Fab One Hundred and Four: The Evolution of The Beatles, to find out the full story.

Posted on 6 Comments

THE “KING” OF THE BEATLES DISCOGRAPHY

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 Beatles Covered Discography

The back cover of both the slipcase and the actual book:

The Beatles Covered Discography
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!!!

BUZZ

BOOKS ABOUT THE BEATLES AND MUSIC

Posted on 1 Comment

McCARTNEY – THE EARL OF THE CLUB SANDWICH

CLUB SANDWICH – A FUN CLUB TO BE A MEMBER OF:

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
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 #21 An 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 #20 Linda 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 #24 Two 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.

Something to await the answer to in the future…

Thingumybob (Stereo Version/2010 Remaster) – YouTube

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.

JOHN “BUZZ” BEZZINI

More Great Books at the Beatles Bookstore

Posted on 3 Comments

A DOUBLE FANTASY BOOK FROM TASCHEN

– 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:

Double Fantasy John Lennon & Yoko Ono
Double Fantasy John Lennon & Yoko Ono

John Lennon & Yoko Ono. Double Fantasy / By Kishin Shinoyama – YouTube

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
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
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.

Kishin Shinoyama – Wikipedia

An Italian post about a couple of the Taschen limited edition books dealing with 2 former members of the Beatles:

John Lennon & Yoko Ono. Double Fantasy + Harry Benson. Paul – Meraviglie in Taschen – YouTube

Taschen’s link to purchase the book: (Please note: the book is an expensive item)

Kishin Shinoyama. John Lennon & Yoko Ono. Double Fantasy. TASCHEN Books

Question for readers: (be honest in your replies)

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