The blog is designed to feature old and new Beatles-related print material including books, magazines, posters & autographs of people that have a Beatles connection or association. The blog also features books from people that have worked with the solo members of the group after the breakup. Looking forward to seeing you as a subscribing member of the blog and I eagerly anticipate your participation and feedback on the blog!
John “Buzz” Bezzini has one of the world’s largest collections of Beatles books and Beatles-related print material and he will share his thoughts and opinions on some of the more obscure & rare and unusual Beatles titles in addition to the new and forthcoming titles as well!
John taught a course in 1984 called “The Beatles in Retrospect” marking the 20th anniversary of the Beatles’ arrival in America.
John also holds a Master’s Degree in Communication.
Enjoy Buzz’s Beatles Book Blog.
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Don’t forget that there are hundreds of Blog Posts here, so check them out on the Index at the bottom of the page!
Though Julian Lennon had intense reservations about ever covering his dad’s classic song of Imagine, when the crisis in Ukraine occurred with the invasion from the north, he felt compelled to do so because of the urgency of the moment. He produced a vinyl benefit 45 of the song. With the assistance of his friend Nuno Bettencourt, he recorded a unique acoustic guitar version of the song as Julian wanted something done differently in the production of the song because of it’s very strong association of being a piano based number. He was very successful in pulling it off.
Things change so quickly with song accreditation these days as a song that was always listed as being a John Lennon composition was changed to give credit to Yoko Ono as the co-writer and inspiration of the song via her book Grapefruit where she uses the Imagine term several times which clearly influenced John in the creation of the title and its contents, the song is now credited to Lennon/Ono. John himself stated during his lifetime that he should have given Yoko a songwriting credit for the song. That has now been rectified.
Julian’s was very resistant to ever doing a cover of the song for a multitude of reasons. One major reason is the curse of always being judged by media critics in comparisons with his father. Julian felt that the cause to help Ukraine outweighed and overruled that resistance and used the new recording to help with the Ukrainian cause as he donated the proceeds to Ukraine. Audience members who have heard the new version admire it and it seems to have received universally positive praise.
When the new Julian version of Imagine was issued, I saw this sheet music on eBay which featured Imagine signed by his son Julian. I could not resist in adding this to my collection. In the future I will have the sheet music framed with the 45 picture sleeve of the song. it is interesting to note that when John was recording the Imagine song and LP at Tittenhurst Park back in 1971, Julian was only a young boy of 8 years old, visiting his dad at the time and he was filmed playing with his friends on the immense estate, seemingly having a great time!
JULIAN LENNON SIGNED IMAGINE SHEET MUSIC
BMG-2022
Issued by BMG in 2022, this is the cover of the 45 issued by Julian of Imagine. The B-side was an etching of the word IMAGINE
The white vinyl 45:
Julian’s notes about his cover version appearing on both YouTube and his website- Official Store https://store.julianlennon.com/
“The War on Ukraine is an unimaginable tragedy… As a human, and as an artist, I felt compelled to respond in the most significant way I could.
So today, for the first time ever, I publicly performed my Dad’s song, IMAGINE.
Why now, after all these years? – I had always said, that the only time I would ever consider singing ‘IMAGINE’ would be if it was the ‘End of the World’…
But also because his lyrics reflect our collective desire for peace worldwide. Because within this song, we’re transported to a space, where love and togetherness become our reality, if but for a moment in time…
The song reflects the light at the end of the tunnel, that we are all hoping for…
As a result of the ongoing murderous violence, millions of innocent families, have been forced to leave the comfort of their homes, to seek asylum elsewhere.
I’m calling on world leaders and everyone who believes in the sentiment of IMAGINE, to stand up for refugees everywhere! Please advocate and donate from the heart. #StandUpForUkraine”
The late Mal Evans who passed away in January of 1976 when he was shot by the LA police department while brandishing what the cops viewed as a rifle being aimed at them. Mal was suffering from severe depression at the time. He had led both a fascinating yet complicated life. He had the undying trust of the Beatles and he was with them for virtually their entire career joining them in 1963 and becoming their Road Manager joining forces with another trusted Beatle associate named Neil Aspinall. Mal was with the band as they rose to the pinnacle of fame and fortune. He loved the band so much that his devout loyalty has been later diagnosed as one of his biggest flaws. The reason for this analysis is based on the observation that he was often taken for granted by the band especially in regards to his financial compensation. He was grossly underpaid especially when compared with what the Beatles earned during those 7 years he was with them. He was promised royalties and a songwriting credit for several lyrical contributions he made to some Beatles songs. Speculation also exists that he may have been given compensation but his diaries certainly do not verify any specific amounts if that is indeed the case. It is a sad irony that the Beatles loved and trusted Mal but perhaps one could judiciously argue that on the other side of the coin, much of Mal’s loyalty may have been misplaced or misdirected. Reading the superb book by Kenneth Womack called Living the Beatles Legend, he lays out much of the evidence which allows the viewer to assess the information and come to their own conclusion about this matter. Mal was very happy and eager to dedicate a large portion of his life to the Beatles, yet the end result of that was that his wife and children suffered from not having their husband and dad around as often as they would have wanted or have liked. I get the distinct impression that the family often came out as the 2nd banana in the importance hierarchy of Mal. That assessment is not so simple though as Ken Womack describes Mal’s intense love for his wife and children. You get the impression that Mal felt guilty about how his family was feelingabout his extreme sense of devotion but his actions and behavior seemed to belie that feeling of guilt. This may explain Mal’s intense sense of depression towards the end of his life. He was now facing a life without the Beatles and he lacked the sense of confidence to seemingly forge a new path. Mal admired the Beatles musical talents very much but he seemed to feel that his own attempts and musical production skills and attemots at songwriting were not be taken as seriously as he would have liked. It must have been a difficult scenario where his primary accomplishment was being assessed by the public from his association with the world’s most successful entertainers of the time. That had to be a tough row to hoe and we could certainly understand the mental conflicts this must have caused with Mal. To learn more about this fascinating story I suggest you read volume 1 of Kenneth Womack’s Mal Evans biography. You will smile at times and you will shed a few tears as well. Volume 2 of the Evans biography will follow, according to Ken Womack sometime in late 2026. The 2nd book will feature the actual Evans diaries as well as many other long hidden treasures!
For signed copies of the Ken Womack book:THE FEST FOR BEATLES FANS LINK
Some people scoff at the contributions that Mal Evans made to Beatles songs like contributing some lyrics to Paul’s Fixing a Hole Sgt. Pepper track, yet just like many other Mal Evans occasions where the Beatles took Mal for granted, he went publicly uncredited for many of those contributions. It is a Shakespearean tragedy in my opinion that this man’s undying loyalty and love for the Beatles allowed him to be often used by the band. This even extended to what the band paid him during the Beatles years. The full story is brilliantly portrayed in the Kenneth Womack book that you see on this page (both the US edition and UK edition are pictured above)
A Personal Collecting higlight for me:
This unreleased song entitled Tears, was written in Mal Evans handwriting which I obtained for my personal collection from the UK organization named TRACKS! The song was co-written with Norman Kurban, a songwriter, musician, and arranger. Kurban has worked with Carole King and Buddy Miles among many other prominent names over the years!
Mal must have written multiple drafts of the song as recently I saw another handwritten copy of the song on eBay!
That copy however does not give the songwriting credits shown here on the upper right hand corner of the document!
Some Songwriting and Production Credits:
You and Me (Babe) is the song that ends the Ringo LP. It was co-written by none other than George Harrison and Mal Evans. Little is known that there was an additional song written by Mal that Ringo decided not to use on the Ringo LP. (See the Womack book for more details)
Mal Evans was also a great talent scout for the Beatles finding and promoting the Iveys who were later to become Badfinger. Mal Evans produced the hit singleNo Matter Whatfor Badfinger.
Mal also discovered and found the wonderful duo who become Splinter once Bill Elliot had recorded the vocal for the John Lennon song God Save Us God Save Us (2010 Remaster) which was issued to benefit OZ magazine in the UK. The song had a production credit for Mal Evans on the record.
Later, Elliot joined Bob Purvis to form Splinter a wonderful harmonizing duo that recorded some Apple demos but after the Apple label had deteriorated, due to business problems, George Harrison signed them to Dark Horse Records.
A lovely and beautiful Bob Purvis song that Mal Evans wrote some of the lyrics to was entitled Lonely Man. A rare unreleased version of this song exists with Pete Ham of Badfinger on acoustic guitar. Hopefully we will one day hear that gem. In the meantime, here is the excellent released version:
This is an item which I acquired from Kenneth Womack, the prominent Beatles scholar and author.
The bobblehead features a representation of Mal holding a hammer that he used on the anvil he secured for the song he played on during the Get Back/Let It Be sessions entitled Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. The song was officially released on the Abbey Road LP. I apologize for not knowing for sure whether it was Mal or Ringo playing the anvil on the final studio version of the song. I am only making an assumption saying that it was Mal. I usually only collect Beatles-related print material but I was overjoyed to obtain this wonderful memento from the Mal Evans book author. I love it and it is displayed prominently on one of my many bookshelves. One of my biggest regrets was not attending the Beatlefest (now known as The Fest For Beatles Fans) in the 70s where Mal made a guest appearance.
I have been told that a picture of the unique Apple Christmas card that Mal Evans sent to the former manager of Apple Records, the late Ken Mansfield, which I now own, will be included in the highly anticipated 2nd volume about Mal written by Kenneth Womack, due sometime in 2026! Here is a photo of the letter that accompanied my purchase of the Mal Evans Christmas card. Mr. Mansfield was a classy guy!
The 1964 UK Tour program in my collection which features a Mal Evans signature:
Mal Evans signature from my copy of a 1964 UK Tour program-unusual because he usually signed Mal rather than his full first name of Malcolm!Also proud to have his job description included with his signature asBeatle Road Manager.
MAL WAS LOVED BY VIRTUALLY EVERYONE:
Mal was also loved and respected by many of the Beatles close friends and associates. For example, people like musician Harry Nilsson who wrote this wonderful inscription about Mal on a test reference disk of his Sandman LP :
It reads: “TO MAL THE PAL-I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART-YOU BET HARRY NILSSON” Mal took the photo of the the cover of the Nilsson Sandman LP.
The Harry Nilsson Sandman LP cover with the photo that was taken by Mal Evans:
Mal receives the cover photo credit on the back of the album cover in the last column:
SANDMAN ALBUM CREDITS:
A&R – Marge Meoli
Arranged By – Perry Botkin Jr. (tracks: A2, A4, B4)
Engineer [Second] – Artie Torgersen, Mike Moran (7), Pete Abbott
Guitar – Danny Kootch*, Fred Tackett, Jesse Ed Davis
Keyboards – Jane Getz, Leon Russell, Van Dyke Parks
Percussion – Emil Richards, Emmett Kennedy, Gary Coleman, Joe DeAguero, Pat Murphy, Robert Greenidge
Photography By [Cover] – Mal “The Pal” Evans*
Producer – Harry Nilsson
Reeds – Bobby Keys, Gene Cipriano, Jay Migliori, Jim Horn, Johnny Rotella*, Trevor Lawrence
Strings [Solos] – Bobby Bruce, Ilene Novog, The Perry Botkin Jr. Orchestra*
HOPE YOU LOOK FORWARD TO LATE 2026 WHEN WE LEARN A LOT MORE ABOUT THE INTRIGUING SHAKESPEAREAN TALE OF MALCOLM EVANS WITH VOLUME 2 OF KENNETH WOMACK’S EXCELLENT EXPLORATION OF THE LIFE OF THE GENTLE GIANT. HOPE THE MONTHS FLY BY!
Just got my copy in the mail of the wonderful new volume of the John Lennon narrative being passionately created and worked on by Jude Southerland Kessler. Jude has taken on the arduous, yet rewarding task of creating a day by day chronology of John’s life in order for viewers to be able to understand the creation of the complex personality of one of the 20th century’s most dynamic and misunderstood figures! Since Jude began this project many years ago, awaiting each volume of her John Lennon narrative has become an eagerly anticipated ritual. We know where the story is heading but still living with the hope of a different ending. That is the literary gift of Jude Southerland Kessler. John becomes alive again on every page and through her intense research and heavily documented through heavily footnoted text, we know that this work is not a personal fantasy of Jude’s. Her series of books bring you there as if you are a standby viewer watching the events unfold. The narrative is extremely credible and realistic and that is such a difficult task for conversations that may never had been recorded. The latest volume deals with the 2nd half of 1965 which some have argued was actually the peak year of Beatlemania. The Beatles were on another American tour and this was the year they got to meet their hero, Elvis Presley! They were also to play their historic Shea Stadium concert!
Originally thought to become a 9 book series, each volume is so heavily detailed and documented, I personally expect the series to extend over the ten volume mark. Once it is completed, Jude’s contribution to both John’s and theBeatles story will be forever assured. I fully intend to make sure that I will get every volume of this incredible book series as glowing examples of the jewels that the hard work of Jude Southerland Kessler have accomplished!
All of the books in the Lennon series are voluminous in the 600-800 page range. Jude must be hard pressed to ever leave or depart from her computer. Readers can never fully realize the work that goes behind the creating of this narrative especially with the level of detail that Jude demands with her task!
The front cover of the new book designed by Rande Kessler:
Back cover of the book with some book details and the high praise of many of Jude’s contemporaries:
The signature of the author and of the cover designer:
Jude Kessler and her husband Rande are a true team, always working together to accomplish common goals with the intense desire and pursuit of excellence. They have been very kind to me in our many email exchanges over the years and have gone the extra mile in helping to promote this Beatles Blog for which I always will be grateful!
Here is a special page of the new book devoted to Rande and some of his distinguished accomplishments:
Hope you have enjoyed this post about the new book!
Once again, here is the link if you are interested in acquiring the new volume:
A personal thank you goes out to my late friend Billy Maura for taking all of the photos of Julian that appear in this post and to his wife Faye Maura, who kindly gave me the permission to use the photos in the post!
A show I went to with a couple of co-workers and friends on July 29, 1999 at Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut. Toad’s Place is a club where the Rolling Stones played a surprise gig. The club is a “stones throw” away (no pun intended) from Yale University!!!
Needless to say, the show was excellent. Julian’s band was tight, and Julian had an excellent stage presence interacting frequently with the audience and his singing pipes are golden. As time has gone by, I sincerely regret his personal decision to virtually give up doing live appearances!
The Band:
The band consisted of Gregory Darling on Piano, Manny Elias on Drums, Martin Swain on Bass, Matt Backer on Slide/Lead Guitar, & John McCurry on Lead Guitar
TheSet List for the 1999 Tour
The set list on this 1999 tour designed to promote the Photograph Smile LP:
Get a Life
And She Cries
Day After Day
I Should Have Known
Faithful
Crucified
No One But You–(as of 2025, this song remains unreleased which is truly a shame)
Saltwater
Cold
Valotte
Photograph Smile
Make It Up To You
I Don’t Wanna Know
Too Late for Goodbyes
Good To Be Lonely
Stand By Me
The Highlights:
I personally love Julian’s Photograph Smile album and eagerly looked forward to seeing some of the great songs on the album played live. In addition to that, loved hearing the excellent songs Saltwater, Too Late for Goodbyes, and Valotte being performed live was also a great thrill. However my favorite moment of the concert was hearing a song entitled No One ButYou, an unreleased song having to so with the prospects of self-reliance. Someone has posted a performance of the song on YouTube and for the life of me I can not understand why Julian has not yet made the decision to issue it for public consumption. It is a beautiful song that deserves to be heard by many more people.
Photo by William Maura
Photo by William Maura
Photo by William Maura
Photo by William Maura
Photo by William Maura
Photo by William Maura
Photo by William Maura
Photo by William Maura
Photo by William Maura
Photo by William Maura
I believe Julian has given up or drastically reduced his cigarette smoking as health concerns become primary to all of us as we get older.
Many years later in 2021, a very interesting and entertaining book was issued about stories of the various artists that made guest or surprise appearances at the Toad’s Place venueincluding the Stones and Bruce Springsteen.
THE BOOKBY BRIAN PHELPS AND RANDALL BEACH
The Legendary Toad’s Place: Stories from New Haven’s Famed Music Venue Paperback – October 8, 2021
“Anyone who has lived near New Haven, Connecticut, in the past 40-plus years has surely heard of Toad’s Place. With a capacity of 750, Toad’s has served as the perfect spot for musicians who prefer smaller venues. U2 played one of their first US concerts there, on their Boy tour. In 1978, Bruce Springsteen was in New Haven and arrived at Toad’s unannounced, and got up and played. The surprises kept coming and the club was attracting big names, as well as up-and-comers. In 1989, the Rolling Stones played a surprise show on a Saturday night, giving 700 fans the night of their dreams. Nothing could have been better—the Rolling Stones in downtown New Haven was unimaginable! That is only a taste of the stories that are uncovered in this book. Randall Beach and Toad’s owner Brian Phelps recall the legendary shows and behind-the-scenes stories.”
The back cover of the book:
Hope you enjoyed the post and God Bless the memory of William Maura, a true and wonderful friend!
In the 1960’s there was a teen magazine at a California radio station with the call letters of KRLA. The magazine thatthe radio station produced was entitled KRLA BEAT. In the 60s there were quite a few issues of the magazine which featured a Beatle on the cover. In 2016, a book was published compiling most of the Beatles features that the magazine published during those years. It is well worth getting for your Beatles print collections. Collections compiled in this book serve as superb time capsules like the scrapbooks that Beatles fans kept prior to the digital age. In the future I plan to show you some of the contents of the 100 or so Beatles scrapbooks that I compiled in my personal collection prior to the world takeover of the internet.
Here is the book written by Torrence Berry and Gary D Zenker that compile many of the Beatle articles that appeared in KRLA BEAT magazine:
Beatles Archives Volume 1 Paperback – April 3, 2016
by Torrence Berry (Author), Gary D Zenker (Author)
Back cover of the book:
Two of the KRLA Beat issues with a Beatle on the cover from my collection.Both of the 2 issues shown here are from the same month of the release of the Sgt. Pepper album-June 1967
This issue appeared only a couple of days after the Pepper release:
“Pepper” was scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on June 1, 1967, but a leak caused an earlier release on May 26, 1967.
Another revelation that is food for Beatles trivia enthusiasts as there are always caveats associated with the “pure truth” concerning official release dates!
From Reddit-The official release date for The Beatles’ album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was June 1, 1967, in the UK according to History.com and the band’s official website TheBeatles.com. While some sources list May 26th as the release date, this is often associated with a partial release or a release in certain regions, like the UK .
I love hearing and learning virtually out-of-the-blue about special signed and numbered limited editions of books that are written by special authors like the prolific and talented, Luca Perasi. Special Beatle fan and chief editor of the fantastic Paul McCartney magazine entitled Maccazine, Edward Eikelenboom, worked out an arrangement and collaborated with Luca Perasi in order to issue a special 30 copy only signed and numbered edition of his latest book about the various recorded works of the legendary Paul McCartney. Being a collector sometimes means being at the right place at the right time. For example, when I learned of this special edition by email, I quickly requested to purchase the last signed and numbered copy for my collection. With special limited edition signed and numbered books you often need to act very quickly to ensure getting a copy. I always try to obtain the last numbered copy as it is far more difficult to acquire copy #1 of any limited edition book. I am not always successful in attempts to get the last numbered copy, but in this circumstance I was fortunate to be able to acquire copy #30. With a small limited edition amount of copies, you also need to be very lucky or happen to be around when the books become available from the source that you acquire the book from. Putting the signed and numbered aspects of the book aside, Luca Perasi is an author whose work I admire and his research skills are excellent and without parallel, it is the best of both worlds.
Paul McCartney: Press to Play. That Unmistakable 80s Sound (Milestones) Hardcover – June 4, 2025
by Luca Perasi (Author)
The book is also available in a softcover edition Published by L.I.L.Y.
“As divisive an album it might be within McCartney’s artistic journey, Press to Play touches the hearts of many fans — including a new, younger generation that was then shaping — and offers many points of interest for music historians and musicians. Released in the summer of 1986, the album was an interesting – although commercially unsuccessful – attempt to update McCartney’s vocabulary, with which he firmly planted both feet in the realm of the Eighties. With its wide range of sonic influences, from synth-pop and video game music to simple rock ‘n’ roll; its imagery and surrealism; its themes of romance and sexual fervour; and its mix of mellow and harder tracks, Press to Play is an album split in two. There is a certain penchant for glossy perfection, but also a sound research and experimentation that never becomes obvious. Enriched by coloured images, the volumePress to Play. That Unmistakable 80s Soundtells the story of one ofMcCartney’s most obscure records and misunderstood periods (1985–86). In its detailed analysis of the album’s sonic wonders, based on contemporary sourcesand in-depth interviews by the author with key figures such as Hugh Padgham, Jerry Marotta and Carlos Alomar, the book guides readers through the many fascinating aspects of the record (the new Hog Hill Mill Studio, the recording equipment and tricks, the instrumentation, the effects used, the coexistence between analogue and digital). The abundance of instrumentation – which combines modern sounds from the era (DX7 synthesisers, sequencers, emulator, LinnDrum) and vintage pieces such as Hammond organ, Moog, Fender Rhodes – makes it one of the most multilayered albums of Paul McCartney’s career. The volume covers the supposed “production misunderstanding” with Eric Stewart, the songwriting partnership with the ex-10CC leader, the timeline of the sessions, the stories behind the songs (including B-sides, unreleased material and the single “Spies Like Us”), their harmonic and rhythmic inventions, and lyrical analysis. The many factors that undermined McCartney’s confidence at the time are also explored, including the unfortunate Live Aid performance and Michael Jackson’s acquisition of The Beatles’ song catalogue, leading to discovering what went wrong and why and there’s also a chapter devoted to the insecurity showed during the promotion of the album, offering a new psychological and human insight into Paul. Has Press to Play stood the test of time?An unprecedented and incredibly rich historical look at one of Paul McCartney’s most forgotten albums.“
Copy #30 of the signed Press to Play, Luca Perasi book
Luca presents a strong and convincing case in his book about the merits of this McCartney release. I must admit though, that I was never a big fan of Press to Play prior to reading his piece and Luca has successfully made me return to the release and appreciate it far more than I originally did when it became a part of our McCartney archives!Well done, Luca!
A Little Fun to end the post
Though McCartney may appear to have a clear Stranglehold on the gift of melody. He has the good instincts to know that Good Times Coming is a distinct possibility for humankind, but only if we just take the time to Feel the Sun and to simply Touch your Pretty Little Head when contemplating the situation. He knows the Footprints in the snow give him the early warning signs and permission to say Move Over Busker to his competition. That may make them Angry but it may Press them into creative action knowing that Only Love Remains when you play the right cards and improve your musical skills. However Absurd this may sound to you, if you Talk More Talk and say all the right things you will realize I was just having a little fun with discussing Luca’s new book and Paul’s song titles from the Press to Play LP.
