The Beatles in New Zealand – Rare Ross Penman New Zealand Beatles Discographies

The authority recognized in New Zealand as one of the most knowledgeable people regarding Beatles releases issued in that country, is Ross Penman. Ross issued three books that are now out of print and well sought after. I was able to obtain this trilogy of books from noted book author and collector, Samuel Coomans. Samuel has worked on a multitude of book projects with Dutch author and Dutch Beatles museum curator, Azing Moltmaker.

New Zealand Beatles Disks

The Penman books were independently produced by Mr. Penman and because of his wealth of knowledge of the New Zealand Beatles disks subject matter and the limited availability of his independently published books, many collectors of Beatles vinyl try very hard to track these books down.

However, I must be honest about discographies in general. Of all the Beatle books in my collection, discographies are the books that I have the least interest in and it has to do with the timing issue. You can produce a superb discography and as soon as a new release is issued, the book is out-of-date and then requires a revised edition or a supplement to keep things current.

The photo of the three books shown above was taken by Samuel Coomans who I acquired the books from. I extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to Samuel to allow me to purchase them and I recommend that you check out the many Beatles discographies that both he and Azing Moltmaker have produced over the years. You will be amazed at how many books they have done on the subject.

The main collecting pleasure that I received from acquiring these books was the sheer difficulty in being able to find them as a Beatles collector. It is filling the completist need first and the content need being secondary in this circumstance. That notion may be difficult to grasp for some Beatles aficionados. 

Buzz

What is Hidden in The Grooves of The Beatles Records?

A fabulous book about The Beatles, What Goes On (above), compiled by author Mike Brown. The book is now out of print due to the publisher discontinuing their book print facilities.  but you can access much of the information at the What Goes On Website

The book is an outstanding record of Beatles recording oddities that appeared on their officially sanctioned recordings over the years. Mistakes, clicks, hidden comments on the recordings, etc. This book is a fascinating collection of obscure Beatles recording information. Highly recommended if you see a copy being offered somewhere, that you attempt to purchase one. You will not be disappointed.

Mike Brown was involved in another excellent independently produced book entitled:

HEARING AIDS TO THE BEATLES VOLUME I: A MUSICIAN’S By Jeffrey Aarons & Mike Brown

This book takes more of a musician’s perspective of The Beatles recordings in detailing with such issues as who did the vocals on specific recordings, if they were single or double-tracked, the number of harmonies, how many overdubs, how many instruments were used and who played on them. This particular volume deals with the 1962-66 recording period. Published independently by Jeffrey Aarons in 2015.

Buzz

The Beatles Bootlegs

Hi Hi Hi-Now that we have your attention.

Here is the type of book that I love adding to my Beatles collection and library. Early in 2022, Ivano Poggi of Italy produced this wonderful 2 volume set of books which were each written in a numbered and signed edition of only 100 copies each. The books were issued in an English edition of which I purchased copy #100. The description of the two books is provided on the back covers of the respective titles shown below.

The subject matter of these two books is a photographic history of many of the unauthorized Beatles Bootleg recordings that have appeared over the years. This is the type of book that gives me tremendous satisfaction in collecting, independently produced, a small limited-edition run, often difficult to find, and an interesting subject matter.

The author did an excellent job with this project. Well done, Ivano!

Buzz