Category: Buzz’s Beatles Book/ Print Blog

John Buzz Bezzini

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.

The images shared here are part of John’s private collection and are shared under Fair Use/ Fair Dealings. If you have any questions, contact the administrator.

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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!

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Posted on 06/09/202506/09/2025 by Buzz — Leave a comment

BUZZ’S BEATLES SCRAPBOOK #5

DEAR SIR OR MADAM: WILL YOU READ MY SCRAPBOOK? THEY TOOK A LONG TIME TO COMPILE-WILL YOU TAKE A LOOK???

My biggest regret in compiling all of my Beatles-related scrapbooks over the years is that the attribution of the various articles is irregular as to the original source of the article or who wrote it. I never knew that one day that the contents of my scrapbooks would appear on a Beatles blog page that I was involved with. I know the time frame of the articles as other articles in the scrapbook give me that time frame. That is why in the very first scrapbook post I ask those that do not receive attribution to an article they may have written, to write to me and specify the date and time and the location that the article originally appeared and I will acknowledge the original source and the date and author of the respective piece when the info is provided to me. Some of the articles have attribution. As a personal collectible my primary motivation when putting these scrapbooks together was to save the content and to save the information for me personally, as I got older. I never realized at the time that the scrapbooks would become print time capsules of information that I still love to read and others might too! Unfortunately virtually all print material is dying and becoming an extinct species. I asked my blog administrator, David Bedford, if I could present the 100 or so scrapbooks I personally compiled over the years before the digital era onslaught came about. He said it would be welcome and fine to do so. That reassurance and OK made me happy because I know sharing the pieces from so many sources would bring so many smiles to many people.

Badfinger was one of the Beatles biggest acts on Apple. Introduced to the Fabs as the Iveys by Beatles associate, Mal Evans, I loved collecting articles about Badfinger for the scrapbooks. I remembering hearing the Iveys first Apple 45, Maybe Tomorrow, being played on my local radio station in Hartford, Connecticut. I was stunned and surprised when they changed their name to Badfinger and recorded the McCartney penned song, Come and Get It for the Magic Christian film. Watching them evolve was exciting. However watching their demise was heartbreaking and so tragic…

Derek Taylor passes away in 1997 Born May 7th, 1932 – Died September 8th, 1997

Photographs of Apple executive, Ron Kass are not to commonplace. At one time he was married to Joan Collins. Other prominent Beatle people in this photo are Beatles press officer Derek Taylor, singer Mary Hopkin, Beatle videographer and friend, Tony Bramwell and Peter Asher who became an A and R specialist at Apple. He brought singer James Taylor to Apple!

When all of the Mike Douglas John Lennon/Yoko Ono shows were issued on VHS tapes. I have a copy of the hardback book shown here and I also have all of the shows on dvd which I purchased from a South American country, I believe it was Brazil. I can only assume that the dvds were not authorized by the Lennon estate but I do not know for sure if that is the case!

Todd Rundgren attempts to put John Lennon in his place…Stay tuned for John’s reply…

Paul McCartney is Hairy in disguise at the George Harrison Madison Square Garden show in Dec of 74.

Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney in disguise along with Linda’s brother, John Eastman. They were in the audience at Madison Square Garden in Dec. 1974 to watch George close out his 1974 Dark Horse tour. The other phot is Paul and Linda at the Sgt. Pepper musical.

Lennon’s reply to Todd Rundgren’s criticisms of him…

Ironically, Mike Douglas had invited Lennon/Ono to do a show in Hawaii, post Double Fantasy. John respectfully declined but mentioned he would be travelling there soon. Little did he know that his killer was to come from that state!

Hope you are enjoying viewing my personal scrapbooks!

Be healthy and be happy!

Buzz

Posted on 04/09/202504/09/2025 by Buzz — 2 Comments

BUZZ’S BEATLES SCRAPBOOK #4

Well, we are already up to the 4th Beatles scrapbook from my personal collection to present on the blog. Hope you are enjoying these collected print time capsules from the past. So many more to come…

With this post I am not going to offer commentary on the individual scrapbook posts as they all should be self-explanatory for your viewing enjoyment. Hope you are able to find some information that you have not been exposed to before. Unfortunately with newspaper clippings there is no 100% way to vouch for the veracity of the article claims being made. Healthy skepticism is always the best way to treat something that appears too good to be true!!!

Be healthy and be happy!

Hope you enjoyed taking a look at today’s scrapbook time capsule!

Posted on 03/09/202503/09/2025 by Buzz — 2 Comments

BUZZ’S BEATLES SCRAPBOOK #3

SNAPSHOTS OF MEMORIES FROM THE PAST, PRESERVED FROM CLIPPINGS FROM MY PERSONAL BEATLES SCRAPBOOK COLLECTION! HOPE YOU WILL ENJOY THE JOURNEY WITH THIS TIME MACHINE…!

Unfortunately, our mixed up media culture often gives a forum for people to make a name through a detestable action that they have perpetrated on a celebrity, permanently and objectionably linked with the object of their heinous act.

A discussion of Walking on Thin Ice:

A picture sleeve of Linda’s catchy reggae number: SEASIDE WOMAN

Bits and pieces!

I love the Rutles!!! Neil Innes was brilliant! Love this EP!

A classic number for the Christmas holidays! John posthumously has been criticized for world peace never having been actually realized. Maybe that has something to do with the various power mongers who do things for the prophets ( I mean for the profits! (the war machine) which means $$$ and cents for arms manufacturers after all!

It made no sense (cents) for the rest of us though, thankfully! We have the clear conscience! Thanks for trying, John, the world learn will learn someday, hopefully!

Beautiful ballad by John for Yoko:

John’s first single after his return to music in 1980:

Back cover of the George Harrison Blow Away sleeve: John Lennon has an unreleased song that appeared on the Lost Lennon tapes entitled The Happy Rishikesh Song where it is alleged that he borrowed some of the melody from George. Since Blow Away by George was released in February 1979 on his album George Harrison that would be ironic as John seems to be taking the mickey out of George with the lyrics of his number. Alas, we will never know for sure! It would all depend on when George and John actually wrote their respective songs…

Front cover of the Blow Away sleeve:

This Macca track has grown on me over the years! Was a #1 on Billboard!

This Harrison sleeve of mine had saeen much better days than this...

John Lennon suggested that Ringo record this Platters hit and it was a hit for Ringo as well:

Carefrees Beatles novelty record:

This was news to me! Wonder where people source this information from or do they take liberties and just make the stuff up???

Paul in his own private collection has a couple of pages where he and John attempted to write a play together! That would have been something if it was ever realized.

More bits and pieces!

A mention of the Beatles when discussing hearing disabilities:

Sure wish there would have been more…..C’mon Sean, finish of studio versions of the rest of your dad’s unreleased demos!

Cindy Williams of Laverne and Shirley bought a set of John’s erotic lithographs for her private collection. Also, Genesis Publications original ad to purchase the book I Me Mine signed by George Harrison

A mixed bag of stories:

Do you believe as some have conjectured that RIngo was lamasting Paul in this song or was that speculation pure fiction in your opinion?

Fred Lynn, former outfielder of the Boston Red Sox had a humorous Lennon quote at the end of this Peter Gammons column:

It is the ultimate tragedy that these perpetrators of these heinous crimes are not given significant mental health treatment BEFORE they commit their despicable crimes. It is scary to wonder how many such people are still out there???

Be healthy and be happy!

Buzz

ANOTHER GREAT BOOK AT THE BEATLES BOOKSTORE

Cunard Yanks

CUNARD YANKS – AND HOW THE MERSEY GOT ITS BEAT

A fascinating prequel to “Blame It On the Beatles …. and Bill Shankly”

It is 1954. Steve and Dave are looking for adventure. Their hometown of Liverpool is scarred by war. New York is the future and it will soon be the richest city in the world. They need to see it and feel the excitement. They need to be there. They need to become Cunard Yanks.

Shop now

Posted on 01/09/202501/09/2025 by Buzz — 6 Comments

BUZZ’S BEATLES SCRAPBOOK #2

Well the reaction to the first Beatles scrapbook post was very positive and therefore their presentation will continue but I had a change of heart about one element of the scrapbooks. I am not planning on avoiding the presentation of controversial topics or potential negative information about the band. I will be presenting articles that deal with the murder of John Lennon though not making that the focus of a particular Beatles scrapbook’s content.

Also some negative articles portrayed in some of the tabloid press as part of the scrapbook potpourri will be shown from the scrapbooks. This is not to give credibility or to lend credence to the gossip articles or to demonstrate the veracity of everything that is shown. By presenting the multitude of Beatles articles presented over the years, both good and bad, you will see many truthful well researched and substantiated articles, but also gossip media as well. We know that many people prefer to read rumor, and conspiracy theories because of the often explosive nature of those type of stories, not because of any basis in fact. Hopefully, with these scrapbooks you will be exposed to a healthy balance of what has appeared over the years in the various print media.

You may be pleased with some of the articles and others may anger you but I caution you not to shoot the messenger!!! If album reviews are presented that you disagree with, do not personalize your criticism to me as it does not mean that I personally agree with the negative review. My goal has always been to expose you to the various print material about the Beatles that have been issued or appeared over the years, both positive and negative…

So sit back, relax, and hopefully, enjoy!

A pot pourri from 1979/1980 or so:

Paul McCartney

Remember FAN is short for FANATIC:

Bits of info:

The Dakota

They’re gonna put him in the movies: Ringo

Caveman review:

Anyone in New England remember this?

Caveman review:

More bits and pieces:

Film ad for I Want to Hold Your Hand:

JAPAN OR BUST? BUST APPARENTLY!!!

Here is a McCartney novelty record that I don’t remember hearing about, has Howard Stern connections and the late Al Anderson of NRBQ as well!

A McCartney II review:

A review of London Town from 1978:

A story about the Lapidos Fest for Beatles Fans:

An early Charles Rosenay convention and an ad for one of my favorite Beatles books:

BEATLES RELATED RECORDS

Some of the picture sleeves stored in the scrapbook: One of those rare times that both John and Paul were on the same page politically as Paul released Give Ireland back to the Irish and John released The Luck of the Irish and Sunday Bloody Sunday dealing with the crisis In Ireland as it relates to the British involvement in the crisis!

A Beatles novelty record:

I love George’s B-side on this record:

**If we ever get a Rubber Soul box set I want to hear John’s full original demo for What Goes On which has a radically different feel to the released version of the song!**

A rare Lennon song that received virtually no airplay at all.

Mary Hopkin

Mary, Mary— Quite Contrary Mary Hopkin never seemed comfortable to me in much of the material Apple asked her to record. That is a subjective opinion, of course, but I believe she has stated as much in some select interviews she has done over the years!

My Sweet Lord

Yoko’s controversial cover for her Now or Never Apple 45. Featured a photo of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam:

“Walking in the Park with Eloise” is a jazz instrumental written by Jim McCartney, Paul’s dad, and later recorded by his son Paul McCartney, reflecting a heartfelt connection between father and son. This is the picture sleeve of the song. The flip side was Bridge on the River Suite which was an instrumental by Paul.

From RIngo’s Goodnight Vienna album:

A #1 Wings 45:

Despite some McCartney critics detesting the song, I love it. Great melody line and I believe McCartney did this number in order to sock it to some of his critics accusing him of being too saccharine!

Not quite boys, but I give you credit for trying!

The rare Girl picture sleeve:

Ending this scrapbook with a copy of my withdrawn picture sleeve of Leave My Kitten Alone which should have been released early in the Beatles career. Fantastic Lennon vocal on the Anthology recording where it eventually appeared!

The other side of the sleeve:

Be healthy and be happy!

Buzz

CHECK OUT THE GREAT BOOKS WE HAVE AT THE BEATLES BOOKSTORE

The Beatles and Music

The music of The Beatles

Shop now

Posted on 29/08/202529/08/2025 by Buzz — Leave a comment

WELL I JUST HAD TO LAUGH … AN UNUSUAL BEATLES BOOK BY JEFF WALKER

I JUST HAD TO HAVE A LOOK HAVING READ THE BOOK. DOES THE JOKER LAUGH AT YOU???

I have an affinity for special Beatles-related books that have a different angle or approach to one of our favorite subject matters. One of the group’s characteristics, if you can ascribe individual character traits to a group entity, was their brilliant sense of humor or (humour). This book by Jeff Walker with illustrations by Mike Constable. certainly fits the bill as it captures many of the significant humorous comments or circumstances surrounding the astounding lives of the Beatles. I throroughly enjoyed this book and I believe you will too.

Everyone has a different concept as to what they may view to be funny. For example, some people believe that some of John’s sarcastic comments over the years designed to cut certain people down to size were insensitive and not funny. However others saw the same comments as being able to cut through to the true nature of the individual he was describing. Take your pick!!! Their jokes and comments were varied enough to have a little something for everyone! You be the judge!!!

The Walker menu in this book covers it all and you smile often when you read it!!!

Well I Just Had to Laugh: 1,234 Funny Things the Beatles Said or Did

Perfect Paperback – June 10, 2019
by Jeff Walker (Author, Editor), Mike Constable (Illustrator)

Publisher: SomethingNow Publications

AMAZON US LINK TO THE BOOK:

Well I Just Had to Laugh: 1,234 Funny Things the Beatles Said or Did: Jeff Walker, Jeff Walker, Mike Constable, Mike Constable: 9780986708022: Amazon.com: Books

AMAZON UK LINK TO THE BOOK:

Well I Just Had to Laugh: 1,234 Funny Things the Beatles Said or Did: Amazon.co.uk: Jeff Walker: 9780986708022: Books

Back cover of the book:

You’ve got to laugh!

Buzz

ANOTHER GREAT BOOK FROM THE BEATLES BOOKSTORE

It’s All Too Much

It’s All Too Much is the unique memoir by music industry veteran David Stark, who grew up in north London during the 1960s as a dedicated Beatles fan and was lucky enough to meet his musical heroes on various memorable occasions. From gate-crashing the Yellow Submarine film premiere in 1968 (aged just fifteen) and ending up sitting directly behind the group, to meeting all of them individually in some extraordinary circumstances, David has some highly entertaining stories about his many Beatles encounters which have never been told before.

£14.99

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Posted on 26/08/202505/09/2025 by Buzz — 7 Comments

BUZZ’S BEATLES SCRAPBOOK #1

INTRODUCTION TO THE BEATLES SCRAPBOOK

My curiosity was recently awoken to the more than 100 print-related Beatles scrapbooks that I kept over the years. As I came across the boxes in storage that contained them, I was intrigued by the print time capsules. Long ago, I had abandoned keeping and maintaining the scrapbooks when the digital internet revolution exploded! When I was compiling the scrapbooks I would preserve the newspaper articles about the Beatles by placing them in scrapbooks to help prevent their deterioration and yellowing of the poor print quality of newspapers in general. I also kept many of my picture sleeves in the scrapbooks encased in their own plastic sleeves, as well as ticket stubs and other Beatles-related print items.

I am planning to share with you the contents of many of the Beatles scrapbooks that I have compiled over the years.

Many friends and people that I knew very well also knew of my fascination with the band and they would save articles for me or send them to me through the mail so I could include them in the scrapbooks. I was able to compile more than 100 of them. The best scrapbooks that I chose to use were the ones that had no photo inserts aspects to the scrapbook, The articles were placed on pages of approximately 8X11 size with a single piece of plastic covering for each page, protecting the articles in question. I would cut the articles out of the newspapers in order that they would fit into the scrapbook even if it required multiple pages to preserve the full article.

Most of the articles saved were from the post-Beatles 1970s era onward as prior to that I could not afford the costs to purchase and maintain the scrapbooks. There was a local pharmacy employee who used to stack the newspapers on a daily basis and would inform me when a Beatles article would appear in the newspaper.

The scrapbooks served as excellent time capsules for those times.

My blog administrator, David Bedford, has encouraged me to share the scrapbooks with you, the members and visitors to the blog, and he told me it was Ok to do so as they are all items personally acquired for my personal Beatles print-related collection.

INSIDE THE BEATLES SCRAPBOOK

The various scrapbooks presented will not be in chronological order. You may see one from 1987 in one post and the next one may contain articles from 1992. They will be chosen randomly for display on the blog. Some will have subject matter that is consistent throughout the particular scrapbook. Others may not follow that trend! In that way those scrapbooks will mirror the Hodgepodge posts that have also been presented on this blog.

We will continue to present both old and new Beatles-related books, old and new Beatles magazines, and other print-related material on the blog! Since my original intention was to keep these articles for my own viewing, I put the articles in after cutting them from the newspaper. Some of them have attribution. Others do not. If anyone recognizes one of their articles that they have not received attribution for and would like to receive it, please let us know and I will amend the post if you provide the necessary updated info. If not, I will remove the article that you specify to avoid any problems.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy this new category on the blog!!!

BUZZ

In 1987, Yoko goes to Russia to advocate nuclear disarmament with a few other celebrities:

More about the Russian and the talks about disarmament:

Numerous articles of this time frame were devoted to the introduction of Beatles cds in the marketplace which came later than most other huge musical artists!

More cd info and a also a mention about analyzing the chins of celebrities

An article from the Hartford Courant about a release of the Help film!

More about celbrity chins! LOL. Hard to believe they treated this stuff as NEWS!

A Julian Lennon article from his early touring days!

Building anticipation from the Beatles cds

Beatles For Sale on CD

CD-planned obsolesence. Release the medium then years later introduce streaming and contribute to making hard copies of music take a lower rung on the ladder and eventually disappear if the music entrepeneurs have their way.

If you do not have to produce a physical product, there is much less overhead, cheaper for the music organizations to issue which translates into more $$$$. No matter how hard you try, you will not change my outlook on this subject!

A bit of discussion about Beatles video:

LOST BEATLES MOVIE SCRIPT

A discussion about a movie script the Beatles turned down that Todd Rundgren wrote a score for: Joe Orton’s script for Up Against It

A few interesting articles:

RIngo’s album was never issued from this new George and Ringo forthcoming LP discussion:

Beatles CD advertisement:

CD news, Ringo Chips Moman news and Yoko at Andy Warhol’s funeral:

The Yoko article was certainly a surprise to me when I saw it in the newspaper:

A great article authored by Allan Kozin in the New York Times about Beatles cds from 1987:

The picture sleeve to the Time Will Teach Us All picture sleeve. The song featured a duet with Julian Lennon and Stevie Wonder. The song was from the London stage musical of Time put together by Dave Clark!!! I went to see the stage presentation in London and had a great time!