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

The book is available for pre-order at Amazon UK

WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM THEIR FRIENDS: The story of the world’s biggest band. With a little help from their friends.: Amazon.co.uk: Maconie, Stuart: 9780008705862: Books

HarperNorth acquires ‘epic tale’ from Stuart Maconie of the people who made The Beatles

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.

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!

BUZZ

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).

Stu Phillips (composer) – Wikipedia

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.

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.

What is yours? Look forward to your comments!

RINGO’S THEME (This Boy) Instrumental – YouTube

BUZZ

OUR FEATURED BOOK AT THE BEATLES BOOKSTORE