As Beatles fans, we often find ourselves speculating about Beatles history and asking, yes, but What If…….
What if John and Paul did not meet?
What if The Beatles didn’t go to Hamburg?
What if they didn’t meet Brian Epstein?
What if they didn’t meet George Martin and work with him?
What if The Beatles didn’t break up in 1970?
Now, in one book, all of those questions have been asked, and potential answers given, for what would or could have happened.
Through over 70 different key moments in Beatles history, David Bedford and Andrew Phillips have examined these key moments and, using their knowledge and research, give their opinion as to what the outcome might have been.
Through these scenarios, you will gain a better understanding of Beatles history in a new way, and also start some great discussions too.
GET YOUR COPY OF THE BOOK NOW – SIGNED LIMITED EDITION COPIES AVAILABLE – SELECT EITHER US/ CANADA OR UK/EUROPE
Mark Lewisohn always has special Beatles projects he loves to work on and then eventually share with the public. One such special project was issued back in 2016, nearly ten years ago. It was a special book dealing with the Beatles first film, A Hard Day’s Night. Having access to many rare items from the estate of the late producer of the film, Walter Shenson, Lewisohn produced this wonderful hardback book celebrating what is now considered as a film classic both in film and music circles.
I once met Walter Shenson at a Fest for Beatles Fans held in NJ and he signed a Fest program for me. He was a cordial and friendly man.
Though the book is expensive, it is a quality release as are all of Mark Lewisohn’s books and in my personal opinion, it is certainly worth the cost!
If it is in your budget, I recommend you seek this book out for your collections. There were a limited number of copies that were also bookplate signed by Mark Lewisohn as well. The signed copies can occasionally be found on Abe Books and on eBay!
Happy hunting for this wonderful and exciting book!!!
AMAZON US:
The Beatles A Hard Day’s Night: A Private Archive Hardcover – September 5, 2016 by Mark Lewisohn (Author)-Phaidon Press
Including never-before-seen photographs and ephemera, a behind-the-scenes look into The Beatles’ acclaimed first film
“In March of 1964, director Richard Lester began shooting A Hard Day’s Night, a feature film starring The Beatles. With fast, sharp humour and a brilliant soundtrack, the movie depicts the excitement and chaos of thirty-six hours in the life of the Fab Four, and stars John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, with Wilfrid Brambell portraying McCartney’s grandfather. This collection of photographs and unique ephemera captures the infectious energy and anarchic spirit of this groundbreaking film.”
A Hard Day’s Night
Back cover of the book:
A Hard Day’s Night
My copy featured a bookplate signature from the author Mark Lewisohn:
The front and back dustjacket flaps of the book:
Reading the reviews of the book on Amazon I would like to highlight one in particular written by someone named Stardazer. Wish I knew his real name as I would give him the proper acknowledgement that the review deserves. I loved the review because it helps to accurately capture the magical quality of the contents of the book! I was very impressed as he captured many shared feelings about the title:
This is one of my favorite reviews of this wonderful book-It is located in the Amazon review section at the book location
Scroll down below the Mark Lewisohn bio info and you will find it:
An excellentAmazon review by Stardazer of the book:
Amazon review by Stardazer of the book:
“If you love the film A Hard Day’s Night, this is THE Coffee table book for you!! Drawn from the purchased collection of producer Walter Shenson’s personal archives on AHDN, this is a feast for the eyes of the ardent Beatles fan. The greatest number of images are film stills, most with outstanding clarity–far clearer than the ones you’ve seen in the Di Franco book (1977). For instance, page 62 shows that maniacal scene on the train with John pleading with Pattie Boyd about escaping, feigning invisible faux handcuffs. That image is clear enough to resolve that the magazine cover Pattie was browsing actually boasted a pic of the Dave Clark Five! Moreover, on page 120, the semi-clothed waiter holds another issue of Fabulous magazine where the name “Dave Clark” can be read on its cover, above the large image of Elvis! What delicious irony embedded so suavely in this movie! Admittedly, after seeing AHDN maybe a hundred times over the decades, I had never noticed that when John pantomimes in falsetto the line, “My name’s Betty” that the name Betty was displayed on the mirror he was standing in front of (see page 188)! Or how about that pic of Paul apparently mocking and mirroring Richard Lester’s body language in an unused scene on page 26? The snapshot of the continuity director logging details on a very old and heavy mechanical typewriter on her lap while seated on the train speaks volumes (page 65).
The film stills are ordered in the approximate sequence where they occurred in the movie as you page thoughtfully through the book. These are interspersed with many alternate or between the takes scenes as well as interesting memorabilia and lyric sheets of most of the songs featured in the movie. Many pics are full page or nearly so and some are in color! Reproductions of certain documents or news articles show you line item totals for the production budget, newspaper articles, magazine covers that will rekindle memories, letters from fans and that William F Buckley Jr op-ed that concluded, “The Beatles are not merely awful…they are godawful…unbelievably horrible, so appallingly unmusical…” well you get the gist! On the other hand, a reproduction of the actual AP teletype advance review of AHDN dated on July 30, 1964 and written by Bob Thomas gushed, “The surprise is that it is good…It shows that the quartet may be with us a long time, not as freaks but as unqualified entertainers.”
284 large sized pages showcased on thick glossy stock with superb attention to detail, informative introductions and occasional captions supplied by renowned Beatles historian, Mark Lewisohn, with glorious imagery of the Fab Four in their madcap heyday all beg for coveted ownership and a great, memorable gift to surprise and delight the Beatles fan in your life.”
Hope you enjoyed the details of this special book by Mark Lewisohn!!!
Be Healthy and Be Happy!
Buzz
OUR BOOK OF THE WEEK – CUNARD YANKS BY JOHN WINTER
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.
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 Suitewhich 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
So many quality books with a Beatles connection have appeared in March, and “Ringo Starr: I Play The Piano in C” is another great one. Truly indicative that March Madness also applies to the guy who sang “Drumming is My Madness.” This brand new book by Italian based author, Luca Perasi explores the musical career of a guy who like his former bandmate, Paul McCartney, continues to please the public by performing and to continue to record in their Golden Years. Ringo’s new country music-based LP, “Look Up” is not only doing well in the charts, but he is continuing to collaborate with many formidable musicians. He also continues with his All-Startours. Luca Perasi’s Ringo book, knowing his track record with his many McCartney book successes, will be another memorable addition to our Beatle-related book libraries. Perfect timing as I recently received my email from Amazon that my copy is on the way… and remember there is going to be a Vol. 2!!!
The back cover of the book:
Here are the various Amazon links to the book provided to me by one of my UK friends, Seamus Hayes!Seamus
also provided me with the notification of this book’s release. Thank you, SH!
When you wish upon a Starr you not only get one Ringo Discography, you get 2 volumes. Volume 1 is out now but keep a lookout for Vol 2 in the near future. Luca Perasi is a very busy guy!
Many Beatles collectors are aware of the work of Doug Sulpy who over the years with his magazine entitled The910 (yes, a pun of the One after 909) has helped to do a wonderful job of attempting to catalog and criticize the tremendous amount of unreleased material by the Beatles. Doug has numerous book titles dealing with this subject and here are a few of them:
This title below deals with the existing video of the Beatles from 1964. Doug issued this as a hardback in an edition of only 100 copies of which I purchased a copy. Doug’s 910 magazine is now sold digitally only, in pdf format. This transition to the digital format is primarily due to high printing costs. However, Doug does continue to print the occasional limited edition hardback volume like the one below which is always exhaustively researched and well-documented.
The Beatles 1964 Video Guide
The back cover of the 100-copy hardback:
The Beatles 1964 Video Guide
Doug’s “John Hancock” on this special hardcover title of only 100 copies:
The Beatles 1964 Video Guide
Thomas The Tank
Ringo did a series of audio narrations of the Thomas the Tank children’s books. Expanding on his role as the conductor in the Thomas the Tank TV series, this is an example of one of the cassettes with book volumes based on the series. For collecting purposes I bought the complete Ringo cassette and CD collections of his storytelling ventures!
Thomas the Tank Engine
I love special releases like this that appeal to both children and adults. The book detailing the lyrics to Starr’s song appeals more to the children. The alternate version of Octopus’s Garden on the CD appeals to the Ringo music collector, primarily being adults.
Octopus’s Garden
A picture of the cd contained within the book and a brief bio on the author and the illustrator:
Octopus’s Garden
The back cover of my copy of the book which is available on Amazon:
Though this is a photography book containing other artists beside the Beatles, we can surmise why they were chosen for the cover. This wonderful photography book by noted photographer, John Rowland is signed by Mr. Rowland, and I acquired this signed copy from the book search service known as Abe Books.
The book was published in 2010 by Desert Springs Publishing. For further info contact: www.rockphotobook.com
The signature page of the Rowlands book:
The back cover of the book:
The Beatles Monopoly
Technically, this is not a Beatles print item, yet it does exhibit the overlap in collecting interests that I have for both Beatles print material and Beatles board games. Here is the special Yellow Submarine edition of Monopoly
The Beatles Yellow Submarine Monopoly
The back cover of the Yellow Submarine edition:
The Beatles Yellow Submarine Monopoly
An edition of the Monopoly board game that I bought that has the classic Abbey Road album cover:
The Beatles Monopoly
The back cover of the edition shown above:
The Beatles Monopoly
Another one of the world’s most popular board games and it is only fitting that there would also be a Beatles edition of SCRABBLE: I bought my copy either from eBay or The Fest for Beatles Fans:
The Beatles Scrabble
The back cover of the Scrabble game:
The Beatles Scrabble
Skywriting by Word of Mouth
A special limited edition of 500 copies only in a slipcase of John Lennon’s final self-penned book entitled “Skywriting By Word of Mouth.” Each copy was signed by Yoko Ono.Published by Harper & Row in 1986!
Skywriting by Word of Mouth
The cover of the book within the slipcase:
Skywriting by Word of Mouth
Yoko’s signature and the number of the edition:
Skywriting by Word of Mouth
In 2014 Tosh Berman, son of Wallace Berman, one of the individuals who appears on the cover of Sgt. Pepper, released this limited edition booklet of only 300 signed copies that details the story of his dad giving permission to Brian Epstein to use his photo on the cover of the LP and of Wallace Berman’s son’s interest in the Beatles. It is a small item of not many pages, but it is wonderful to read the special set of stories contained within!
The image of Mr. Berman contained on the Sgt. Pepper cover and the one that is within my copy of the Tosh Berman book which I love as a special collectable:Copies can often be found on both Ebay and Abe books!
Tosh Berman’s signature in my copy of the limited edition book:
Found this book in a Fest for Beatles catalog! It is a 3-volume set that features a special part dedicated not only in about 108 photos of the Beatles rarely if ever seen before, but details of the Beatles interactions over the years with members of the Hare Krishna movement. Here is an introduction of the book “Chasing Rhinos With the Swami”:
My copy was purchased through the Fest For Beatles Fans. I have seen copies advertised additionally on Ebay and Abe Books. The first volume was published in 2016. Volume 3 came out in 2021. This was followed by the 3 volumes set encased in a slipcase which was also being offered at The Fest for Beatles Fans!
A fabulous hardback Ringo Starr discography by author, Andrew James. It is detailed and all encompassing and it is a wonderful pickup for Beatles collectors. However, discographies all suffer from the same built-in problem. Unless the recording artist has passed away, in most cases the discogrpahy will not be up-to-date or current because the minute the artist issues another recording the book becomes lacking of the new releases. The completeness of their recorded legacy depends upon constantly updated versions of the book. It is frustrating to those who want a sense of completeness in their collections. However, we of course would much prefer the artist to be active healthy and with us for the natural course of their lives and to keep recording additional memories for us to savor.
My comments above may seem somewhat silly but the intention and purpose of the comments was simply to highlight a problem inherent in writing any books about artists that continue to record and remain active until they are elderly! Everyone’s primary concern should naturally be the well-being of the artist in question!
The well-researched discography was released in 2023 and I purchased it Online on Amazon. The book was independently published:
The back cover of the Andrew James book about Ringo’s recording career:
The Ringo Starr Discography
What do you think? What do Want to See?
In conclusion, is there a particular Beatles print/ related subject matter that you would like to see covered in greater detail on the blog? Please let us know what you would like to see more of, or less of, for that matter!
Thanks! Be healthy and be happy!
Buzz
Some great books about The Beatles at the Beatles Bookstore
It should come as no surprise that Ringo is recording another Country album in Nashville; Ringo Starr “Look Up”. He is the Beatle most known for his love of country music, though all four Beatles were big country music fans.
Ringo Starr has announced his next album: a country record, produced and co-written by T-Bone Burnett. Look Up is due out in January 2025. It’s his first new LP since 2019, and his first country record in more than 50 years.
In addition to Burnett, who co-wrote nine out of 11 songs on the record, Look Up features a host of country, bluegrass, and Americana talent including Alison Krauss, Billy Strings, Larkin Poe, Lucius, and Molly Tuttle. The first single from the album, “Time On My Hands,” is out today.
