Posted on 05/12/202405/12/2024 by Buzz — 3 Comments

THE CAVERN – BOOKS ABOUT THE CAVERN CLUB

Cavern Club: The Inside Story – October 16, 2016

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jorvik Press; 1st edition (October 16, 2016)

Available at Amazon, eBay and at David Bedford’s Beatles Bookstore

This book was a pure pleasure to read. Written by one of the few people who was present at the Cavern for all of the Beatles nearly 300 appearances at the venue. Later, her family was to purchase and operate the Cavern. So many interesting stories in this book and a fabulous photo of when Paul McCartney revisited the Cavern in 1968. The author is one of the most kind people that I have ever corresponded with. If you do not have this book, it is certainly one that you will want to have in your collection. Debbie shares her many memories and you feel as if you are there in the cellar to feel that early MAGIC!!!

GET YOUR COPY NOW, SIGNED BY DEBBIE, ON SPECIAL OFFER!

Cavern Club – The Inside Story

This first-hand account of Debbie’s teen years frequenting and eventually helping to run the original Cavern Club is the authentic inside story of the Beatles launch pad, full of triumphs and failures – and surprise celebrity encounters.

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The Beatles from Cavern to Star-Club Hardcover – January 1, 1997

Premium Forlag AB; UK ed. edition (January 1, 1997)

Hans Olaf Gottfridsson. A fabulous and well-researched book. This is also a must-have title dealing with early Beatles live performances as they honed their skills on their climb to fame…

Cavern Club: The Rise of The Beatles and Merseybeat

by Spencer Leigh

McNidder & Grace

2016 is worth getting this title

Alternate version-2008

SAF Publishing LTD

Let’s Go Down the Cavern:

Story of Liverpool’s Merseybeat Spencer Leigh and Pete Frame

Vermilion-1984-a great book

The Best Of Cellars: The Story of the World Famous ‘Cavern Club’ Paperback – 1 Dec. 1994

by Phil Thompson (Author)

Bluecoat Press 1994-Many excellent photos in this title. Well worth getting!

Spencer Leigh, Beatles Twist & Shout

Published in 2004 by Nirvana Books-Another excellent book by Spencer Leigh

CAVERN CLUB THE OFFICIAL AUTHORISED ANNIVERSARY LIMITED EDITION BOOK

The Official Authorized 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Cavern Book.
Limited edition of 1957 copies to commemorate the date when the club first opened. Early subscribers to the book got their names included as sponsors to the title within the book

Published 2017-Published by the New Cavern Club

Foreword by Paul McCartney

Peter Kaye-Beatles in Liverpool published by Starlit Liverpool Ltd 1987- Peter published a book which shows early photos of the Beatles in Liverpool including a few interior shots of the Cavern. This is a signed copy of the title:

The Best of Fellas-The Story of Bob Wooler-Liverpool’s First D.J.

Published by Drivegreen Ltd.- December 2002 by Spencer Leigh

The man who introduced the Beatles so many times at the Cavern,

COMPÈRE, BOB WOOLER

A pamphlet released to coincide with a Cavern anniversary and tied in with a radio series:

1964 “On The Scene at the Cavern” Magazine

It contains pictures of The Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and other groups that appeared at the famous club

In conclusion, Buzz’s Beatles Book/Print Blog member, Ronnie Dannelley, has informed me that he is working on a book about the architecture of the Cavern Club with photos showing certain areas of the club that have not often been seen before. Really looking forward to this title when it is eventually released as Ronnie is taking a total unique perspective for his book idea and trust me, he is doing his homework on this title!

TOPIC OF DISCUSSION

In light of how Liverpool has become such a tremendous tourist attraction for worldwide visitors, how do you think the decision-makers who decided to demolish the original Cavern feel about that choice now???

Question #2 – It has been reported that Paul McCartney has a tape of the Beatles performing a full set of numbers at the Cavern in his possession. Would you want to see AI technology used to enhance the sound quality of the set and issue it as a future Beatles release?

If you are searching for any of the titles noted above try to check Amazon, eBay, Abe Books. There are also book search services on the Internet! Happy hunting!

BUZZ

GET OUR FEATURED CAVERN CLUB – THE INSIDE STORY HERE

Cavern Club – The Inside Story

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CAVERN CLUB ARTWORK

The Cavern Club

SIZE: A4

£10.00

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Posted on 20/11/202420/11/2024 by Buzz — 2 Comments

THE BEATLES HODGEPODGE #5

Many Beatles collectors are aware of the work of Doug Sulpy who over the years with his magazine entitled The 910 (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:

THE 910’S GUIDE TO THE BEATLES’ OUTTAKES: Doug Sulpy: Amazon.com: Books

Get Back: The Unauthorized Chronicle of the Beatles’ Let It Be Disaster: Sulpy, Doug, Schweighardt, Ray: 9780312155346: Amazon.com: Books

Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image: The Unauthorized Story of the Beatles’ “Get Back” Sessions: Sulpy, Doug, Schweighardt, Ray: 9780964386907: Amazon.com: Books

The Complete Beatles’ Audio Guide: Doug Sulpy: 9780964386976: Amazon.com: Books

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 back cover of the 100-copy hardback:

Doug’s “John Hancock” on this special hardcover title of only 100 copies:

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!

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.

A picture of the cd contained within the book and a brief bio on the author and the illustrator:

The back cover of my copy of the book which is available on Amazon:

Amazon.com: Octopus’s Garden: 9781481403627: Starr, Ringo, Cort, Ben: Books

Flashback

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 back cover of the Yellow Submarine edition:

An edition of the Monopoly board game that I bought that has the classic Abbey Road album cover:

The back cover of the edition shown above:

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 back cover of the Scrabble game:

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!

The cover of the book within the slipcase:

Yoko’s signature and the number of the edition:

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!

Published in 2014 by the Synaesthesia Press!

Wallace Berman and Sgt. Pepper – The World of Tosh Berman

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:

Wallace Berman’s brief bio on Wikipedia: Wallace Berman – Wikipedia

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!

Chasing Rhinos With The Swami – Book

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:

DRUMMING IS HIS MADNESS: THE RINGO STARR DISCOGRAPHY: James, Andrew: 9798858263142: Amazon.com: Books

The back cover of the Andrew James book about Ringo’s recording career:

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

The Beatles and Music

The music of The Beatles

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Posted on 18/11/202418/11/2024 by Buzz — 2 Comments

THE BEATLES’ LONDON – THE THREE MUSKETEERS

I do not know if others share this perception but it seems that this particular book that Mark Lewisohn was involved with is not as well known as his other work. Perhaps that is due to the subject matter of the Beatles’ geographic locations. There have been several titles that have attempted this subject matter over the years and I do not know their relative success in terms of sales. I enjoyed the book as I have most of Mark’s work and the several print contributions of Piet Schreuders as well.

This particular edition of the book holds my interest because multiple author signatures of 2 or more in this case are often incredibly difficult to locate or find.

This is my signed version from all three authors of this book- Piet Schreuders, Mark Lewisohn, and Adam Smith. Multiple author-signed books are difficult to acquire unless you have all the authors available at the same location at the same time, or if you are extremely patient and somehow are able to track the signatures down individually! Sometimes the publisher of a book makes arrangements with them to sign a limited amount of books that can be used in a marketing promotional campaign for the title!

For a book that I gave my initial perception of as not being as well known as other Mark Lewisohn-involved works, Derek Taylor does not hesitate in his lavish praise for the book on its cover. Recommend you check this one out if you do not have it in your collection! I hold a fascination for some of the Beatles books that were not as widespread in their circulation or distribution with fans!

The Beatles’ London

The signature page featuring all three of the author’s signatures:

Buzz

Another Great Book on The Beatles’ London

Posted on 15/11/202415/11/2024 by Buzz — 1 Comment

16 in ’64: THE BEATLES AND THE ’60S

Fan Recollection books about The Beatles and the ’60s, a specific time frame or era, have a very specialized audience. Some people love this type of book for the memories it stirs up in their own lives. For me, they serve a deeper sociological purpose. They demonstrate the shared sense of community that a mass audience once had when the communication outlets were fewer and far between.

With the advent of the internet and social media and the information that often comes to us inaccurately because of so many different sources with their own agendas and without a proper context, it is becoming increasingly difficult to judge what the “truth is” anymore.

Nostalgia

That is why nostalgia is so appealing to many of us as we get older. We often have the tendency to downplay the bad times or memories that may be associated with our growing up and we believe very strongly in the notion of the “Good Old Days” as a result stressing what made us happy when we were younger.

I personally enjoy books like the following title from Marti Edwards and Joe Carroccio. It was an enjoyable tale of a young lady who at the tender age of 16 sought to meet The Beatles. It is nice to read a book that deals with the sense of community people who hold a common interest can exhibit rather than the era the world seems to be living in now!

These types of books usually do not make a big impact in the marketplace because of the specialized interest inherent in a recollection book, but to me, they serve as important time capsules like newspaper clippings to preserve the events of long ago, long after the main characters of the story are no longer here to share those memories with the current generation… Thank you Marti for sharing your memories with us!

The Beatles and the Baby Boomers

16 in '64 - The Beatles & The Baby Boomers — 16 in ’64 – The Beatles & The Baby Boomers

Back Cover of the book:

Marti Edward’s inscription in my copy of the book:

Buzz

Autobiography

Autobiographies by those people associated with The Beatles story

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Posted on 11/11/202411/11/2024 by Buzz — 2 Comments

THE BEATLES – CHRISTMAS, STUART, 8-TRACK AND MORE – Hodgepodge 4

When I was formerly on the medium run by Mr. Zuckerberg, one of my favorite people and contacts that I was fortunate to be able to communicate with was Jordi Melgosa who is a prominent Beatles collector who resides in Spain. Jordi was often able to find items that he felt that I was interested in having for the collection and he constantly kept me informed of new print releases from Spain. He was able to obtain several wonderful Spanish book titles with wonderful photos that I was pleased to purchase for the collection.

Jordi also publishes a Beatles fanzine; a sample issue is shown below. He was so kind in sending me the issue despite my lack of knowledge concerning the Spanish language. He surprised me with an article he had written about my FB page based on several questions he had asked me on the Instant Messaging feature of FB. Hope you are well Jordi! You can find Jordi at his account on FB!

El Submari Groc

Answering Jordi’s questions:

In a 2013 exhibition presented about Stuart’s Sutcliffe’s artwork, and curated by Richard Prince, a special advance booklet was published by Harper’s Books based in East Hampton, New York, with a great though brief discussion about Stu contained within. The great discussion of Stu presented with a few photos of some of his work was written by Mr. Prince. Special copies of this exhibition booklet were printed. This is one of those special edition copies of only 500 issued and one of only 50 signed copies, signed by artist Richard Prince and Stu Sutcliffe’s sister, Pauline.

Stuart Sutcliffe – Yea Yea Yea

Yea Yea Yea-the front cover of my copy of the booklet: Please note that I did not include a photo of the slipcase that the booklet arrived with

The back cover of the booklet:

The signature page of the booklet:

A favorite book title of my collection: Mr. Cardinal has done exhaustive research about solo Beatles homes, and they are impressive. They include books about the Dakota, Friar Park and Tittenhurst Park! They are exhaustive and thorough attempting to dispel myths about the architecture and the former occupants. Written in a form that is akin to an historian’s perspective. I recommend all of his book titles. To inquire about all of his titles, he can be reached at:

Cardinal@CampfireNetwork.com

This is the mammoth deluxe edition of the Tittenhurst Park book. It discusses accompanied by many gorgeous photographs, the former home of John and Yoko and later the home and grounds were sold to drummer Ringo Starr. The “Imagine” album was recorded in the studio that John built here:

The back page of the title giving a detailed description of the contents:

Normally I try to purchase the last numbered copy of a limited-edition book. In this fortunate unusual case, I made an exception and thanks to Scott’s kindness I was able to purchase copy #1.

The book acknowledgement page. I am sure you will recognize many familiar names:

A special and kind message from Scott:

8 Track

Acquired this item from well-known Beatles tour guide and author Charles Rosenay!!!. This is an item some of the younger viewers may not even know what an 8-track tape is. New technology innovations also mean that hardware and software can both go obsolete very quickly. This is an 8-track tape signed for Charles by Harry Nilsson in 1982. The obscurity of this signed item prompted me to purchase this item from Charles!!!

The back cover with the track listing. The unfortunate element about 8-track tapes is that often there was a short gap in a track that extended into another track on the tape.

Love Beatles books that have a focus on a particular city the Beatles visited during their touring years. This title about the Beatles in LA was written by Jeremy Louwerse and Tom Weitzel and published by Friesen Press in 2021. A truly enjoyable book with many fascinating photographs including one with gossip columnist, Hedda Hopper (see John’s comments about her within the book). It also has a great story and picture of John Lennon’s and Julian Lennon’s visit in 1974 to the Happy Days set. A photograph was taken of the cast with John and Julian and years later in 2018, actor, Anson Williams once again met up with Julian and they took a selfie together which appears in the book. The book is not a lengthy one being a bit shy of 100 pages, but it certainly is an entertaining one!

Front cover of the book:

Back Cover of the book containing some of the content within:

A book that only appears in the French language. It is the story of one of John Lennon’s half-sisters that John’s mom Julia had given up for adoption. She was adopted by the Pedersen family and did not realize that she was related to John until she was much older. Yoko has met her, and I believe there is an existing photograph of the two taken together in the Dakota.

Obtained this book on Amazon Canada. This is the front cover:

Mon Frere S'Appelait John Lennon — Mon Frere S’Appelait John Lennon

This is the back cover:

Julian Lennon

A lesser-known Julian Lennon project was his role in the Mike Batt musical held at the Royal Albert Hall featuring a star-studded cast. Julian sang on at least three of the songs on the soundtrack

Mike Batt himself posted the Royal Albert Hall Show on YouTube:

The Hunting Of The Snark – Royal Albert Hall 1987 – YouTube

The back cover of the LP with the credits listed. Notice that George Harrison plays on a track “Children of the Sky.”

A wonderful book put together and assembled by the UK company TRACKS in 1999 and published by Omnibus Press. Authored by Beatles press officer, Tony Barrow.

Front cover of the book: (though small in the number of pages, the photographs alone are worth the price of the book)

Back Cover of the book:

Acquired this item on Ebay a few years ago. I am pretty certain that Ebay was not aware they were selling a bootleg LP. Unfortunately, that is a major part of the problem. The bootleggers make the LP look so legitimate, that often a casual fan might mistake it as being legitimate.

This is supposed to be part of the special Christmas disk that Paul had copies made for his three bandmates as a happy Christmas gesture to them. The appeal of such items to Beatles fans creates the wish that the record executives will seek out rarities such as these to issue to the hardcore Beatles collector. By catering to fans wants, they can help to eliminate the bootleggers from the marketplace.

Front cover of the LP:

The details of the LP provided on the back cover:

Saw this booklet on the internet which detailed the contents of the entire 218+ episodes of the Lost Lennon Tapes:

Could not resist having a track listing of each episode in the collection!

A sample page from the booklet:

From the mid 1980’s my signed copy of Julian on the cover of Rolling Stone!

A rare LP which Yoko Ono designed the cover for:

The back cover gives Yoko credit for her front cover:

I love Julian’s music, and I take great pride in collecting signed copies of all his LP’s. This was his 2nd album that Julian felt rushed by the record company to release, and he has expressed great regret about that over the years as he felt that it was not right to rush him to attempt to capitalize on the success of Valotte. Julian felt that the quality of the material would suffer as a result. I enjoyed a few tracks on this LP despite the harsh self-criticism.

A signed copy of the Mr. Jordan LP!

A favorite Julian Lennon LP of mine (Everything Changes). This is a signed copy purchased from Julian’s website. A fantastic LP in my book!

Unfortunately, my signed Julian Help Yourself cd is packed away in storage. Will close with a signed version of Julian’s Photograph Smile” cd which is a fantastic set of songs!

Hope you enjoyed the latest JPGR Hodgepodge post! Do you have a special category of Beatles-related print material that you would like to see more of on the blog?

Please let us know your suggestions! We love receiving your constructive feedback and look forward to your comments!

Buzz

Autobiography

Autobiographies by those people associated with The Beatles story

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Posted on 08/11/202408/11/2024 by Buzz — 1 Comment

BEATLES PRICE GUIDE – ONE OF THE BEST!!!

As a Beatles book collector, I have always had a mixed set of opinions about Beatles price guide books! I believe they serve a valuable function in being able to set a monetary value of a particular Beatles record or Beatles-related collectible. However, the drawback to that scenario is that prices for items can vary drastically over a relatively short period of time. Even great artists can have lapses of time when either the economy is bad or the interest in a particular artist has diminished for a particular time frame.

Sometimes the release of a new product by the artist can serve the function of reinstating a higher demand and interest in the artist, increasing the demand for their product, thus having a result of increasing demand and prices for their older and harder to find rarities or releases. The Beatles are often cited as exceptions to several of the incidents I have described above, but it serves as a cautionary note for people looking to sell their collectibles in order to find the most general current value of their collectible.

The Beatles and Baseball

Price guides with mega-artists like the Beatles and Michael Jackson, or with baseball legends are often linked to the time frame in which they are released as the value of their collectibles seem to consistently increase in value even in tough economic times, sometimes having a radical increase. A similar problem exists with the release of record discographies. If you buy one and then a new product by the artist is released, the discography becomes immediately outdated and in need of a revised edition. All the mentions above are to make sure that you attempt to ascertain the current value of the item at the time you are selling it.

What is the condition of the item? What is the demand for the item? If 50 people are looking for an item that 500 other people wish to buy, that may certainly increase what you may be able to receive for the item and what the buyer may ultimately pay for it. (the law of supply and demand). Ultimately, Beatles pricing on both the buying and selling end of things is subjective as value in any item has many determinations. For example, for completists, if they are missing a single issue in a numbered series of magazines, collectors may pay extra for that issue in order to complete their set.

You can state that something is worth any price you can set as a seller, but it is only worth that price if the buyer is willing to pay that amount for it. Price guides do serve a healthy function as providing a basic general framework for those trying to establish a concrete figure as to what an item or what their collections may be worth.

I have seen and purchased many Beatles price guides over the years and the following book is unquestionably one of the best. Perry Cox is one of the best analysts as to what Beatles-related items are worth and what they can command in the marketplace. You will find this slip-cased version of this book to be a very worthwhile addition to your Beatles book library. Co-authored by Beatles authority, Frank Daniels, with a foreword by prominent Beatles author, Bruce Spizer! This is a later edition of the book.

Price Guide for The Beatles American Records

This is a slip-cased 6th edition. It covers listing and values for group and solo records tapes and cd’s from 1962 to 2007. It is also a special edition of the book as this is a limited version of only 200 signed slip-cased copies. Published in 2007 by 498 Productions, LLC, the same company that publishes the many great Bruce Spizer Beatles books! Would love to see an update of this book to reflect the value of these records currently as we head to the decade of the 2030’s!

The front cover of the book:

The back cover of the book:

The front cover of the slip case for the book:

The back cover of the slip case for the book:

A side view of the book in the slip case:

The signature page of this wonderful collecting price guide:

Tell Me What You Think

Would love to hear your comments about discographies and Beatles price guides in general!! Do you enjoy them, and do they help you to determine what you would like to buy and what you are willing to pay for an item?

Do you believe the sellers of Beatles collectibles have a tendency to over-value their collectibles when they are selling them? Obviously, their motive is usually to raise as much money as possible from the sale of the respective item.

Do owners of Beatles collectibles also have a tendency to over-value their collectibles, in order to somehow justify their decisions to acquire the items as an insurance policy for the future as the projected feeling is that the item’s value will continue to increase?

How do you establish the value of any Beatles collectible that you buy and what in your mind other than available financial resource concerns, makes the determination that you will buy the item you are interested in? Do you have any exceptions to that reasoning?

What motivates you to buy a high ticket or high-priced Beatles-related item?

Looking forward to your comments and observations!!!

BUZZ