BEATLES BEFORE AND BEYOND…AND MORE!!!
BY CAROLE M. HOPKIN
Originally published by Merton Press 2013 reissued in 2026:
A compliment to the author in her native Welsh language:
Carole M. Hopkin yw ffordd ysgolion a gwyddonyddol o gynhyrchion.
English translation of the above commentary in Welsh (according to google translate): “Carole M. Hopkin is a very talented person of great skill.” Sincerely hope that the Welsh phrase did justice to what I was trying to convey!
TALENT RUNS IN THE FAMILY:
A friend in the UK named Geoff Clode first informed me of this book several years ago. It was one of those rare Beatles-related books that had slipped by my awareness and knowledge over the years. When Geoff informed me of the book, I quickly noticed that the book was out-of-print and I could not obtain it anywhere despite an exhaustive search. Geoff Clode came to the rescue and secured a copy for my collection and I was very grateful. Thirteen years after the book’s original publication, it has been reissued as I recently stumbled across the notification in 2026 on Amazon.
Carole M. Hopkin as you will see from the book is a very talented individual, she is an artist and many of her sketches are exemplary. She has taught her artistic skills, and she has been a world traveler (traveller) using those journeys as subject matter for her artwork. Carole dedicates the book to her sister and her affection for Mary is evident throughout the book and she was very supportive in Mary’s world-wide rise to international fame through her musical talent!
Photographs and sketches used under fair use for this blog post are copyrighted to Carole M. Hopkin
HERE IS THE BOOK:
The back cover of the book:
The author was very kind in sending me a bookplate inscription and signature when she learned of my penchant for collecting signed editions of Beatles-related books:
Carole’s dedication of her book to her sister Mary:
AMAZON US:
BEATLES BEFORE & BEYOND: Hopkin, Carole M., Hopkin, Carole M.: 9798248377626: Amazon.com: Books
AMAZON UK:
BEATLES BEFORE & BEYOND: Amazon.co.uk: Hopkin, Carole M., Hopkin, Carole M.: 9798248377626: Books
KINDLE US:
Amazon.com: BEATLES BEFORE & BEYOND eBook : Hopkin, Carole M.: Kindle Store
KINDLE UK:
BEATLES BEFORE & BEYOND eBook : Hopkin, Carole M.: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Please note that while the Amazon links are provided here for the book as a convenience to you, the listing of Amazon does not reflect a recommendation that you should buy the book at this source. It is up to you to select the site you find most comfortable in making your book choices & purchases. You can also find most books at Barnes and Noble, for example or at Abe Books and many other book search sources. The motivation for providing the Amazon listing is simply to provide a commonly known convenient place to order book titles. Buy or acquire the books wherever you feel most comfortable in doing so!
Amazon Description of the book:
The ups and downs of being in and out of the limelight. Showbiz from the wings. Dancing with Sinatra, singing with Robert Mitchum, chatting with the Beatles, dining with Buzz Aldrin, making cake for David Bowie, taking the Duchess of Gloucester shopping, and having strange meetings with Anthony Hopkins have added to a life well-lived, rich with good friends, family, and memories.
As the author graduates from Art School her career path is waylaid by her sister’s sudden rise to world fame, and the two girls are whisked from recordings at Apple Records and Abbey Road to first class travel several times around the world. Through this the author manages to sustain her writing and painting, adding singing, dancing and acting to her C.V. along the way. She stars in The Mousetrap, and Dr. Who, chats to Richard Burton in New York, and Maxime de la Falaise as she makes Andy Warhol’s birthday cake. She’s on board H.M.S. Hermes, entertaining the troops after the Falklands war and gets to paint in George Harrison’s garden when she lives in Henley. In Monte Carlo she meets Anthony Burgess and Rex Harrison and parties away with the best of them.
The book sums up the best and the worst of being in and out of the limelight!
What a life Carole M. Hopkin has led…
A SAMPLING OF SOME OF THE PAGES FROM THE BOOK:
Carole’s sketches of many of the buildings she has visited in her travels are superb:
It seems that George was Carole’s favorite Beatle!
The two sisters in Japan:
Without a doubt, the real odd couple, Mal Evans and Allen Klein:
Another exquisite building sketch from Carole:
Another beautiful Carole M. Hopkin sketch:
The multi-faceted talents of Carole M. Hopkin:
A Hopkin musical conclusion to this post from Carole’s sister: A wistful bit of nostalgia followed by a song of missing a loved one:
1968 HITS ARCHIVE: Those Were The Days – Mary Hopkin (a #1 record–mono 45)
Mary Hopkin – Goodbye (1969) (Stereo / Lyrics)
Something Stupid sung in Welsh by Mary Hopkin:
Mary Hopkin – Rhywbeth Syml [Something Stupid, sung in Welsh]
AND THE MULTI-TALENTED CAROLE M. HOPKIN ALSO HAS A BRAND NEW BOOK: BLITZING THE GLITZ
BLITZING THE GLITZ
by CAROLE MORGAN HOPKIN (Author) Format: Paperback
AMAZON US:
BLITZING THE GLITZ: HOPKIN, CAROLE MORGAN: 9798248670239: Amazon.com: Books
AMAZON UK:
BLITZING THE GLITZ: Amazon.co.uk: HOPKIN, CAROLE MORGAN: 9798248670239: Books
AMAZON US KINDLE:
AMAZON UK KINDLE:
BLITZING THE GLITZ eBook : HOPKIN, C. M. : Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Book Description:
Mercedes Lloyd Jones, to be known as Sadie, is intent on achieving the American Dream by leaving home in Wales and travelling to Palm Beach. Here, instead of meeting the man who will make her dreams come true, she meets an odd and, at odds, bunch of individuals who try to persuade her not to take the job of general factotum to one of the wealthiest women in the States – the Glitz. If Sadie had known what she was in for she’d have run out of town. Fred, a W.A.S.P, and Flo, the Happy Hooker from Hibiscus Row have huge grievances against the Glitz and now that they have Sadie on the inside, as it were, they plan, with the aid of Flo’s gang of underworld ‘hoods’, though genuinely ‘nice’ guys, to Blitz the Glitz. But she’s been around the block a few times so the three tries go disastrously wrong!
A comic, heist, romance, at the heart of which lies Sadie’s dream of acquiring wealth and love in one rosy package
Hope you enjoyed this post about Carole M. Hopkin -the artist, the illustrator, the teacher, the lecturer, the novelist and the writer!!!
Be healthy and be happy, folks!
Buzz
