A COUPLE OF SIGNED BOOKS BY THE LATE BEATLES PRESS OFFICER, TONY BARROW AND A SMALL PAPERBACK OF HIS RECOLLECTIONS OF THE BEATLES MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR ESCAPADE
DESMOND HAS A BARROW IN THE MARKETPLACE AND ALSO IN THE BOOKSTORES!!!
Tony was an early press officer for the Beatles and has supposedly been given the distinction of coining the term The Fab Four.
He passed away in 2016 at the age of eighty.
A photo of Tony in his later years from The Beatles Story in Liverpool:
This book is Tony’s memoir of working for the Beatles between 1962-1968. The book was published in 2005 by SEVENOAKS
This is the hardback edition:
Tony’s signature in the book:
Back Cover of the book:
Tony’s photo remembrance and memories of his favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney. That could be partially due to Paul’s savvy at dealing with public relations and public image as it relates to the press. Paul was probably the Beatle that was most concerned with what the public thought of both him and the band!
This is the Now and Then hardback that was published in 2004 by Carlton Publishing Ltd.
Co-written by Robin Bextor and edited by Julian Newby
The title holds a lot of irony in the recent release of the final Beatles track entitled Now and Then. In addition to that coincidence, when Paul heard Carl Perkins sing him a song called My Old Friend in Montserrat, Paul allegedly broke into tears when Carl used a line similar to what John supposedly told Paul as Paul was leaving the Dakota in the 70s “Think about me every now and then, my old friend.”
If true, this would help to explain Paul’s sense of urgency to eventually finish the Now and Then song as the final Beatles track! I have the actual audio of Carl Perkins relaying the story when he talked to Linda McCartney in Montserrat about that incident. Some people have doubts about Perkins story. The only person that could verify it’s veracity is Paul himself and he has never stated anything about it in any interview to the best of my knowledge.
Tony’s signature in the book:
The back cover of the hardcover Barrow McCartney book:
The Making of the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour PB 1999 by Tony Barrow. Published by Omnibus Press
Tony Barrow was a passenger on the MMT as was Beatles hairdresser Leslie Cavendish and Mr. Fix-It, Alistair Taylor.
Though the paperback is small, there are many wonderful photos and amusing anecdotes concerning this journey of the Beatles included in the book!
The back cover of the book:
My copy of the book came with a signed bookmark by Tony Barrow.. Now, I am saddled with the task of finding and locating it….Lol!!!
Barrow’s books can be found on eBay, on Amazon and also at Abe Books among other book search service sources!
Have your views of the Magical Mystery Tour film radically changed over the years?
If so, in what directions, positive or negative? What is your general outlook towards the concept of revisionism as it involves studying the Beatles story? How do you measure the validity of any vast change of opinion over a long period of time? Is it based on what you hear from others, or what you read or see on social media? If your opinions have changed about the film, what or who, was the biggest factor in your change of viewpoint?
Look forward to your thoughts on the matter!
BUZZ
OUR BOOK OF THE WEEK IN 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.
The Now and Then book is interesting because it seemed to replace the video documentary entitled “McCartney” by Robin Bextor, Barrow’s co-author.
Although heralded by MPL in the early 2000s, the documentary disappeared almost without a trace. My assumption is that it lost MPL support for some reason. Perhaps Paul had moved on from Driving Rain, sessions for which had been filmed for the project, by the time it was ready. Perhaps Bextor focused too much Beatles discussion and not enough of solo McCartney, which was very much the case.
The book described here appeared in 2004 as, more than likely on Bextor’s part, an attempt to recoup some of his expenses from the project.
The reason this scenario makes sense is because the documentary surfaced a few years ago on streaming services as Now and Then–and with a very odd soundtrack in lieu of original Beatles, Wings, or solo McCartney music. We don’t even hear Driving Rain songs when those sessions are shown.
The documentary does include some piano doodling from Paul, along with a bit of “Celebration,” at the start and end. As for the obvious title change, the actual video frames still carry the title McCartney.
In March of this year, Now and Then was issued on DVD, again with no fanfare and again with no authorized background music. I did not see any mention of MPL in the credits.
Thanks for the info “Tom in Florida.” Much appreciated!
These amazing books have life long memories.of the Beatles in the 60’s , I witness accounts, fantastic photos , eye witness accounts, of the fab 4 in there hey’ Day …. Aye , up ….( very fortunate I found the Beatles Blog …..thanks so much to whom Ever Dreamed this up … Best , Graeme Walter’
Graeme Walter-thank you for the kind comments. I encourage you to use the index available on the site at the bottom of the page to explore the many older posts available for your enjoyment on this site. Also email subscribers to the blog (which is free) receive regular email updates when new posts appear on the blog. I look forward to more of your comments in the future. Would appreciate you spreading the word about the blog to others that share your interest in the Beatles! Much obliged!
Buzz