Love reading books put together by Beatles fans as the love of the band comes shining through with their writings. Here are a couple recent examples!!!
Got these great new titles from Charles Rosenay and Michael Ventrella recently, and the books are thoroughly riveting and entertaining!!! Many celebrities give their Top 10 Beatles-related lists along with numerous interesting anecdotes in the Rosenay book! It is so nice to see Charles Rosenay, who I have known for more than 40 years, finally releasing a Beatles book. The other author featured in this post, Michael Ventrella, was involved with the layout of the Top 10 Ten Beatles lists book! Well done guys!
Beatles fans who write these books do so with the primary motive being their lifetime love and appreciation of the band!
The Book of Top 10 Beatles Lists
The Book of Top 10 Beatles Lists
The Beatles on the Charts
Another book recently arrived that fills a much needed niche in the Beatles canon and that is their chart history. The author is Michael Ventrella, and it is only fitting that the all-time most successful entertainment phenomenon in total worldwide record sales should have a book like this to document their historic achievements and accomplishments!
The Beatles on the Charts
The Beatles on the Charts
The Beatles on the Charts
So what is your favourite Beatles song and album? Let me know in the comments?
Buzz
More Great Books on The Beatles at the Beatles Bookstore
The Beatles v The Rolling Stones – THE RIVALRY CONTINUES!!!
In 2023, we have a new Rolling Stones LP, “Hackney Diamonds”, and a new Beatles track, “Now and Then.”
The whirlwind that began in 1964 may have subsided but it has never come to an end. Enjoy Martin Orkin’s new second volume of his sold out limited edition book “Rivals of the Beatles.” Here are the details of Volume 2:
Rivals of The Beatles 2
Rivals of The Beatles 2
Coming very soon: Rivals Of The Beatles 2!!
Rivals Of The Beatles
In early 2021 Martin Orkin self-published his first book, Rivals Of The Beatles in a limited numbered first edition of 500 copies. Martin’s book told the fascinating detailed stories of 20 of the groups who competed with The Beatles during that magical 1960s era. But he also showed the influence that The Beatles had on each of them: groups like The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, The Dave Clark Five and The Monkees. Rivals Of The Beatlescame in a glossy, hardbound cover, and contained over 800 pages. These were sewn-in, not glued, to ensure that no pages would ever fall out, no matter how much each copy was read. This was a book to treasure – and keep!
Rivals Of The Beatles 2
Martin’s first book was incredibly well received by its readership and has recently sold out. So it’s just as well that his new follow-up book, Rivals Of The Beatles 2 is coming along very soon, to fill the gap! Rivals 2 continues with the same theme as before, of telling the intriguing tales of more of the music acts who were at their peak in the 1960s, or slightly after.
This time around, 10 more groups are covered. These feature several music acts that would have been in Martin’s first book, only he ran out of space: The Who, The Animals, The Doors and Badfinger. To this renowned collection Martin has added a further six names, including Simon & Garfunkel, Love, The Small Faces and….Queen!
Limited Edition
Rivals Of The Beatles 2 will again have a limited first edition of 500 numbered copies. It will contain 528 pages and will again be presented in a glossy hardbound volume – with sewn-in pages. This book will have a recommended retail price of £15.00 + post & packing. This is a highly competitive/attractive price for a book of this length and quality.
Special Introductory Offer!
But Martin will be offering Rivals of The Beatles 2 for a limited period at a Special Introductory Price of just £10.00 + post & packing!
Copies are expected from the printers at end November/early December 2023.
So place your order on Martin’s website rivalsofthebeatles.com as soon as copies are available, to take advantage of this special deal!
Martin’s sold out first book:
Rivals of The Beatles 1
The Question:
Were you a fan of The Beatles AND the Stones?
BUZZ
Another Book with The Beatles and Their Rivals Photographed
Bill Zygmant – Where Did You Get That Shirt? (Signed Limited Edition)
Get your copy of Bill Zygmant’s portfolio book of unique photographs covering his career from the late 1960s to the 1980s.
This will be a signed, numbered edition – maximum of 250 numbered editions.
It comes with one of Bill’s signed photographs, which usually sells for £50!
Now that we all had a chance to listen to Now and Then, we can make up our minds and give our opinion. I must say, it is not bad. Not bad at all.
It is a beautiful ballad that is right there with Across the Universe and #9 Dream. It has a great melody; one of the musical elements that has kept Beatles music fresh after all these years (for other element see The Beatles Era). It is sung by John with an intensity that reminded me of A Day in the Life. And let’s not forget, Johns singing is not take 12. It is not even take 1. It is just a demo!
Paul added bass and Ringo drums. The piano accompaniment is a simple pumping piano; remember the Beatles did not take fancy piano lessons when they were young. But their playing is intuitive and creative, as can be heard after the first two lines of the third and fourth verse, where they use the piano as a rhythm instrument: a hammering piano. Somewhat like the hammering piano that starts While my Guitar Gently weeps.
Two other Beatlesque elements can be recognized in Now and Then. Strings with a bite, like Paul wanted for Eleanor Rigby, were added as well as a slide guitar in the style of George. The strings intertwine beautifully with the vocals and the interaction of strings and slide guitar combined with backing vocals take the song to a higher level after the second chorus. It is like this part provides you the opportunity to really feel the dept of Johns message. After the fourth verse and chorus, the strings playfully end the song.
If you have seen the Get Back documentary made by Peter Jackson, you will know that the Beatles not only practiced numbers that ended up on the Let it Be album, but also a dozen that ended up on Abbey Road, and quite a few numbers that ended up on the solo albums of the individual Beatles. So songs that potentially where Beatles songs ended up being solo numbers, and we learned to know them as such. Therefore it is ironic that a song that clearly was intended to be released as a John Lennon song, now ended up as the last Beatles song ever.
COLLECTORS ALERT! THE BEATLES IN ITALY PART 3 (July 1965/July 1970)
THE BEATLES IN ITALY PART 3 (July 1965/July 1970) is the third and final chapter after the two acclaimed books on the Fab Four in Italy (1963/65 and 1965/67).
It’s scheduled for release on October 27, 2023. Another Fab collection of artifacts from the era, this time on a massive 540-page photographic book. Authors and fellow collectors Fulvio Fiore and Alex Franchi have privately published this as a limited, hand-numbered edition. If you enjoyed the 1st two chapters you’ll be delighted by this one! How the Italian press reported on the Beatles, from the psychedelic era, through Apple, until the breakup. A splendid time is guaranteed for all the readers, so don’t miss this one!
Please contact the author Alex Franchi for further information. Enjoy the sample pics and email him to reserve your copy, or send him an e-mail: soundlover30@hotmail.com
Sample Pages from the Book – The Beatles in Italy 3
What to think about the release of the final Beatles song Now and Then? Should we be excited or rather skeptical? I will welcome it with an open mind. Give it the benefit of the doubt. Personally, I find it interesting that the (remaining) Beatles have used Artificial Intelligence to create Now and Then.
Digital creativity to replace the analogue musical innovations, like tape loops, they introduced in the sixties. I will be looking for Beatlesque musical elements in Now and Then as described in The Secret of Their Music (The Beatles Era). Real musical innovations, I am afraid, are not to be expected.
Now what about the presentations of the song? The very last song of the Beatles Now and Then, combined with their first Love Me Do on one single underlines or maybe overestimates the importance of the moment. In addition to the single, Now and Then will be added to new expanded version of the Blue Double Album in different presentations. Is this marketing? Sure. Is this milking business? Possibly.
But here also I like to look at it in a more positive way. Projects like this are undoubtfully pursued for commercial reasons but have the additional benefit that the legacy of the Beatles is very well preserved. So let’s enjoy the moment on November second and let’s try to see it all in perspective.
The Beatles first engineer, Norman “Hurricane” Smith, who engineered their recordings up to and including Rubber Soul. Geoff Emerick was to take over the mantle from Norman. Not only was Norman an engineer, he was also a writer and performer who had a hit 45 with the single “Oh Babe, What Would You Say.” He also had a stint at producing.
The book pictured below with the signature, I purchased from Norman at the Fest For Beatles Fans in 2007. It truly was a pleasure meeting him. Norman passed away in 2008.
Norman Smith’s “Oh Babe What Would You Say”
Published specifically for the 2007 Fest for Beatles Fans Published by Opix Media London and Ireland:
John Lennon Called Normal
Norman Smith’s signature
Smith’s Autograph
Published by Lulu 2008 after Norman had passed, this is the more recent edition of Norman’s book.
