As I rummage through my Beatles-related collection and cataloging the pieces for future reference, I often come across items that I think that may be of interest to other Beatles fans or solo Beatles fans. Many of these books or magazines and assorted print media are from different countries or may simply have not reached a large mass audience when they were issued or released. This is the 2nd Buzz’s JPGR Hodgepodge post featuring some of these items. The Hodgepodge posts will become an occasional feature on this blog. The regular posts will continue to cover books or magazines that have some feature or some specific subject matter in common with each other or have a common theme tying them together!
Hope you will enjoy today’s Hodgepodge: The items pictured here are from my personal collection and were acquired from such various venues as Ebay and Abe Books and other private collectors.
Tribute to George Martin: A special Billboard publication from April 11, 1998
In My Life-The Billboard Tribute to George Martin
Love these types of publications that are not widely circulated but are precious as collector’s keepsakes!
The inside photo of George featured on the reverse side of the cover:
The name of the individual who wrote the feature article about George Martin: Paul Sexton
I love to collect Beatles-related auction programs for a various number of reasons. This one is from the great organizations in the UK called TRACKS, which I have purchased many Beatles items from. This one was from a 2014 auction. The reason I like these catalogs so much is that many items that I have never seen before and cannot afford to buy, I can at least have a nice photograph of the item and the history behind it in the archive. In another catalog I purchased a long time ago, (I don’t believe it was a TRACKS catalog) I had a picture of the reel-to-reel tape recorder that Bob Molyneux used to record the Quarrymen at the Woolton Village Fete. To top things off, Molyneux signed that same auction catalog.
The back cover of the 2014 Tracks auction catalog:
Interviews with John and Yoko from this era fascinate me in trying to understand their political views at that moment of their history:
Love the cover stories on music magazines, this one was about the One-to-One Concert. My only disappointment with these sorts of magazines as a collector is their fragile nature and the eventual yellowing of the magazine over time. We will see more about the One-to-One event somewhere down the road, of that, I am sure. Possibly a photo book and a remixed and remastered audio of the complete concert as well.
Never had seen this magazine entitled New Departures before I saw it on Ebay. Published in 1981. It features a tribute to John Lennon. I also included the magazine credit page to identify the people that put the issue together: The cover features a photo collage put together by Peter Blake who helped design and put together the Sgt. Pepper cover
I love cover stories about the Beatles from Billboard magazine, this one featuring the famous Richard Avedon photos.
This is the November 18, 2000, issue:
Could not resist this UK issue of the Independent on Sunday Magazine from March 9th, 2008. It was the photo of two musical titans speaking about their views of what was going on the world in 1968…
I normally do not purchase too many Beatles-related books and magazines that are not written in English. However, I purchased this wonderful magazine from Spain featuring many unique photos from the J and Y Bed-In. This issue is from March 22, 2009.
Sundance Magazine Vol 1 No 1 April 1972 features John and Yoko discussing Women’s Liberation issues. In 1972 John and Yoko agreed to do a series of articles for Sundance which dealt with many social issues. Somewhere in the collection I have the magazine with the poem that John wrote about another issue…
Saw this magazine on Ebay in order to read the feature on Sean Lennon published in this UK magazine. Article written by Conrad Bischoff and photographed by Zackery Michael. Interesting interview and many nice photos of Sean are featured in this article from Foxes magazine in 2017. Apparently, this magazines strongpoint are the great photo essays being presented. Bought this on Ebay!
Journalism has changed over the years and certainly so has the treatment of women in popular magazines. I bought this magazine of course because of the John and Yoko article but I was amazed of how the material was presented judging by today’s cultural norms of what is considered appropriate. I personally believe that Yoko would have been offended by the way some of the material was being presented in the article but maybe I am not being fair in that assessment. I will leave that judgement to you, if you ever get the chance to read it or indeed if you have already seen it.
This is one concert I wish I had attended. It was a loving tribute to George Harrison in 2002, a year following his passing. Many of George’s friends and fellow musical luminaries contributed to this wonderful show which was released as a cd, dvd, and a beautiful Genesis book title to commemorate the event. Having been unable to attend this event in the UK, I attempted to do the next best thing. I saw on Ebay the concert program being offered for sale as well as an unused ticket from the event. I purchased the program, and I am very happy that I did. The concert was such a special one that I was thrilled to have acquired this keepsake though I certainly would have preferred that I had been able to attend this special event!
The ticket of the event:
This Progressive Media magazine from 1980 known as CMJ Magazine was published bi-weekly. This issue came out in that horrible month of December 1980. Published by College Media this Vol 4 No. 6. Jeff Tamarkin was the Managing Editor of this magazine. Jeff was a former editor of Goldmine magazine and is a music scholar.
This issue contained a tribute to John Lennon following his murder/passing. This is the back cover of that December 1980 issue of the magazine:
Prior to the onslaught of digital media, it was very difficult to acquire magazines and books that were available only across the pond. The rapid expansion of computers and the quickly evolving internet and such internet sources as Ebay allowed us all to acquire print items that we were not privy to before.
Love this 1996 issue of Weekend magazine, a supplement to the UK based Daily Mail. Features an interview with John’s sister Julia.
Main photograph below is by Steve Poole. The story in this wonderful magazine article is by Lynda Lee-Potter:
I have a particular fascination in collecting Beatles-related magazines from the Sgt. Pepper era like this cover shot of John Lennon from the June 3, 1967 issue of a radio-based magazine.
My copy of this January 1969 issue of Disc magazine. A great issue featuring a cover photo of John Lennon from the 1968 Rolling Stones R&R Circus. I love scouring through the old rock magazines especially those from the UK as you often find information of events or projects that may have been planned by the group but never materialized. Unfortunately, older magazines in the newspaper like format such as the older Rolling Stone Magazine yellow over time and become very fragile, and they need to be placed in plastic encasings to postpone their deterioration.
This is the hardcover edition of the Paul McCartney 2011 Tour program which comes encased in a slipcase. I do not normally collect tour books, but this one was special to me because not only was it a hardcover edition of the tour book, but it was also presented in a protective slipcase. Shown here are front and back covers of the book followed by a side view of the blue slipcase with the book inside. Many wonderful photos of Paul and the tour entourage are included in this tour book.
Back cover of the hardback tour book:
The side view of the book in the provided blue slipcase:
This book has a multicultural origin. The book was printed in Hungary, but the publisher BAKHALL is located in Sweden and the text of the book appears in English. Published in 2007 under the supervision of Yoko Ono. The book presents a snapshot of the 1969 Bed-In event with many quotes from John and Yoko. The book is a small in size hardback which come with a dvd that features Bed-In documentary footage and Yoko’s Onochord video from 2004. The dvd is in the PAL format which is the European configuration for dvd’s and may not be watchable in some US dvd machines.
Front cover of the book:
Back cover of the hardback book:
A photo of the PAL format dvd that came with the book:
Hope you enjoyed the HODGEPODGE post of today! In the comments section I would like to hear from you about Beatle print-related items that were very difficult for you to find or locate or were so obscure that you felt compelled to buy them when you first encountered them. I am interested in hearing about Items that you had never seen before or that that your first reaction in seeing them was WOW, I have to purchase this for my collection!!!
Buzz
Discover More at the Beatles Bookstore
The Beatles
Books about The Beatles as a group