The blog is designed to feature both old and new Beatles-related print material including books, magazines, posters, or correspondence with people that have a Beatles connection or association. The blog will also feature books from people that have worked with the individual members of the group during their solo careers! Looking forward to seeing you here! Looking forward to your participation and feedback on the blog!
John “Buzz” Bezzini has one of the world’s largest collections of Beatles books and he will share his thoughts and opinions on some of the more rare and unusual Beatles titles.
John taught a course in 1984 called “The Beatles in Retrospect” marking the 20th anniversary of the Beatles’ arrival in America.
John also holds a Master’s Degree in Communication.
Enjoy Buzz’s Beatles Book Blog.
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This is my copy of the sheet music for the song “Linda”, dedicated to Miss Linda Eastman, written by Jack Lawrence back in 1946. Jack wrote the song to deal with a debt that he owed Linda Eastman’s father, Lee Eastman. The song was a hit and turned out to be a great investment for Lee Eastman. The song was recorded by many well-known artists including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Perry Como and Jan and Dean. Paul’s knowledge and attraction for music publishing was certainly encouraged by the Eastman family when Paul joined the family by marrying Linda in 1969.
The tragic story of Pete Ham and Badfinger is certainly one for the musical history books. The subject of today’s post will be the magnificent job that the late Dan Matovina did and the person he handed the mantle to prior to passing away, Badfinger super-fan Tom Brennan, in order to help preserve the wonderful legacy of a great songwriter, Pete Ham!
Both Matovina and Brennan in ensuring that the voluminous songwriting output of Peter Ham is shared and enjoyed with the public at large, deserve our accolades! It is truly amazing at the amount of unreleased material that Ham left his family in his personal archive. Both Matovina and Brennan have performed an extraordinary job in assisting the families in both cataloging and preserving the magnificent legacy of the Iveys and Badfinger. Today we will highlight some of the Pete Ham releases that have been issued since Matovina began his project to share the precious unreleased material with the rest of the world…
The photos of the material presented in this post are items from my collection that I have purchased from eBay, Discogs, or directly from the links provided by Dan Matovina or Tom Brennan
The Badfinger Library
First of all, here is an excellent site where you can locate some of the disks you will see mentioned here. Tom Brennan is an excellent authority on all Badfinger/ Iveys releases over the years!!!
I want to show you some of the releases concerning Pete Ham or Ivey demos in recent years that I have purchased for my collection. This list does not claim to be all-encompassing or totally comprehensive of everything that is out there on the marketplace but these are some of the ones that I individually have purchased. The links to acquire many of these releases can be found by clicking the above link to Tom Brennan’s website! (badfingerlibrary.com)
My latest acquisition was a very limited edition vinyl 45 of Pete Ham put together by Dan Matovina in an issue of 500 copies. The limited edition 45 is very difficult to find and can be very expensive to obtain! Please note that these entries are not being presented in the chronologic order of original release. Some of you will love these tunes but may object to the overdubs being added to some of them to enhance the sound of the recording. That is a matter of personal opinion and individual subjective assessment. I personally enjoy all of the recordings because now we have them all to listen to and to enjoy and to remember!!!
The 500 limited edition vinyl of “No, Don’t Let It Go” and “You’re Such a Good Woman”
The back cover of this rare 45:
The A and B sides of the 45:
Another recent acquisition: Pete Ham Demos Variety Pack
The track listing for the cd above:
The brand new release of GWENT GARDENS: I personally love this new release
The track listing for Gwent Gardens:
Pete Ham -7 Park Avenue release
The back cover with the track listing:
Keyhole Street-the 2 cd Ivey’s era demo set:
TRACK LISTING:
Testing
I Want You
Come A Bit Closer
Horse With A Green Tail
Come and Join Us
You Don’t Know Each Other Very Well
Never Felt Like This
1988- Bass Ron Griffiths
I’ll See You Tonight
Think Twice
Happened Again
I’ve Cried Bass – Ron Griffiths
Blackjacks (Instrumental)
I’m Only Crying
Dressed Myself in Black
Heartburn
Girl Next Door In A Miniskirt – Ron Griffiths
Grand Prix
Can’t Stop Bass – Ron Griffiths
Graham Hill
Cavalier Club Rock (Instrumental)
Memories Bass – Ron Griffiths
Free Sample
Loved By You
Punch With Judy
I’m In Love
For My Sympathy
Black And White Rainbows
Keyhole Street
I’ll Kiss You Tonight
Mrs. jones Bass Ron Griffiths
Little Sue
Knocking Down Our Home
DISK 2
Testing (Grampian)
Church
How Much Is The Sky
Do What You Like
Open Your Mind
Down Down Down
Never Been Alone
Tender Embrace Bass – Ron Griffiths
I’ve Been There Once Before
Genie
Stink
Beautiful Dream
Another Day
When I’m Asleep
Hurt Too Many Times
Has Someone Really Got Into My Heart
Get Up
Joker
Hempstead Heath (Instrumental)
I Need You
I’m Alone
Weep Baby
THE RAVEN (Horror Soundtrack)
He’s A Raven
Meeek
Frank Gravity
Nightwing
Drifting
Taking Flight
Raven Reprise
Companies, etc.
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – The Heirs & Estate of William Peter Ham
Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Electric Guitar, Vocals – Pete Ham
Composed By – Pete Ham
Executive-Producer – Allan Wodtke, Bill Koumarelos, Darren English, John Schwartz, Stefano Zuppet
Liner Notes –Dan Matovina
Producer [Project] – Dan Matovina
Notes
Funded for release on disc via pledges. These are Pete’s earliest demos, recorded with a sound-on-sound tape machine in a small soundproofed room in a house located at 7 Park Avenue, Golder’s Green, London, when Pete was in The Iveys. Rear cover has the artist as ‘Pete Ham of The Iveys’
Pete’s “Golders Green” cd:
The back cover with the track listing:
A wonderful 1968 recording of the Iveys that has survived:
A 1968 live recording of the Iveys:
It is amazing that these early Ivey recordings still exist: Here is the cover of the Iveys South Wales live recording:
The contents of this wonderful early live recording of the Iveys:
On Amazon and another link provided at Tom Brennan’s site link above there is a “digital only” streaming release of Pete Ham recordings entitled “Misunderstood” I just purchased this streaming only recording and I am thoroughly enjoying it!
Without You Music Released: 2023 May 19
Track listing: 01. Ringside [original demo] (Pete Ham) (1:11) Previously issued on Without You-The Tragic Story of Badfinger 2nd edition book CD (2000). 02. No, Don’t Let It Go [dubbed version remixed 2023] (Pete Ham) (3:51) Previously issued on Demos Variety Pack (2022). 03. Keep Your Country Tidy [Remastered 2023] (Pete Ham) (2:20) Acoustic guitar demo previously released in 2000 on Head First CD2. 04. It Doesn’t rally Matter [dubbed version remixed 2023] (Pete Ham) (2:46) Previously issued on Demos Variety Pack (2022) and 7 Park Avenue (1997). 05. Helping Hand [dubbed version remixed 2023] (Pete Ham) (3:46) Previously issued on Golders Green (1999). 06. Are You Satisfied (Pete Ham) (1:53) Previously unissued acoustic guitar demo. 07. Nothing To Show [remastered 2023] (Pete Ham) (0:59) Acoustic guitar demo previously released in 2000 on Head First CD2. 08. Smokin’ Gun [remastered 2023] (Pete Ham) (1:20) Acoustic guitar demo previously released in 2000 on Head First CD2. 09. Time Is Mine (instrumental) [remastered 2023] (Pete Ham) (1:40) Acoustic guitar demo previously released in 2000 on Head First CD2. 10. It Doesn’t Really Matter (acoustic demo) [remastered 2023] (Pete Ham) (2:52) Previously issued on Without You-The Tragic Story of Badfinger 1st edition book CD (1997). 11. Pete’s Escape (instrumental) (2;03) Previously unissued acoustic guitar instrumental. 12. Just How Lucky We Are [dubbed version remixed 2023] (Pete Ham) (3:38) Previously issued on 7 Park Avenue (1997). 13. I Can’t Believe In [remastered 2023] (Pete Ham) (2:05) Acoustic guitar demo previously released in 2000 on Head First CD2. 14. No More [remixed 2023] (Pete Ham) (3:56) Previously unissued unedited version. 15. Ringside (acoustic demo) [remastered 2023] (Pete Ham) (4:06) Previously issued on Without You-The Tragic Story of Badfinger 1st edition book CD (1997).
Pete Ham – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion, harmonica
Additional post overdubbing by other musicians / technical people (listed alphabetically): Derrick Anderson, Richard Anton, Scott Bledsoe, Donnie Bott, Bennett Bowman, Nelson Bragg, Tom Brennan, Rick Cammon, Tom Evans, Damon Fox, Pete Fox, Anthony Gliozzo, Kent Gray, Probyn Gregory, Ron Griffiths, Bob Jackson, Andy Jones, Bruce Kaphan, Jonathan Lea, Adam Marsland, Dan Matovina, Kevin McElligott, Terry Messal, Jim Mills, Eric Nielsen, Fernando Perdomo, Tony Perkins, Steve Refling, Derek Ritchie, Michael Romanowski, Guy Slater, Tom Sullivan, and Chris Von Sneidern.
Production, engineering, editing and mastering – Dan Matovina
Special thanks to Tom Brennan, Anne Herriot, Tony Herriot, Petera Ham.
In conclusion I have also seen on the internet, on eBay specifically, BBC recordings of the Iveys and Badfinger. However I am not sure that those recordings have been authorized or licensed by the estates of the band members or if they even own those recordings in order to officially release them one day or if they are soley controlled by the BBC. One can only hope that one day we shall be able to purchase it all. Hope you have enjoyed the exposure to many of these rare recordings obtained thanks to the great efforts and hard work of the late Dan Matovina and the Badfinger/Iveys specialist and very knowledgeable, Tom Brennan! Don’t forget to check out Tom Brennan’s wonderful site!
Heavenly Encounters: Wish You Were Here Part 2 (Paperback)
Inspired by the group Badfinger.
Rock star Tomas Alvers finds that searching for his friend Paul isn’t as simple as he’d hoped. Still in Heaven, Tomas meets past souls from times gone by, such as Marc Bolan and Marylin Monroe. Along the way, Tomas discovers a strange and mysterious stone and stumbles upon an exact replica of a club where his Earthly band debuted.
There is a short chapter in this book about Tony’s work with John Lennon on Double Fantasy. He signed this book with a sketch of his cover for the book!
Beyond The Bass Clef
Beyond The Bass Clef
Signed Page by Tony Levin
A group photo of the Double Fantasy musicians taken by good friend, David Spindel. Tony Levin is the guy standing right behind John with the missing hair!
The Musicians with John Lennon
Also pictured on this post is a book published about the Double Fantasy sessions by award-winning arranger, Tony Davilio, and co-author Mary Vicario!
Trafford Publishing (July 6, 2006)
The Lennon Sessions
The back cover of the Double Fantasy book with a photo taken of arranger Tony Davilio by the bass player, Tony Levin!
Back Cover of the Double Fantasy Book
Who is your favourite bass player? Let me know. And don’t forget to subscribe if you don’t already.
Richard Houghton has expanded his earlier book, All Our Loving, about Beatles fan recollections.
His updated book of Beatle fan memories entitled “All Our Loving” The Beatles, has been published and features many additional stories from the era that had no internet or cell phones and where memories were stored in fan’s memory cells not on hard drives or iPhones! Fan recollections emphasize the mass worldwide appeal of the band and the common threads that gave that beautiful sense of community in bringing people together from so many different backgrounds
This expanded book contains a significant amount of additional amount of stories from the original edition of the volume and it is thoroughly entertaining!
Written on their tour in May 1960, this is the Johnny Gentle song for which John Lennon wrote the middle 8 bars of the song, without ever having received official songwriting credit! Gentle just asked for help with the middle of the song and John Lennon wrote the middle 8 very quickly and simply gave it to him without any flinching, and never required any credit be given to him for his contribution!
Though not related to Mal, there was another person with the surname of Evans that was to touch the lives of the Beatles – her name was Shirley Evans!
Shirley (Surely) you jest – or just play the Accordion!!!
As you are aware, as a collector of Beatles print-related material, I also collect the signatures of people that may have played a role, however small, in their story. When the Beatles did their Magical Mystery Tour movie, they also wrote some incidental music for the film that did not appear on the official recording. From her obituary in the Guardian written by Phil Davison written and posted on Sun Sep 2010 12.42 EDT:
“John Lennon wrote an instrumental in her honour, “Shirley’s Wild Accordion”, with Evans playing the accordion, Paul McCartney on maracas and yelling “Go on, Shirl!”, Ringo Starr on drums and Evans’s then husband, Reg Wale, on percussion. Intended for the Magical Mystery Tour film and album, it was recorded at the De Lane Lea studios, with Lennon credited as producer of a Beatles’ track for the first time. Although Lennon told Evans he hoped the track would make her a fortune, it was cut from the film. An unknown number of copies of “Shirley’s Wild Accordion” were pressed, but the track was never released and is believed to be still languishing in archives. It remains much sought after by Beatles completists.”
Someone since that obituary has posted her recording of the song on YouTube. Prior to her passing in 2010, Shirley had issued a CD a few years back that appeared on eBay and signed so I purchased it for the collection. It is packed away currently so unfortunately the signature can’t be shown on this particular post. Shirley appears on the Magical Mystery Tour Bus in the movie!
John watching Shirley as she records her bit for the movie (Not sure who took this photo-so if you can help with attribution, we can update with proper acknowledgement).
Bought this on eBay several years ago a cd that was signed by Shirley!
This bio summary was included in the cd package:
Here are some details about Shirley’s life:Accordion Memorials – Shirley Evans (accordions.com) According to some reports Shirley had written a book: According to the link above: “She had for many years lived in Florida, working as a show business agent. Prior to her passing, Shirley had written ‘The Beatles and Me – and Shirley’s Wild Accordion’, a book which is as yet, unpublished.”
What an amazing story! Had you heard of Shirley and her Accordion before?
