Posted on Leave a comment

Beatles Undercover Paperback – July 31, 1998

Kristofer K. Engelhardt

Beatles Undercover
Beatles Undercover

How reference books can help you to find very obscure items-in this case a very rare Paul McCartney rarity!

Below are listed three excellent Beatles reference books by author, Kristofer K. Engelhardt!. Kris is directly responsible for adding a very rare item to my collection. Kris’s investigative talents are both superb and legendary. For example, in the first book shown here, Beatles Undercover, in the early copies of the book, Kris uncovered a rare 1970’s era recording on cd of a co-written song where John Lennon helped write the lyrics to a song originally written by sound engineer Roy Cicala. The tune with John’s rewritten lyrics became a song based on a native American that John Lennon had met and the song was to be called “Incantation.”

Beatles Deeper Undercover Paperback – March 1, 2010

Kristofer K. Engelhardt

Beatles Deeper Undercover
Beatles Deeper Undercover

In the second volume of his trilogy Beatles Deeper Undercover, I learned of another fabulous Kris discovery and I was able to acquire the item from him in a negotiation. The item I was able to secure are two very rare Paul McCartney penned tracks that he wrote in the mid 80’s and he brought the songs with him to Barbados and a group called Ivory were given permission by Paul to record the two numbers on their rare album called Print Out. The tracks that he provided to the band were called “Runaway” and “Freedom Land.”

The fantastic surprises that Kris covered in his earlier two works makes you wonder what may be lurking in the new volume entitled “Beatles Fully Uncovered.” This book was issued in September of 2022.

The above titles, I believe are still available on Amazon. They are all certainly valuable reference works for the discerning Beatles collector.

Beatles Fully Uncovered Perfect Paperback – September 19, 2022

by Kristofer Engelhardt (Author), David Fishof (Foreword)

The Beatles Fully Uncovered
The Beatles Fully Uncovered

The rare LP issued only in Barbados featuring the two rare McCartney-penned tunes that he gave to Ivory to record is shown below. It is through the efforts of the author of the above books that I was able to obtain a copy of this rare LP for my collection, and I will always be grateful.

Ivory
Ivory
Print Out - Ivory
Print Out – Ivory
Print Out - Ivory
Print Out – Ivory

Buzz

Featured Book

Posted on Leave a comment

Julian Lennon Help Yourself

Julian Lennon - Help Yourself
Julian Lennon – Help Yourself

Hard to Find Rarity – Julian Lennon Help Yourself

Though not a book these items present an interesting Beatles-related story and collecting rarity.  There were rumors that Julian had consulted with George Harrison about suggestions for the guitar work on the song Saltwater for Julian’s album “Help Yourself.” Unfortunately, that rumor has not been given adequate substantiation, though I believe George receives a thank you note on the credits if memory serves me correctly.

Julian Lennon released the album “Help Yourself album back in 1991 which featured the hit single “Saltwater” which was a hit in both Australia and the UK, but did nothing in the US, largely through poor promotion by his record company in the States

Little is known that in 2 countries, there was a rarity issued of Julian Lennon singing three songs in the Spanish language on the special edition of the album called “Help Yourself.” One country that issued the vinyl LP with the 3 songs in Spanish was Venezuela. The ultra-rare version on cd was issued in Spain. 

The cd which was available in Spain with the three Spanish songs is even rarer than the Venezuelan LP with the same contents. I have known many people that live in Spain that have a cd of the album but it is not the version with the 3 songs in their native language. If you find one of these rare CDs you have quite the rarity. I had spent 8 years looking for a copy before a European friend helped me locate a copy for the collection

These are the songs that appear in Spanish on the Venezuelan LP and the special edition of the cd appearing in Spain:

Saltwater = Creo Que Voy A Llorar (Spanish Version)

Maybe I Was Wrong = Es Tarde Ya (Spanish Version)

Take Me Home = Corazón De Palmera (Spanish Version)

Julian Lennon canta tres canciones en español en la edición especial de su álbum llamado “Help Yourself”.

Contents of the Venezuelan LP and the rare version of the cd appearing in Spain

1Rebel King
2Saltwater = Creo Que Voy A Llorar (Spanish Version)
3Get A Life
4Would You
5Maybe I Was Wrong = Es Tarde Ya (Spanish Version)
6Help Yourself
7Listen
8  Other Side Of Town-Lead vocals=Paul Buchanan
9New Physics Rant
10Take Me Home – Corazón De Palmera (Spanish Version)
11Imaginary Lines
12Keep The People Working
The Songs on the Album
Help Yourself by Julian Lennon

Buzz

Featured Book – Cavern Club – The Inside Story

Posted on Leave a comment

A is for Apple

A is for Apple

A is for Apple and also for Astounding!!!

This series of books which originally was intended as a 6 volume series to tell the fascinating story of the Beatles company is now, according to an insider, being considered as an expanded 10 volume set. Four completed volumes have been issued up to this point and buyers wait in eager anticipation for the next book in the series.

A is for Apple 2
A is for Apple 2
A is for Apple Volume 3
A is for Apple Volume 3
A is for Apple Volume 4
A is for Apple Volume 4

The research on these volumes is impeccable and intense. The three authors, Ed Dieckmann, Axel Korinth, and Antonio Caroselli never disappoint in uncovering troves of information about the Apple organization that was not previously known. The books also feature guest presentations by other authors and contributors. The volumes are truly works of art, each boasting between 700 and 800 pages with beautiful color photos throughout.

Each volume is limited to 500 copies and are a must-own for Beatles collectors everywhere. The books, like most limited-edition books, are on the higher expense side of things, but the end result truly makes it worth the additional expense. In the future, this complete series of books may be known as the bible of Apple information.

Buzz

Books on The Beatles at the Beatles Bookstore

Posted on Leave a comment

The Special Jeff Levy Applelog Boxset

The Applelog Boxset

Jeffery Levy-Author of The Applelog Boxset

Published by MonHunProd Media Group, 1990, 1991-2, 2006. Multiple dates refer to multiple editions of the book.

This is a superb collecting guide for both the U.S. and Canadian Apple Records collector! This special slip-cased boxed set collected the earlier of Jeff”s previous volumes of his Apple Records discography as well as listings of Apple albums, singles, E.P.’s, compact disks, cassettes, 8-tracks, reel-to-reels, reissues, Apple Ads, and many other items. One does not exaggerate to say this was a fabulous boxed set. Unfortunately it is out-of-print and is both expensive and difficult to find!

The Applelog Boxset
The Applelog Boxset

If I was recommending to collectors about what books to collect for knowledge and expertise of Apple-related product, I would recommend three sets of books:

1) The A is For Apple series by Ed Dieckmann, Axel Korinth, and Antonio Caroselli-expected to be 10 volumes when completed

2) The Jeff Levy Apple Log Series of books-he was one of the first individuals to attempt this mammoth task of cataloging this material

3) The proposed series of 6 Apple-related books by author Nigel Pearce beginning with his first volume- Inside Number 3 Number’s 1 and 3 will have their own features in future blog submissions.

Buzz

Categories of Books at The Beatles Bookstore – Which Will YOU Choose?


Posted on Leave a comment

A Beatles Collection

A Beatles Collection
A Beatles Collection

A Beatles Collection by Chris Agajanian

The Beatles Collection by Chris Agajanian
The Beatles Collection by Chris Agajanian

One of the primary focal points of this blog is to highlight the more rare to obscure Beatles books that are out there in the marketplace. This particular book holds a special fascination to me. A Beatles collector, named Chris Agajanian compiled many of the items in his Beatles collection as a hardback book which served as a catalogue for people that were to buy his items at auction.

From the collection
From the collection

I saw this book advertised on Ebay and I purchased it. Since it was privately published there are not too many copies in existence. That type of book holds a special place in my heart as a collector. I have included a couple of sample items from this gentleman’s very impressive collection. This also highlights a problem evident in bibliographies in that many privately published books are not known about and therefore miss out on being cataloged.

The Beatles Jigsaw
The Beatles Jigsaw
The Beatles Pennant
The Beatles Pennant
The Beatles Adorned Many Products
The Beatles Adorned Many Products

I have approximately 50 privately published Beatles books for example, many of which there were less than 20 copies of the book published. All of these privately published books hold a special place in the collection for obvious reasons!

Buzz

Featured Book in The Beatles Bookstore

Posted on 5 Comments

Best Beatles Discography in the World but Very Rare!!!

The Beatles Covered
The Beatles Covered

Beatles Covered – Reference Book

Beatles reference books have a difficult legacy to live up to. The reason for this observation is as soon as a discography is published, it can become outdated instantly as new releases come out. Unless book addendums or revised editions are issued, the older book is always missing significant detail as time progresses.

One thing that can be said conclusively, though, is that this book can clearly be claimed as the best Beatles discography in the world. The title was written in the English language by German author, Joachim Noske, and published in 2009, by Ajono Books.

Only 500 copies of this massive book were issued with over 14,000 scans of LP’s singles, Ep’s. 78’s picture disks, flexi-disks, and more, featuring discographies from more than 60 countries. Upon release the 500 copies were quickly snapped up by collectors and it is out of print. Copies of the book when they come up for auction command significant high prices!  The author has claimed that he does not envision he will ever reprint the book despite the ever increasing demand of collectors.

The book is over 800 pages long and features full color/colour throughout. It must have been very expensive to produce this book.

Buzz