Category Archives: Beatles Books

The Art & Music of John Lennon

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Visiting my local discount bookstore again this week turned up this interesting read – “The Art and Music of John Lennon” – by Peter Doggett.

Peter Doggett writes a Beatles blog called You Never Give Me Your Money, which is also the title of a book he released in 2009/10, a critically-acclaimed history of why the Beatles split, and what happened over the next 40 years. Doggett knows his stuff. He’s the author of a number of books, and was the editor of the famous and respected “Record Collector” magazine between 1983 and 1999. He’s a regular contributor to “Mojo” magazine as well.

This updated edition of “The Art and Music of John Lennon” (published in 2005) includes additional material, some of it discovered and released after John Lennon’s death. The book aims to be a complete catalogue and history of Lennon’s work as a musician, writer and artist – a definitive portrait. It includes details on each then available officially released recording; a UK and US discography; details on home demo recordings from the early Beatle years onwards; studio out-takes; live recordings; collaborations with other artists and interview material.

The book also examines Lennon’s non-musical work: his films from “How I Won the War” to the avant-garde work he did with Yoko Ono and on to more recent documentaries, videos and promotional clips. There’s a complete catalogue of writings from “A Spaniard in the Works”, prose and poetry, and letters to magazines and friends, as well as artwork, erotic lithographs and other drawings and paintings.

There are also some great photographs inside, some of which I’ve never seen before, like the one on the lower right-hand side taken at Tittenhurst Park:

(click on the image to see a larger version)

If you want to see a bit more of the book, Amazon has one of those “Look Inside“ the book pages with more.

The Beatles Discomania – A Great Book

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Time for another gem found during my recent brief visit to Paris (see the previous France visit posts here, and here).

At the Gilbert Jeune bookstore I found this wonderful book by French writer and Beatles fanatic Francois Plassat:

“The Beatles Discomania” is a fantastic career-spanning summary of the Beatles output as a band and also as solo artists. It brings the story right up to the end of 2011 with details of the John Lennon Signature box set and his other re-issues, the Paul McCartney “Archive” series gets a mention, Ringo’s “Y Not”, and the George Harrison documentary “Living in the Material World“.  As you can see in the images below this is a lavishly illustrated with extensive album cover images and memorabilia spanning a wide range of releases. It is a very attractive book to own – even though I don’t speak French!

It turns that François Plassat works in graphic design and it shows as the text and image layout throughout this book is excellent. He created an agency called China Night which he led for more than twenty years . After writing a book about  Paul McCartney (released in October 2010 – see below), Plassat’s most recent work “The Beatles Discomania” is about  fifty years of the Beatles releases.

The book is a large format, soft-back  which has been stylishly and sensibly laid out. It was published by JBz & Co in France in 2011. The book is full of information on all the recordings released by the group as well as the solo releases of each band member. There are sections on Apple Records, George Martin, etc. This is a true guide to the complete musical output of the Beatles, a carefully laid out goldmine of information. Bring on the English translation!

Here are some images giving just a taste of what’s inside and the attention to detail in the illustrations and photographs:

Author Francois Plassat has also written another book “Paul McCartney: L’empreinte d’un Géant”, which translates as “Paul McCartney: The Footprint of a Giant”:

If you speak French (and we have some followers of the Beatles Blog in France) then you might be interested in these two interviews with author Francois Plassat about his amazing book “The Beatles Discomania”.

Here’s the rear cover:

John Lennon – Une Vie en Images

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I was fortunate recently to visit Paris, France and while there of course I had to have a snoop around for Beatle books and records. I had a couple of successes and over the next couple of blog posts I’ll detail what I found there….

In Paris there is a fantastic chain of discount bookstores called Gilbert Jeune:

They have a number of outlets all around the Place Saint-Michel, right across the road from the River Seine and just near where we stayed. In one of the stores they were stocking a number of Beatle and Beatle-related titles and I very much liked the look of this one:

“John Lennon – Une Vie en Images” translates roughly as “John Lennon – A Life in Images”. This is a large format softback book – very thick and heavy and printed on quality paper. The text by John Blaney is in French but as the book is largely made up of photographs of John Lennon that’s not so much of a drawback for me (I don’t speak French!). It actually makes this book a little more unusual and interesting if anything.

John Blaney comes with some cred. He’s a contributor to Shindig magazine and has written extensively on the Beatles, and Lennon and McCartney as solo artists. His books include “Paul McCartney – The Songs He Was Singing”; “John Lennon – Listen to this Book”; “Lennon and McCartney: Together Alone”; and “Beatles For Sale: How Everything They Touched Turned to Gold”. (You can read more about Blaney on his Amazon author page).

Amazon also carries this review of “John Lennon – Une Vie en Images” from the Booklist site: “Although this biography-in-photographs appears in conjunction with the thirtieth anniversary of John Lennon’s tragic death at 40, it concentrates on what Yoko Ono describes in her preface as her husband’s “magical” life. While Ono remembers Lennon as a “curious and highly intelligent man,” Blaney writes of Lennon’s “butterfly mind,” shorthand for his brilliance and impatience. In his extensive commentary accompanying hundreds of remarkably elegant private and public photographs, Blaney notes that while the always-photogenic Lennon appears to be “a confident, happy, normal young boy,” everyone knew he was exceptional. Creative, charismatic, ambitious, daring, and sensitive, Lennon concealed his terrible grief over his mother’s death when he was 17 behind a caustic and aggressive demeanor and struggled with his repressed feelings as the tempest of fame engulfed the Beatles. Image and narrative track the group’s rapid rise and evolution and Lennon’s discovery of his soul mate. Blaney writes, “Ono transformed Lennon; she filled him with confidence, inspiration and energy.” This superior photographic record of Lennon and his and Ono’s love, activism, and mutual artistry is strikingly romantic and poignant.” — Donna Seaman

Amazon has a “Look Inside”  page for the English version of this book. It  gives a much better idea of the great photos, layout  and content.

Further research when I got back home revealed that this book has also been published in English, but with the title  “John Lennon – In His Life”:

It was published in Germany as “Being John Lennon – The Visual Biography”:

And in Italian as well, this time with the title “John Lennon – A Revolution in Music”:

The French edition is a nice addition to the collection and a great memento of my first visit to Paris. Next post will feature some more French Beatle finds….

Beatles-related Items at a Book and Record Fair

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A local community radio station (2MBS-FM) often holds fundraising book, CD and record fairs to raise some much-needed cash in order to keep going.

There’s just been another one and I was able to score a couple of Beatle-related items of interest. I got in on the first day and before things had been picked over too much.

They didn’t have much in the way of vinyl, but there were masses of CD’s and books this time – and as the CD’s were so daunting (so many of them) I headed first to the books as they’d kindly identified a “Music” section. The very first thing I grabbed was this:

It is a hardback copy of Ray Coleman’s 1984 biography (I think initially released in two volumes?) in one, very thick book (640 pages). Its a little bit worn, but in pretty good shape seeing it is a US first edition from 1985. This is published by McGraw Hill, and for $6.00 looked like a good read. I know that Coleman (who died in 1996) had mixed reviews for this work. I didn’t have a copy of this book in the collection. Now I do.

Also in the books section I found this:

Yes – it is a little bit beaten up and well-used – but it’s an original UK paperback edition from 1965 (published by Mayflower Dell). It is a “novelisation” by author Al Hine of the Beatle’s  “Help!” movie from the same year.  I purchased this little Beatles book because I’d also very recently scored a copy of the “novelisation” of “A Hard Day’s Night” at another record fair.  This makes a matching pair…..and also it was just $6.oo. A bargain.

The final find was hidden away in amongst the many CD’s on offer. I’ve already  got this Paul McCartney release on LP but not the CD version. It comes with a bonus track – “”Ou Est Le Soleil”:

(click on the image for a larger version)

This is the UK pressing on MPL/Parlophone and comes from 1989. There’s a sticker on the back that says it was sold by the “Compact Disc Den” in the regional city of Cairns in Far North Queensland, Australia. So it has had something of a journey to end up in my collection! But isn’t that often the way?

Happy collecting.

“Shoulda Been There” and “Shivering Inside”

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So, I got home from work today and had this interesting email waiting for me in the inbox:

Hello there, Beatles Blogger!

Jude Southerland Kessler here. I was doing some research on Robert Freeman and The Beatles and came upon your wonderful site. Thanks for all you do!

I’ve been working for the last 26 years on The Lennon Series, a 9-volume expanded biography of John’s life. The first volume, “Shoulda Been There”, (covering 1940-Dec.1961) came out about 4 years ago. And the second volume, “Shivering Inside” (covering Dec. 1961-mid-April 1963) came out in 2010.

Right now, I’m working on the third book, “She Loves You” (mid-April 1963 – end of 1965) now. All total, the series will take 46 years of research and writing to complete.

If you have a moment, I’d be honored if you’d check out the website at www.johnlennonseries.com. And thank you for helping me with my research! I’ll be sure to include you in the acknowledgments for “She Loves You”.
All the Best!
Cheers,
Jude

Thanks so much for getting in touch Jude – and good luck with the huge Beatles writing and research task you have undertaken. I’m staggered by your 9-book, 46 year project!

For those wanting to find out more there’s an interesting text interview with Jude Southerland Kessler at Daytrippin’ Beatles Magazine. You can also listen to an extensive interview at Happy Nat’s The Beatles Rarity.

To learn more go to www.ontherockbooks.com.  Click here to have a bit of a look inside the Kindle edition of “Shivering Inside”.

Newsweek – Commemorative Beatles Edition

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I know its been out a while in a lot of markets around the world, but I’ve only just stumbled across this magazine. It happened accidentally when I wandered into a newsagent in a place called Surry Hills in Sydney, Australia….

This Newsweek mag is a commemorative edition subtitled “Celebrating a half century since “Love Me Do” and the band that started a revolution”.  The section headings are “The Beginning”; “The Band”; “The Mania”and “The Legacy”. It contains a lot of good stuff and is well laid out with wide range of great photos and text. There are 96 pages spanning the group’s entire career, including contributions from Anthony DeCurtis, Andrew Loog Oldham, Peter Brown, an interview with Ringo Starr (by critic Alan Light), an article by Billy Joel, a look at the band’s families, and a complete discography.

In some additional Newsweek online content former Beatles manager and author of the book “The Love You Make” Peter Brown talks about the original Sgt Pepper cover and how they had to change it prior to hitting the “go” button on the printing presses.

Steve Marinucci rates this Newsweek special offering as one of the more worthwhile Beatles magazines. And there’s another video link here detailing a little bit more on how it all came about.

One section is called “Welcome to Beatles Land!” where illustrator Jim Stoten translates a wide range of songs visually. How many can you find below?

(click to see a larger image)

Beatlemania – when the whole world seemed to be focused on these four young men from Liverpool known as the Fab Four….

George Harrison “Living in the Material World” Multi-Touch book

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Not one but two press releases out today (one from The Beatles official site, the other from the George Harrison official site) about a new “multi-touch” e-book edition of “Living in the Material World”.

There’s even a fancy trailer to look at:

This all comes hot on the heals of the release in the United States on DVD, BluRay and a Deluxe box set edition (which have all been out in the UK and other parts of the world since October last year) of the Martin Scorsese documentary film of the same name, plus a CD, Vinyl and Digital release of George Harrison previously un-released out-takes called “Early Takes – Volume 1“.

Another screenshot from the “multi-touch” edition.

Very soon I’ll have a copy of the DVD and a copy of the CD to give away to two lucky readers. 

Record Store Day Celebrated with a Record Fair

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Happy Record Store Day 2012.

And what better way to celebrate in Sydney, Australia than with a huge record fair in the inner-city suburb of Glebe:

Many of the city’s best new and second-hand record stores and dealers were well represented:

As you can see it was very well attended and there was a sense of frenzy in the air as collectors streamed in throughout the day to try to find the best bargains – and those elusive collectors items. There was plenty of Beatles material on offer:

I was able to pick up a couple of Beatles and Beatles-related items I’d been hankering after for some time plus, just as I was leaving, this unexpected little gem:

It’s an original paperback novel based on the original screenplay for the Beatles first motion picture “A Hard Day’s Night”. It is an Australian edition, printed in 1964 and it is in pretty good condition considering it’s almost fifty years old. Inside the pages are fairly yellowed by the years, but the spine is almost perfectly intact. As well as the central storyline of “A Hard Day’s Night” told as a novel there are eight pages of photographs taken during the filming of the movie:

It’s interesting to note (on both the front and rear covers) that when it first came out the book would have cost fans  4/6 (that’s four Shillings and Sixpence) to buy. Back then that was about 46 cents.

The next two blog posts will be about the other items I discovered. Stay tuned.

The White Book

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Got this one second-hand on Ebay – and it looks like a really good read.

Ken Mansfield was a Capitol Records executive and an insider in the Beatles camp. He had a unique insight into the way the band worked, the absolute power they wielded in the music business, and the causes behind their ultimate demise. His book is called “The White Book”, and it carries the subtitle “The Beatles, the Bands, the Biz: an Insider’s Look at an Era”.

Each book, like the album after which it is named, is plain white all over, comes with the title embossed on the front cover, and has a limited edition number stamped on the lower right-hand side. Mine is 028525.

I really like the layout, look and feel of this book. Its a mid-sized softback, 248 pages with what they call in the book industry French flaps (don’t ask me why they are called that…the paperback front cover and rear extend and fold in – if that makes sense. Small but boring detail?). It has a large selection of photographs which are a combination of black and white, colour and colour-tinted photographs, many of them originals from Mansfields personal collection and as such never seen before. If you want a sneak peak at “The White Book” Google Books has a large selection you can see, along with extensive text extracts. Amazon also has a “Look Inside” preview.

Those links give you a really good idea about the design of “The White Book” and how it’s laid out. If you’ve scrolled through the Google Books/Amazon links you’ll appreciate there are lots of photos of items that illustrate key moments: telegrams, record covers, photographs, and hand-written notes from the Beatles to Ken Mansfield. One of my favourites: an autographed copy of the White Album given to him by George Harrison:

To sum up the contents of the book, this extract from Publishers Weekly is revealing:  “The second memoir from record-industry vet Mansfield (The Beatles, the Bible and Bodega Bay), a simple look at a complex happening, recounts his overwhelmingly positive experiences working with the Fab Four (and others) as they put together their late-career masterpiece The White Album. Mansfield relates how a lucky break in the 1960s took him from promotions executive for Hollywood’s Capitol Records to U.S. manager of Beatles-owned Apple Records. One of the few Americans allowed into the group’s inner circle, Mansfield presents revealing one-on-one time with each band member, yielding insight beyond their public personas. He notes, for instance, that mere words can’t explain how intimidating John Lennon and Yoko Ono were. Though he provides his side of artistic debates (should “Hey Jude” or “Revolution” be the first Apple single?), and eyewitness accounts of key Beatles moments (including the group’s final public performance atop the label’s London headquarters), Mansfield misses numerous opportunities to provide insider details and to comment on the progress (or lack thereof) in the recording industry; further, Mansfield’s awkward writing style—clumsy metaphors and alliteration, short chapters and confusing chronology—gives the work an amateurish feel. As Mansfield notes in the foreword, this book is something to enjoy because of its simplicity: engaging but hardly essential reading for the casual fan.”

That last bit is probably harsh. As a real fan this looks to me like it contains a treasure trove of stuff I don’t know, told from a unique perspective. “The White Book” has its own website fabwhitebook.com with lots more information and of course – a video:

The Beatles Revealed

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Another nice Beatles book has joined the collection.

“The Beatles Revealed” is a large-format hardback book of 200 pages, printed on quality glossy paper:

Music journalist and author Hugh Fielder would be known to some Beatles collectors because he compiled the rear cover liner notes for the British edition of the Beatles “Rarities” album. This originally came out as a bonus record available only as part of “The Beatles Collection” box set. But in 1979 the record was issued separately as a stand-alone single vinyl LP (with the Fielder liner notes) due to popular demand. You can read that story here. The rear cover of that release looks like this:

“The Beatles Revealed” book is organised chronologically by year and covers all the major events in the Beatles career, beginning with “The Formative Years 1957-1962” and ending with “The Break-up Years 1969-1970”, and an “Epilogue” of 1970 reunion rumours and 1995’s “Anthology” TV/DVD series and CD sets. The book contains some great images:

“The Beatles Revealed” is published by Flame Tree Publishing and came out in 2010.

The photo above is a beauty of George in the very early days (note the script used for “The Beatles” on Ringo’s drum skin). It’s on the rear jacket cover.