John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met on July 6, 1957 at the St. Peter’s Church Hall fête in Woolton. On that day, Lennon was performing with his band, The Quarrymen (sometimes written as The Quarry Men), for the church’s annual garden festival. Although McCartney initially wasn’t really interested in attending the gathering, he was […]

What is our most common fallacy about the ’60s?
Easy answer. It’s the “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” fantasy, that the sixties were no more than a bohemian reaction to the 1950s.
READ MORE

 
It won’t be released in the U.S. until September (though it’s already out in the UK), but “The Beatles: The Music and the Myth” by Peter Doggett and Patrick Humphries is a pretty straightforward and concise reference that examines the Beatles’ recorded output album-by-album and song-by-song, with recording dates and facts for each one.  Included are the […]

Many Beatles-related books try to delve into the Beatles’ background to get a better understanding of the group and their music. Few of them accomplish it as well or as thoroughly as David Bedford’s “Liddypool: Birthplace of the Beatles” (Dalton Watson Fine Books).  (Also available fromAmazon.co.uk.)
It’s an amazing book that creates an inside portrait of the group […]

John, Paul, George and Ringo split in 1970, but they were still in business together. It wasn’t harmonious.
When exactly did the Beatles break up? For many years, conventional wisdom has offered two options: September 1969, when, on the way to his solo set at the Toronto Rock & Roll Revival festival, John Lennon told fellow […]

NEW BOOK ABOUT ASTRID: The University of Chicago Press this fall will publish Matthew Clough’s “Astrid Kirchherr: A Retrospective.” It’s described as an overview of Kirchherr’s four-decade career and will include many deeply personal and rare photographs of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and one-time Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe, who left the Beatles to remain […]

 
The current edition of “Dennis Mitchell’s Breakfast With The Beatles, the first hour of which is now available atwww.beatlesradioshow.com, explores the Beatles’ appearances on other artists’ records with author Kristofer Englehardt. His book, “Beatles Deeper Undercover,” (also available at Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.cain Canada) makes a comprehensive study of those guest appearances. The show  includes some of those songs mentioned in […]

For years, we’ve heard the infamous “Paul is dead” hoax — how Paul McCartney was killed in a car accident and replaced by a double. There have been countless “clues” on album covers and in songs. And amazingly, some people actually believe this stuff.
Well, here’s another addition to the “Paul Is Dead” library. A new […]

ONCE A REPORTER ALWAYS A REPORTER: Interesting item in the Huffington Post about the reporter who broke the story that Rep. Joe Sestak may have been offered a job in exchange for not running against Sen. Arlen Spector. It was none other than Larry Kane, author of the excellent book “Ticket to Ride: Inside the […]

“The McCartneys: In the Town Where They Were Born”
Trinity Mirror NW
 “The McCartneys: In the Town Where They Were Born” by Kevin Roach (available fromAmazon.com and Amazon.co.uk) is a charming look at the history of Paul McCartney and his family’s past.

The 112 page book begins with Paul McCartney’s school days. Page 10 features a photo of Paul with […]