Beatles Books

Patrick Humphries - 'With The Beatles'

My guest today is renowned music journalist and author Patrick Humphries who joins me to discuss his book 'With The Beatles'.

Patrick interviewed Paul, George and Ringo at various points during their solo careers, and uses this a basis to tell The Beatles story from beginning to end - with particular focus on how the Beatles legacy and impact grew after they went their separate ways. 

Merle Frimark - My Day At Abbey Road

For this very special episode, my guest is former Apple employee Merle Frimark who joins me to discuss her time as an Apple employee between 1967 and 1970. On July 23rd 1969, Merle attended the recording session for 'Come Together', where she watched The Beatles at work and captured some amazing candid pictures.

The Guardian piece referenced in this episode can be found here - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/24/from-sorting-fan-mail-to-seeing-abbey-road-being-made-my-life-as-a-teenage-beatles-employee

 

 

Neil Fox - 'Music Films'

My guest for this episode is Neil Fox,  a Professor of Film Practice and Pedagogy at Falmouth University, and co-host of the acclaimed film podcast, The Cinematologists. He's here to discuss his book, 'Music Films'. We focus our conversation, of course, on The Beatles movies - what makes Hard Day's Night great and Help less great? What influence did The Beatles films have on other music films of the 60's? And how did The Rutles inspire This Is Spinal Tap?

Greg Armstrong & Andy Neill - 'When We Was Fab'

My guests for this episode are Greg Armstrong and Andy Neill who join me to discuss their book 'When We Was Fab - Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964'.

Greg and Andy tell the story of this tour in great detail - from it's conception to The Beatles frenzied arrival and look at the legacy that they left behind. 

Tracy Daugherty - We Shook Up the World

My guest today is Tracy Daugherty who joins me to discuss his book 'We Shook Up Th World - The Spiritual Rebellion of Muhammad Ali and George Harrison'.

Ali met George in a Florida boxing ring in February 1964 - and ten years later as Ali was staging one of the great sporting comebacks George was struggling across America on his Dark Horse tour - Tracy's book looks at the journey these two men took over those 10 years and how 60's icons dealt with the changing world of the 70's.

 

Debbie Gendler -'I Saw Them Standing There'

My guest today is Debbie Gendler who is here to discuss her book 'I Saw The Standing There - Adventures of an Original Beatle Fan During Beatlemania and Beyond'.

Debbie fell for The Beatles in late 1963 and soon found herself in the audience for their first US TV appearance on Ed Sullivan. This led to a lifetime of devotion and many crazy adventures and Beatle encounters - she shares all these stories with me, including a less than satisfactory meeting with the lads themselves.

Mark Lewisohn on Beatles books

It's terrific to welcome Mark Lewisohn back to the pod, this time to discuss the stories behind some of the major works of Beatle literature.

From Hunter Davies to Derek Taylor, from Michael Braun to Richard Dilello - Mark offers his own fascinating insight into the books that so many of us have on our Beatle shelves. 

Mary McGlory & Sylvia Saunders - 'The Liverbirds'

I'm joined for this episode by Mary McGlory and Sylvia Saunders to talk about their book 'The Liverbirds - Our Life in Britain's First Rock n Roll Band'.

Despite some disparaging words from a certain John Lennon, Mary and Sylvia, along with Val and Pam form The Liverbirds, and become a thrilling live act, garnering huge success particularly in Germany - they share their story, including their many Beatle related encounters, with me for this episode.

Mark Lewisohn on Mark Lewisohn

For this very special episode I'm joined by Mark Lewisohn to discuss his life, his books and the unique Beatle experiences that led him to become the writer he is today.

Aaron Badgley -'Dark Horse Records: The Story of George Harrison's Post-Beatles Record Label'

My guest for this episode is Aaron Badgley, who joins me to discuss his book on Dark Horse Records, the label started by George Harrison in 1974.

Aaron tells us the story of the varied collection of artists on the label, and how as a commercial venture, it wasn't quite what George had hoped it would be.