by admin on January 12, 2010
I haven’t read every book on The Beatles but being the big Beatles fan that I am, I have read many of them. I’ve read books that are primarily about their biography and books that are primarily about their music. I’ve read books on The Beatles that are really great and I’ve read some that are not so great. In this article I focus on the good ones that I do recommend reading.
Revolution In The Head – This is a book that I love a “love/hate” relationship with. I strongly disagree with many of the opinions shared in this book but I still find it to be a really good read. One that makes me want to listen to The Beatles songs again to hear things from this author’s perspective. It takes a close look at each of the songs The Beatles recorded during the 1960s (originals and covers. ) Although it contains many opinions, it also contains a lot of facts that make it a good resource.
The Beatles As Musicians – This is actually a two book set that is sold separately. One edition covers all of the music The Beatles recorded from their beginnings up through 1965’s Rubber Soul and the other edition covers their music from 1966’s Revolver through the break up of the band in 1970. This books is really aimed at students of The Beatles music. It largely bypasses the biographical stuff (which is fine, because so many other books cover that stuff) and instead focuses in great detail on the musical construction of their songs. This book is probably over the head of many readers because of it’s focus on music theory. But for those really interested in the musicianship and songwriting of the band, there is no better resource.
Lennon Revealed – This is a “revealing” biography of John Lennon (hence the name!) I have read a few books on Lennon and I think this is the best of them. It does a good job of making you feel like you’re getting to know the real John Lennon rather than just the “icon. ”
Many Years From Now – Tells The Beatles story from Paul McCartney’s perspective. Includes many direct quotes from Paul. This is an extremely informative book.
Here, There, & Everywhere: My Life Recording The Beatles – This book was written by Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick and it tells The Beatles story from his very interesting perspective. I don’t think any other book had me feeling like I was really there for the recording of their albums as much as this one. It includes some interesting technical details on how the music was recorded. I very highly recommend this book!
The Beatles Anthology – The “official Beatles story. ” I think this is an obvious “must have” for any Beatles fan. It’s the perfect companion to the Anthology documentary film (which is available on DVD of course. )
The Beatles Complete Scores – The music (including guitar & drum tabs) for every song the band officially released during their active career (ie: no Anthology songs are included. )
Joshua J. Jacks believes that all of these Books On The Beatles are available for the Global Kindle. The Kindle With Global Wireless makes the Kindle EBook reading device available to the rest of the world (outside of the US) for the first time.
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by admin on January 3, 2010
It was 22 years ago (in 1987) that the Beatles albums first came out in the CD format. As vinyl and tape sales slowed significantly, CD became the standard way of listening to music and these versions of The Beatles albums have become those that people listen to. Unfortunately these versions of The Beatles albums aren’t actually the best they could be. The mastering job on that original CD release was less than perfect. And the packaging was pretty lame too!
On 9/9/9 all of that changes! Why? Because that’s the day that the newly remastered Beatles CDs become the new standard for The Beatles albums and from all reports these newly remastered Beatles albums sound amazing. There is new clarity and detail in the songs and nobody has reported any issues with over compression or a lack of warmth. On top of that, the packaging is a lot better too! Now the CDs will available in “vinyl replica” packaging which is a lot cooler than the old plastic cases that the CDs have been in.
The best way to buy all of these newly remastered Beatles CDs is with the new Beatles CD box sets. There’s a stereo box set which includes all 13 of The Beatles UK albums (yes, that includes Magical Mystery Tour even though it’s not really a real Beatles album) and the Past Masters set of non-album tracks so that it includes a newly remastered stereo version of every song The Beatles originally released from 1962 through 1970.
There’s also a mono box set which has the original mono mixes of The Beatles first 10 albums (along with the Mono Masters set which has mono mixes of all of their non-album songs) along with the original stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul. This is the first time that these mixes have been available on CD.
Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, & Let It Be are not included in this mono box set because they were never mixed in mono. By 1969 mono was dead and stereo was the standard.
But prior to the switchover to stereo, mono was the standard. Most people listened to mono versions of the Beatles albums through most of the ’60s. And because of that the band and their producers spent almost all of their time and energy on mixing the mono mixes. In comparison the stereo mixes were not given significant thought. Stereo was thought by some at the time to be a “fad” or just an “experimental” thing. I know that seems crazy to us now, but that’s what people thought back then.
What this means is that these original mono mixes were really how the band intended their music to be heard and that’s why it’s so significant from a historical standpoint that these mixes are finally easily available on CD. Prior to this new CD release the only way to legally listen to these mono mixes would be to track down an original Beatles mono vinyl LP. As you can imagine that could be difficult & expensive to do. Plus you’d need a record player and most people don’t have one of those anymore.
You may think that these mono mixes are something only “Beatles historians” should be interested in but there are many people who claim that the mono albums are more than just “the way the albums were meant to be hard” but also flat out better sounding. John Lennon was known to say that he thought the mono Sgt. Pepper was vastly superior to the stereo Sgt. Pepper.
In many cases the mono versions of The Beatles song are significantly different sounding. It should be very interesting to hear those differences for Beatles fans.
While the new stereo Beatles CDs are available as a part of the stereo box set and individually (they will be the new standard Beatles albums available everywhere) the new mono CDs are only available as a part of the mono box set.
Click Here to find out how you can hear the new remastered versions of The Beatles songs to decide if you want to buy them or not. Both the Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set and the Beatles Mono CD Box Set are recommended for serious Beatles fans.
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by admin on November 13, 2009
The original Yellow Submarine album released in January 1969 is considered by most Beatles fans to be the worst album the band has ever released as it contained only six songs of the Beatles true Instrumentals (other tracks have been rather boring created by producer George Martin) and only four of these six songs were new. Two of the six were previously released songs "Yellow Submarine" 1966 and "All You Need Is Love" 1967.En 1999 a new album was released to coincide with a new version of the film Yellow Submarine on DVD. This new version includes all six songs from the 1969 album of original songs and nine others. The album was entitled Yellow Submarine. It is entitled "Songtrack" rather than "soundtrack" because it presents the songs played in the film rather than instrumental music that was presented in the original version. What was most remarkable about "Songtrack" published in 1999 was that each of the songs included have been remixed and remastered from original tapes, which is something that has not been done for the CD versions of their album (other than Rubber Soul & Help!) This gives songs sound very different from what one hears on the other versions and this is why I recommend that the Beatles fanatic buy this album, even if they already have 15 chansons.The Yellow Submarine is actually one of the 'Listening to the most psychedelic experience one can have with the music of the Beatles due not only to the sparkling new mix, but also because, for most songs on this album are among the works most Beatles psychédéliques.L 'album includes four new songs (new at the time, of course) "It's All Too Much", "Only a Northern Song," "All Together Now" and "Hey Bulldog" with songs from Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour. The greatest thing about this album is that it saves four new songs that were released on the original album yellow submarine (where they have been largely ignored.) In particular, it is nice that " ; Hey Bulldog "and" It's All Too Much "is featured on this album as they are two of the best songs of the Beatles that many Beatles fans have never heard parler.De 1965's Rubber Soul album contains" Nowhere Man "&" Think for yourself. "From 1966 Revolver album contains" Yellow Submarine "(no surprise there!)," Eleanor Rigby "&" Love You To. "A From the 1967 album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album contains "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", "When I'm 64," "With A Little Help From My Friends" and the title song, "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" which sounds particularly different from the version we're used to. All songs on this album have been remixed and remastered from original tapes so they sound slightly different versions available on other albums of Beatles.De in 1967's Magical Mystery Tour album contains "Baby You're a Rich Man "(What a strange piece that is great) with" All You Need Is Love. "There are some reasons to get the Yellow Submarine. One is that the album is really enjoyable to listen because it is filled with great songs. Another is that it saves "Hey Bulldog", "Only a Northern Song" & "It's All Too Much" from the original album are mostly ignored yellow submarine. And another is that the songs included here are remixed and remastered from original tapes and they sound very different (and in most cases better) than the versions available on their official studio albums.
Marvin J. Markus recommends buying Beatles Magical Mystery Tour CD and The White Album Double CD online. Marvin said the White Album to be the greatest album of all time.
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by admin on October 23, 2009
One of the most influential rock bands and commercially successful, the Beatles enjoyed from popularity1960 enormous. This group of four from Liverpool (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star) was not only a huge success in the UK, across the globe, he has won several honors. With more than 40 different singles, albums and EPs, the Beatles have enjoyed the number one position for many occasions. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles # 1 on its list of 100 greatest artists of all time. According to the same magazine, their innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s, and their influence on pop culture is even more evident today.
Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and skiffle Homegrown, the group explored a variety of genres ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, hairstyles and statements the trend-setters, while their social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s. The Beatles won a record six diamond-selling albums (10 million copies) to their credit – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles, Abbey Road, The Beatles: 1962-1966, The Beatles: 1967-1970, and The Beatles 1.
If you are a fan of the Beatles, and the various portals on the World Wide Web offers you a wide selection of Beatles albums to really thrown out money. All famous albums like A Hard Days Night, Abbey Road, Help, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles 1 and many others are available on our website. Buy these albums and Croon along numbers like "The Night Before", "I Need You, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away," "Ticket to Ride," "You're Going To Lose That Girl" "I 've Just Seen a Face", "You Will not See Me", "Think for Yourself," "Michelle", "Come Together", "Something" etc.
Jacob Marshal, a dedicated writer Rupizcompare. co. United Kingdom providing the Beatles with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road Music Online
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by admin on October 4, 2009
The Beatles were formed in Liverpool, England in 1958 and became the most influential and successful rock band of the 20th century. The Beatles were – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr along with their manager Brian Epstein who the band considered as the 5th Beatle.
The Beatles records sold over a billion units before their music was transferred on to digital format like CD. The Beatles released their first single on October 5, 1962 (Love Me Do/ P.S. I Love You)
The Beatles then released the single “Please Please Me/ Ask Me Why” on Jan 11. 1963. The first two Beatles records/albums (”Please Please Me” released Mar. 22, 1963 and “With The Beatles” released Nov 22, 1963) were sold in England and sold very well. In America, the first album released was called “Introducing The Beatles” which came out on July 22, 1963. The Beatles didn’t really make an impact in the U.S. until the second U.S. album – “Meet The Beatles” was released January 20, 1964. The first song on this album hit number 1 just after the album’s release, and just days from the band flying to the US for a performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
In the U.S. Beatles records were slightly altered from the United Kingdom versions, Capitol records (USA) removed a number of songs from the original album versions so as to release extra albums (Something New, Yesterday…And Today, Hey Jude for example) thereby cashing in on the bands popularity within the USA.
In 1964, the Beatles records sold a then world record (9 singles and 6 LPs), representing U.S. sales of over 25 million.
“I Want To Hold Your Hand” sold almost 5 million records in the US by 1968, making it the best selling single of the 1960’s (from a Capitol Records Press Release, Sept, 9, 1968).
By August 1964, The Beatles records had sold approximately 80 million globally *Variety 235, August 12, 1964).
“Rubber Soul” sold 1.2 million copies in the U.S. during the first 9 days of its release (Billboard article, January 1, 1966).
By May 1967, the Beatles’ global gross stood at $98 million (Variety 246, May 19, 1967).
The “Hey Jude” single had sold over 3 million copies in America in its first 2 months of release, and 3.7 million by mid-January 1969. It eventually sold over 4 million copies and was the 4th best-selling single of the 1960s (Spizer, Bruce, 2003: The Beatles on Apple Records, p. 32).
Although it carried a list price of $11.79, their double album The Beatles sold 1.1 million units during its first 2 weeks on sale; a record for any double album at that point in time (Spizer, Bruce, 2003: The Beatles on Apple Records, p. 102).
“Abbey Road” sold over 3 million copies in the US in a little over a month, making it one of the best-selling Albums of the 1960s despite having been on sale for only the last three months of the decade (Spizer, Bruce, 2003: The Beatles on Apple Records, p. 164).
The Beatles records had topped worldwide sales of 300 million units by 1969, this feat was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.
The “Let It Be” album sold 3.2 million copies in 13 days representing a gross retail value of nearly $26 million (Billboard article, June 6, 1970).
By October 1972, the Beatles records worldwide had sales of 545 million units, a world record (Billboard 84, October 21, 1972).
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