Best products from r/beatles

One of my favorite things in the world. Don't you just love the way they wrote music? If I may, let me recommend a Beatles songbook to you (if you don't already have it). The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook.

I have been playing Beatles music for 25 years or so, and there are many inaccurate songbooks. Mostly, really. This is one of the best, simple layout, very clear, seemingly very accurate There are almost always some assorted questionable transcriptions in any Beatles book that is essentially mostly scored by ear, but this is one that seems to have the least. The layout is great for someone just wanting to sit and play the chords on a guitar because there is no sheet music for melody or piano that you don't need taking up space, just the needed chord diagrams up top, then just the lyrics with the chord names above each line.

Anyway, sorry if I've come across like a know-it-all, just sharing my love of playing the beautiful songs of our boys on my acoustic, as well as one of my favorite books to use.. and I have many!

So yeah. Happy playing! And good for you for starting and staying with it! I'm sure it's a joy. In fact, I know it is.

This is a great movie about the man behind the Granny glasses. It has home videos. Interviews with Cynthia, Yoko, Julian, Sean, and many others. This is a great movie about John. Any book on amazon rated highly should be good.LINK http://www.amazon.com/Imagine-John-Lennon-Deluxe-Edition/dp/B000AYELY2/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1348931424&sr=8-8&keywords=john+lennon Never heard of this, but if you want something really raw get this. Sounds amazing by the way. I'll have to get it some day. LINKhttp://www.amazon.com/The-John-Lennon-Letters/dp/0316200808/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1348931424&sr=8-10&keywords=john+lennon

I don't think I've ever seen a documentary about Paul. But I found this. It has music videos, live performances, narration by Paul, interviews. Read the description on amazon for more details. This is something that I would love to get. LINK http://www.amazon.com/The-McCartney-Years-Paul/dp/B000VRJ37I/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1348931817&sr=8-26&keywords=paul+mccartney
The top 3 on an amazon search of Paul Mccartney books look decent if you want to read about Paul.
LINKhttp://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_iac_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=paul+mccartney+books&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Apaul+mccartney+books

For George I would highly recommend George Harrison: Living In The Material World. I have watched most of it, and it is amazing. I still need to get a copy of it myself. LINKhttp://www.amazon.com/George-Harrison-Living-Material-World/dp/B007JWKLMO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348932351&sr=8-1&keywords=george+harrison
On amazon there are a few books that look good. I'll leave you to decide on one. LINKhttp://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=george+harrison+book&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ageorge+harrison+book

Ringo doesn't have a lot out there to read or watch about him but I Found some good stuff. This looks really cool and I would love to get one for myself. LINKhttp://www.amazon.com/Postcards-Boys-Ringo-Starr/dp/B000A176RO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348932649&sr=8-1&keywords=ringo+starr+book
You'll have to research more to find a good biography on Ringo.

There you go. I hope this helps a lot. I know I'll be picking this stuff up a some point.

This is the best answer here, and I actually think John's responsibility for the breakup is overblown if anything, Paul deserves more credit than he typically gets.

John gave numerous interviews between September 1969 when he said he wanted a "divorce" and May 1970 when the Beatles broke up, and in every interview that he was asked about the band's future, he was always very circumspect, saying things like, "We're all doing our own things at the moment, whatever happens, happens." And particularly saying stuff like, "We have this album 'Get Back' that we're trying to get out, and we're not going to do anything else until it's released."

Consider that in the first half of September 1969, John offered the song "Cold Turkey" to the Beatles as a single. It was rejected by Paul, but it offers a glimpse that John didn't consider the band dead after Abbey Road was finished. He performed in Toronto, where he played the song live, came back to the UK and recorded the song with Ringo on drums. That same week, he asked for the "divorce".

Here's what John did for the band after his private "divorce" announcement:

• In late September after the Toronto gig, he gave a long interview for Radio Luxembourg promoting Abbey Road. Nothing about any possible breakup.
  
  
• In October, he made several phone calls to various American radio stations to deny the "Paul Is Dead" rumors, the first Beatle to make a public statement. It took a few more days before some reporter tracked Paul down in Scotland and got him to make a public refusal himself.
  
  
• Also in October, reporter David Wigg of the BBC asked John about the possibility of the Beatles performing at the 1970 Isle of Wight festival the following year, and John said that he'd "consider it".
  
  
• In November, he recorded his contributions to the annual Beatles Christmas record, just like all the others did.
  
  
• In December, he performed live on stage with George for a UNICEF benefit concert, (albeit under the Plastic Ono Band name)
  
  
• Also in December, when reporter Don Chandler asked about the future of Beatle concerts, his answer was, "Sometimes I think no, and sometimes I think yes." He also explained it was increasingly difficult to get all four of them on board for anything all at the same time, and that it had been easier recently to work with the ever-changing Plastic Ono Band.
  
  
• Later in December, he and Yoko flew to Toronto to promote their latest idea for an "International Peace Festival" where he stated he would try to "hustle" the Beatles and the entirety of the Apple roster of artists to play the festival, but "If I get the Beatles [to perform], I might have to pay 'em!"
  
  
• Even the Beatles recording "I Me Mine" without John is misunderstood. It was recorded on January 3, 1970, when John and Yoko were in Denmark. They were in Denmark over the Christmas holidays because that's where Yoko's ex-husband was living with their daughter Kyoko and she wanted to see her during Christmas, and the only way to do that was to go to Denmark. After such a busy year, John and Yoko decided to spend an entire month there relaxing away from the spotlight, only giving a couple interviews in early January. He may have been invited back to London for the recording, but after Paul had just been allowed to take an extended vacation in Scotland, why should John feel compelled?
  
  
• When he returned to London, he quickly arranged a recording session for "Instant Karma" which George played on. Phil Spector produced the session, and his first thought was to get Spector involved in the Beatles, to re-produce the Let It Be album.
  
  
• In February 1970, once again interviewed by David Wigg, he said that he "wouldn't destroy [the Beatles] out of hand", that the group was a good way of communicating to the public, and that their recent lull in activity was due to getting the Let It Be project released first. He even said that the group's hiatus could signal "a rebirth or a death".
  
  
• The last interview he gave before the breakup was in mid-February where he still was saying that a live concert by the Beatles as a band was a "possibility".
  
  A couple weeks later, he started primal therapy sessions to deal with drug addiction and his emotional baggage. He didn't give any more interviews until several months after the breakup.
  
  George did give a couple interviews in March. The BBC had a half-hour long special as a pre-release promo for the upcoming Let It Be album in which George is hopeful for the band's future.
  
  Now consider Paul's timeline:
  
  
• John announces he wants a "divorce" in September 1969.
  
  
• Paul speaks to the press only twice between then and his infamous announcement of the breakup: once to a BBC reporter and once to Life magazine both in October, both to refute the "Paul Is Dead" rumor.
  
  
• After a short spell of drinking and drug use, he starts recording his first solo album in secret, without telling any of the others. Ringo, meanwhile, had also started work on his first solo album, with all the others well aware, and John had released several solo singles.
  
  
• Paul makes no objections to Spector getting involved in Let It Be, after all four Beatles reject Glyn Johns' final mix of the album in January 1970.
  
  
• Phil Spector asks Paul to recommend an arranger to record orchestral overdubs onto "The Long And Winding Road". Paul recommends Richard Hewson, who Spector uses. Hewson would go on to do the arrangements for all the songs on Paul's Ram/Thrillington the following year.
  
  
• By March 1970, the other Beatles are made aware of Paul's nearly complete solo album. John and George write a letter hand-delivered by Ringo asking Paul to delay the release of McCartney until after both Ringo's Sentimental Journey and the Beatles' Let It Be are released. The Let It Be movie premiere is already scheduled for May 13th in New York and May 20th in London, and they wanted to not push the release date back yet again for the fourth or fifth time. Paul is piiiiiiiissed and kicks Ringo out of his house.
  
  
• Paul does not move the release date back for McCartney.
  
  
• Two days later, Spector finishes work on Let It Be.
  
  
• The next day, a copy is sent to each of the four Beatles for their approval on the album. They all approve, except Paul, who doesn't respond. Or maybe he did--Spector claims McCartney sent him a telegram approving of the mixes, though that could have happened a little earlier, if Spector sent him some song mixes before the whole album was compiled. And Ringo seemed to back him up: "'We all said yes,' Starkey recalled. 'Even at the beginning Paul said yes. I spoke to him on the phone, and said, "Did you like it?" and he said, "Yeah, it's OK." He didn't put it down.'" (Source.)
  
  
• Regardless of what Paul did or did not say, with the album release scheduled for May 8th, a week in advance of the movie premiere, that left only five weeks to get the record to the pressing plant and distributed worldwide to meet the release date. So the album was sent to the pressing plant.
  
  
• A week later, on April 10th, Paul releases his "the Beatles have broken up" statement. (Although was it really a breakup announcement? "Q: Is this album a rest away from the Beatles or the start of a solo career?
  A: Time will tell. Being a solo album means it's 'the start of a solo career...' and not being done with the Beatles means it's just a rest. So it's both.")
  
  
• Four days later, on April 14th, when the Let It Be album had already been at the pressing plant for a week, Paul sent a letter to Allen Klein complaining about the orchestra on The Long & Winding Road. Paul has hired lawyers at this point. Due to the enormous cost that would have been involved (see: Yesterday and Today which only involved a record sleeve, not the actual vinyl record), Klein refuses to push back the release and film premiere, and continues with the album as it is.
  
  
• On April 22, Paul gives his first face to face interview in almost a year, telling the Evening Standard he is upset about the album and wants to dissolve the Beatles partnership unless Klein steps down. That doesn't happen, and Paul sues to break the Beatles up.
  
  It seems to me that, despite John's blustery "I want a divorce" statement in September, his behavior indicated that he was content to maintain an "extended hiatus" status for the band until after Let It Be and the hatchet had been buried between Paul and the others.
  
  It wasn't until John, George, and Ringo's move to get Paul to delay the release of McCartney that shit actually hit the fan. That pissed off Paul tremendously, and all the actual moves to break up the Beatles happened in the couple weeks after that.
  
  Go back and re-watch the Anthology or read the Anthology book. It's stark to see how much airtime that Paul gets over this event, while Ringo and George suspiciously say next to nothing about it. Probably because their version of events of how it happened is so vastly different. But they knew opening this can of worms would have torpedoed the Anthology project, so they kept uncharacteristically quiet and let Paul say his piece unencumbered. Though none of the others ever spoke about it at length, in other interviews outside of Anthology both Ringo and George have hinted that it didn't happen the way that Paul likes to tell it. Though in Paul's defense, he has probably kept up his version all these years because he used "The Long & Winding Road" as leverage in the breakup lawsuit against Klein, so going back on that story later on might have opened him up to legal trouble which of course after decades in court, everybody wanted to avoid.
  
  Source for most of this.

Everyone recommends the Bob Spitz book but it focuses heavily on their pre-Beatles' lives. Which is fine, but we all really want to get into that fateful moment when everything started.

I'd recommend the Philip Norman book "Shout"; Peter Brown's book "The Love you Make" (among the best of the 'eyewitness' books); Mark Lewisohn's publications; and for the recordings, Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head and Geoff Emerick's "Here, There, and Everywhere"

And give some love for Hunter Davies's volume

Documentaries: the Anthology, of course. Prior to that, the go-to documentary was called the "Compleat Beatles".

This 1999 review of Mark Lewisohn's excellent Beatles studio diary book where many of The Beatles recording engineers and tape operators and their producer George Martin are interviewed (and it shows how truly innovative,brilliant and creative especially John and Paul were in the recording studio),The Beatles Recording Sessions titled, Behind The Creative Genius Of A Groundbreaking Band by a musician himself says it all, he says that as a musician he found Mark Lewisohn's portrayal of The Beatles genius and in parenthesis he says, especially that of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, to be completely thorough and accurate, as well as insightful. He then says if you are to buy any one Beatles book,buy this one.







https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3EHW182TIHFQ2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1454910054






And this reviewer RAS who became a big Beatles fan after he read The Beatles Recording Sessions book,said,I think The Beatles ARE BRILLIANT and he said he despairs what his life would be like without The Beatles!! He said that when he first saw this book,he said Oh another garbage Beatles book.





http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Beatles-Recording-Sessions/product-reviews/1454910054/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_paging_btm_2?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=helpful&pageNumber=2




Here is a very recent great review by another musician Steve,







https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3R5JDL0D5RMYP/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0600635619






Here is another great recent review by a huge Beatles fan and a musician,






https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3R5JDL0D5RMYP/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1454910054









Here is a more recent great review by a huge Beatles fan and musician,






https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3R5JDL0D5RMYP/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1454910054








The great book music diary,The Beatles Recording Sessions book by Mark Lewisohn originally came out in 1988 but it's being re-released in September and it's already # 1 in Music Reference on Amazon.com

I'd steer away from Norman.

Regardless of age, it's hard to beat Miles' biography of Paul - because we all know it's authorised.

https://www.amazon.com/Paul-McCartney-Many-Years-Now/dp/0805052496

​

As for George there was a thread today: https://www.reddit.com/r/georgeharrison/comments/cjy3hf/best_biographies/

You might also take a look at this: https://www.amazon.com/George-Harrison-Soul-Man-Vol-ebook/dp/B07N11T8W9/ and volume 2, but this one I haven't read.

​

\> What are the best books on them as a band

I think that mean's Hunter Davies original biography: https://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Updated-Hunter-Davies/dp/0393338746

And it has to mean the Anthology: https://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Anthology/dp/0811826848

And it definitely has to mean Tune In: https://www.amazon.com/Beatles-These-Years-Extended-Special/dp/1408704781

Worth a look:

https://www.amazon.com/As-Time-Goes-Derek-Taylor/dp/0706700279

https://www.amazon.com/Magical-Mystery-Tours-Life-Beatles/dp/0312330448

https://www.amazon.com/Love-Me-Do-Beatles-Progress/dp/0140022783

​

For John, I really enjoyed the 'Letters' book that Hunter edited - but I prefer first person material.

https://www.amazon.com/John-Lennon-Letters/dp/0316200808/

Also, you might look at https://www.johnlennonseries.com/ I've heard her speak and she knows her stuff - but its a long road she is hoeing.

https://www.amazon.com/Lennon-Remembers-Jann-S-Wenner/dp/185984376X

https://www.amazon.com/Daddy-Come-Home-Lennon-Father/dp/0207169969

Haven't read it myself yet, but this sub loves to recommend the book "You Never Give Me Your Money", which covers their breakup and follows their financial situation all the way up until 2010 (I think?)

e: I'd also recommend any Beatles-related book by Lewisohn, even though he tends to cover more than just one specific period. I love "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions" in particular, lots of interesting material you probably wouldn't learn about otherwise.

This is one place I disagree with you.

Old records that were regularly played in those conditions are also often relatively worn down and noisy compared to more modern (from let's say, the 80s) records that were obviously played on nicer equipment so that's not a defense of a modern record player built in a time we can clearly do a lot better for not much more money tracking at those weights.

Especially if he's going to be playing an original, mint Beatles pressing valued at $70+ on it.

Even this with an a weighted tonearm for $140 would be better than that. Still a cheaply made Crosley but at least with it you can ensure it isn't tracking at the high weights their non-adjustable tone arms are known for and it has a better cart.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DMM58BD/ref=emc_b_5_t

It's great, huh? Once you get some lead guitar going, then this book is pretty much the ultimate.

http://www.amazon.ca/Beatles-Complete-Scores/dp/0793518326

It's not without the wrong note here or there, but the level of transcription is pretty much beyond what you get in most books. Every guitar part, every piano part, bass guitar, drums, embellishments. It's pretty much all there.

This is what you'll see:

http://jaygoodmanbass.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/somethingpg1.jpg?w=497&h=321

I know what you mean. But in some ways, leaving them alone is also thanks enough. Read some books like their official Anthology book and You Never Give Me Your Money to get a closer idea of who they really were as human beings. That is, to me, the greatest respect you can pay them: to see them as mortal men, warts and all, and respect them for who they really were/are.

I don't have the USB drive, but I have looked into it before.

To answer your Qs. The USB drive has the following albums


Please Please Me

With The Beatles

Hard Day's Night

Beatles For Sale

Help

Rubber Soul

Revolver

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles (White Album)

Yellow Submarine

Let It Be

Abbey Road

Past Masters I & II

The tracks are FLAC and don't have DRM, so yeah they are transferrable.

Does it work on 1999ish PCs? Lol, well I'm not sure how the heck a 1999 PC is running reddit (I kid). But yeah, if you download the right media player with the right codecs, then there's no reason it won't play FLAC.

More info - http://www.amazon.com/The-Beatles-USB/dp/B002VH7P4O

O man, you seems to be someone who know everything about The Beatles, great, thanks. For now I got Lennon: The Life and this Emerciks' story which I have already begun and I must say that first chapters are very good. Really enjoy description of the feelings this young's men, how huge were Beatles to him, like to guy from the street, like... to me. Maybe this why it works.

Btw. do you know The John Lenoon Letters (https://www.amazon.com/John-Lennon-Letters/dp/0316200808)? This is from Davis and I'm interesting about this becouse it's the secound book available in my first language (polish) about The Beatles. Idk, there are just a letters, but maybe after "The Life" I should take it?

I got The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook and just played through a bunch of stuff. The book is great -- has the chords for all their songs. I'm not sure I could play any of their songs from memory, but flipping through this book and just playing whatever is a lot of fun. Probably the only song by any of the Beatles that I have memorized is "Working Class Hero."

That and John wasn't much of a Queen fan. Tony Bramwell discusses this is his book Magical Mystery Tours. Its a great read and highly recommended for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

If you love the Beatles music with a passion to learn the intricacies of it all, I highly recommend this book. I typically refer to it as my Beatles Bible. And yes, it's expensive, but well worth it.

Edit: HOLY CRAP! I didn't realize it was only about $60. When I bought it as a teenager in 1995, it was about $250. Buy this book! You won't regret it.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0793518326?pc_redir=1414140432&robot_redir=1

http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Complete-Scores/dp/0793518326/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323857349&sr=1-1

I have this one. It has the complete score for every Beatles song except for maybe Free as a Bird and Real Love. The only problem I have with it is that it's very thick because it's got 200+ songs on it. There's a lot on the page because it's got string arrangements/guitar tabs so that might not appeal to her if she only wants the piano music. It's worth checking out though.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Beatles-USB/dp/B002VH7P4O

dude please get her this. I dont know what your budget is, but if my fiance got me this i think he would tell you the 2 blow jobs a day were worth the money he spent on it :-)

Also The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of the Beatles by Peter Brown

If you can find the FLAC releases, they are the best version. Still available

You need this book:

https://www.amazon.com/All-We-Are-Saying-Interview/dp/0312254644/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1503451335&sr=8-1&keywords=all+we+are+saying

It is the entire interview, not the edited one that was published in Playboy in 1981. A very good read!

I was going to recommend this: https://www.amazon.com/Beatles-USB/dp/B002VH7P4O

Then I saw the price. Contains all the albums in FLAC and MP3.

There are...frowned upon ways of finding the music you're looking for, if you're okay with that.

The "Complete Scores" book is pretty much unusable, given its size. Instead, get the "Beatles Complete Chords Songbook". The chords are very accurate and the book can be placed flat on a table or on a sheet music stand.

Not quite, mate. Where's your USB Apple?

In all seriousness though, nice collection. I only have the Stereo CDs and the USB apple (since I found one for cheap.) Still need to get the Mono albums in some form (although I probably won't get the new vinyl box, since it's quite expensive and I'll probably just get one or two albums individually.)

I'd recommend reading this after, to balance it out

Sorry, link
The Beatles - All These Years - Extended Special Edition: Volume One: Tune In https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1408704781/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_Vwydub0GW4EJ3

Iirc, the Beatles sued each other in the early 70's to break their liability to each other. I don't think this has anything to do with the disbanding of Apple Records, but they never ran the company well.

As to why Paul would go with a traditional label over Apple, I would surmise marketing and budgets has more to do with it.

There's a great book on this exact topic though - I'm having trouble remembering all the details. It's called You Never Give Me Your Money. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003H4VYRE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1416489912&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70

It details the rise and fall of Apple Records paralleled to the rise and fall of the Beatles. It's a depressing book but very insightful.

A seller on Amazon has them for $170 with shipping right now. I think it's probably the cheapest you're going to get. I ordered one from them.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/1408704781/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all

It's a solid book that includes the covers The Beatles did. I have found a few inaccuracies though.
Moved onto The Complete Scores after starting with The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook.

the John Lennon Letters

http://www.amazon.com/The-Beatles-Complete-Scores-Transcribed/dp/0793518326

I have the Hal Leonard sheet music book. The layout is cumbersome but it's very accurate.

The Beatles: Complete Scores (Transcribed Score) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0793518326/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YLxGDbSPDHS6F

You're looking for this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0793518326/ref=pd_aw_sim_b_3?refRID=161X8NKFKBWZ6SVHP5WJ

Around $300 on [amazon] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002VH7P4O?ref=olp_product_details)

Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0793518326/ref=pd_aw_sim_b_3?refRID=161X8NKFKBWZ6SVHP5WJ

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970 Paperback – October 1, 2013
by Mark Lewisohn

> long chapters about split out the band

You Never Give Me Your Money

I'd agree with all of the above.

Yoko was only a convenient example of how distant they were becoming with each other. They all felt confined by being in the Beatles; a punishing schedule, an unprecedented level of fame, continual expectations from inside the band and out, a crazy amount of time time spent together. Linda, Pattie, Maureen and Yoko were the boys' outlet and interaction away from the other three so, naturally they got a lot of blame for the break-up. Yoko particularly.

Also, Brian Epstein's death occurred at the same time (and contributed to) John's psychological breakdown along with a LOT of LSD. He's been often quoted as saying he'd 'lost himself' during this time and became incredibly insecure and lashed out at everyone.

And, yep, good old fashioned money drops heavily into the middle of this storm. The Beatles had been getting screwed by all manner of promoters, merchandisers and even EMI (for whom they made millions) and when the publishing and contract renegotiations came up it got ugly for all involved, a legal tangle that took decades to unknot.

Check out the Jann Wenner interviews with John in 1971, just post-breakup.

Also check out You Never Give Me Your Money