Some Fun Tonight! Volume 2: The Backstage Story of How the Beatles Rocked America: the Historic Tours of 1964 1966 by Chuck Gunderson

The Beatles made music-entertainment history with their North American tours from 1964 to 1966. Some Fun Tonight! The Backstage Story of How the Beatles Rocked America: The Historic Tours of 1964 1966 is a comprehensive two-volume set which gives you a city-by-city synopsis of the group s activities as they travelled the United States and Canada for their ground-breaking series of concerts. From San Francisco s Cow Palace show on August 19, 1964, through their last-ever live performances at that city s famed Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966, these books cover the music and the madness that characterized the Beatles three North American tours. 

With hundreds of photographs and images of rare memorabilia, it is truly the definitive reference for what is arguably the most important period in the Beatles long and winding career. You ll read about the behind-the-scenes negotiations, the mayhem at the airports and hotels, and the cheeky quotes delivered at the press conferences. You ll also read about the opening acts, the concerts, and the stories behind the shows through the eyes of the Beatles, their entourage, the promoters, the emcees, and the fans. Never before have the Beatles North American concerts been covered in such depth. If you witnessed the mania first-hand, you ll relive the excitement in the pages of these books.

Some Fun Tonight!: The Backstage Story of How the Beatles Rocked America: The Historic Tours of 1964-1966 Volume 1: 1964 by Chuck Gunderson

These volumes provide the definitive account of The Beatles' three seismic North American tours. The depth of research done for these books is comparable to the detail on display in the tomes of venerable Beatles' experts Mark Lewisohn, Bruce Spizer, and John C. Winn. Author Chuck Gunderson has provided Beatles' aficionados with a well written, lavishly illustrated chronology of these historic tours. The books trace The Fabs visits through each tour stop, detailing the concerts planning, and often including copies of the promoters' contracts with the band along with any other relevant information. The vast majority of the photos in these volumes have never been published which reflects the author's attention to detail.

In a recent interview, Gunderson stated that he was waiting for years for someone to publish definitive books on The Beatles' North American tours, but when no one did, he decided to write them himself. It was worth the wait - superb and essential.

(See also Volume 2): Some Fun Tonight! Volume 2: The Backstage Story of How the Beatles Rocked America: the Historic Tours of 1964 1966: Volume 2: 1965-1966 by Chuck Gunderson

The Beatles from Cavern to Star-Club: The Illustrated Chronicle, Discography and Price Guide 1957-62 by Hans Olaf Gottfridsson

A carefully compiled chronicle and discography of The Beatles 'recordings between the years 1957 and 1962. Hans Olof Gottfridsson has mapped the legendary period of The Beatles' early career, with the help of many unreleased tapes, various documents and interviews with key individuals. The journey starts with the day when John and Paul met in 1957 at a party at the Woolton Garden, and concludes with the final Star-Club in Hamburg recording, in December 1962. The book also contains the first complete facsimile reproductions of Polydor recording documents, contracts and much more. The book includes more than 400 illustrations, including many photos showing acetates.

Contributions by Tony Sheridan, John Duff Lowe (The Quarrymen) and Bill Harry. Interviews with among others the original Quarry Men members Rod Davis, Len Garry, Colin Hanton and John Duff Lowe, plus Johnny "Guitar 'Byrne (Rory Storm and The Hurricanes) and Roy Young (who played piano on some of the recordings that the Beatles did with Tony Sheridan in Hamburg), as well as with Karl Hinze and Günther Sörensen, two of Polydors contemporary sound engineer, who assisted the Beatles in recording in Hamburg. The book comes with a vinyl exclusive EP. The album contains four songs by The Beatles and Tony Sheridan. For the first time ever, given 1962's original version of "Sweet Georgia Brown" in stereo!

Beatlemania: The Real Story of The Beatles UK Tours by Martin Creasy

Between 1963 and 1965 The Beatles undertook six amazing UK tours and along the way met many fans whose memories of these encounters tell the real story of what actually happened when the Fab Four hit the road. It was loud, chaotic and as exciting as anything Britain had ever seen. It was Beatlemania

Author Martin Creasey has traced the trajectory of The Beatles UK tours and interviewed scores of people who in some way connected with John, Paul, George and Ringo en route. Their testimonies uncover a fascinating and previously undocumented side of the Fab Four.

The Beatles - All These Years: Volume One: Tune In by Mark Lewisohn

Mark Lewisohn's three-part biography is the first true and accurate account of the Beatles, a contextual history built upon impeccable research and written with energy, style, objectivity and insight. This first volume covers the crucial and less-known early period - the Liverpool and Hamburg years of a hungry rock and roll band, when all the sharp characters and situations take shape.

The product of at least eight years' writing and research, and full of information sourced even before that, it runs from the band members' family prehistories to the release of their first proper single in 1962. 

For avid Beatlemaniacs, this meticulously researched account will be hard to beat because of its high level of detailed trivia, and is worthy of re-evaluation, on its publication in paperback. It has new interviews from old girlfriends, family, friends and teachers, weighed up against well-worn quotes from archived essays and magazines. Lewisohn is like a detective, taking all the information available surrounding a particular moment in the Beatles' history and then deducing which is most likely to be the genuine reality when those versions of events don't match up. 

       
                                            Extended Version
            

The Beatles: The Authorised Biography by Hunter Davies

During 1967 and 1968 Hunter Davies spent eighteen months with the Beatles at the peak of their powers as they defined a generation and rewrote popular music. As their only ever authorised biographer he had unparalleled access - not just to John, Paul, George and Ringo but to friends, family and colleagues. There when it mattered, he collected a wealth of intimate and revealing material that still makes this the classic Beatles book - the one all other biographers look to. 

Hunter Davies remained close with the band and as such has had access to more information over the years. This 40th anniversary edition contains new material which has never been revealed before, from the author's archives and from the Beatles themselves, that will bring new insights to their legend.


              1986                                           1986                                    1996

   
              1985                                          2010                                            1996

1968

Shout!: The True Story of the Beatles by Philip Norman

Norman had close working relationships with each of the Fab Four, having interviewed them many times since 1965 and observed first hand the events that led to the split during 1969-70. The resulting book contained unique insights into the rise of the Beatles, their final years, the chaos of Apple and the collapse of hippy idealism.

Now fully updated, and written with all of Norman's trademark verve and skill, this is an essential book for anyone with an interest in pop music, the Sixties and the pleasures and perils of god-like fame.

      

                                                           2005                                      2003

1981

1997

The Beatles Anthology by Brian Roylance

Most people already know the Beatles story by heart, but Anthology fills the gaps nicely: John, convinced he was "too old" to make it at 21; George remembering their first stage make-up ("we looked like Outspan oranges!"); and Ringo: "We were flying from London to Glasgow once, and there were only three seats left on the plane, and in my naivety I said 'I'll stand!'" Perhaps most revealing are the first-hand accounts of the early years: their two-up, two-down childhoods, playing around in bomb-scarred Liverpool during the years of post-war austerity; dumping Pete Best and then turning to "a guy ... who had a beard and was grown-up and was known to have a Zephyr Zodiac!" (George: "Pete would never hang out with us ... with Ringo, it felt rocking.")

With Ringo, Brian Epstein and George Martin on board, the pieces fell into place and by 1964 America too had succumbed. Paul: "I remember getting into the limo and hearing a running commentary, "They have just left the airport..." It was like a dream. The greatest fantasy ever." The transitional Rubber Soul is revealed as "the pot album" and George's favourite. Bob Dylan, as ever, put his finger on it immediately: "Oh I get it, you don't want to be cute anymore!"

         

                                                                                                         Paperback

Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America by Jonathan Gould

The Beatles, perhaps more than any act before or since, were a quintessential product of their time, and Gould brilliantly blends cultural history, musical analysis and group biography to show the unique part they played in the shaping of post-war Britain and America. 

Gould examines the influence of R&B, rockabilly, skiffle and Motown as the Fab Four forged a sound of their own; he illuminates the mercurial relationship the most productive and lucrative in recording music history between John Lennon and Paul McCartney; he critiques the songs they played and the movies they made, and their impact on competing bands and musicians, as well as on fashion, hairstyles, and humour; and he shows how events on both sides of the Atlantic created exactly the right cultural climate for the biggest music phenomenon of 20th century. 

The Beatles in Scotland by Ken McNab

More has been written about The Beatles than any other rock group in history and it is difficult to imagine that there remains anything new to say, but lifelong Beatles fan Ken McNab reveals for the first time, in intimate detail, the pivotal part Scotland played in the genesis of the group and the extraordinary connections that were fostered north of the border before, during and after their meteoric rise to global fame. 

McNab follows The Beatles as rough and ready unknowns on their first tour of Scotland in 1960 - when they were booed off stage in Bridge of Allan - and again, in 1964, as all-conquering heroes. He also discovers that the momentous decision to break up the band was made in Scotland and provides details of the McCartneys' lives in Mull of Kintyre and Lennon's childhood holidays in Durness.

Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History by Devin Mckinney

The reader who dares to re-enter the vortex that was the Sixties will appreciate, perhaps for the first time, much of what lay beneath the social trauma of the day. Delving into concerts and interviews, films and music, outtakes and bootlegs, Devin McKinney brings to bear the insights of history, aesthetics, sociology, psychology, and mythology to account for the depth and resonance of the Beatles' impact. 

His book is also a uniquely multifaceted appreciation of the group's artistic achievement, exploring their music as both timeless expression and visceral response to their historical moment. Starting in the cellars of Liverpool and Hamburg, and continuing through the triumph of Beatlemania, the groundbreaking studio albums, and the last brutal, sorrowful thrust of the White Album, Magic Circles captures both the dream and the reality of four extraordinary musicians and their substance as artists. 

Baby You're a Rich Man: Suing the Beatles for Fun and Profit by Stan Soocher

Unsavory mob associate Morris Levy first sued John Lennon for copyright infringement over Come Together, then sued him again for not making a record for him. Phil Spector, hired to record a Lennon solo album, walked off with the master tapes and held them for a kings ransom. And from 1972 to 1975, Lennon was the target of a deportation campaign personally spearheaded by key aides of President Nixon (caught on tape with a drug-addled Elvis Presley) that wound endlessly through the courts. In Baby Youre a Rich Man, Stan Soocher ties the Beatles ongoing legal troubles to some of their most enduring songs. What emerges is a stirring portrait of immense creative talent thriving under the pressures of ill will, harassment, and greed.

You Never Give Me Your Money: The Battle For The Soul Of The Beatles by Peter Doggett

When Paul McCartney told the world in 1970 that he had no plans to work with the Beatles again, it was widely viewed as a cultural tragedy by the media and public alike. But one of the most fascinating phases of the Beatles' story was just about to begin. 

Now, for the first time, You Never Give Me Your Money tells the dramatic story of the Fab Four post 1969. It charts the almost Shakespearean rivalry of the Lennon and McCartney families, the conflict in George Harrison's life between spirituality and fame, and Richard Starkey's efforts to conquer his personal demons. It also chronicles the transformation of their multi-media company, Apple Corps, from a bastion of 1960s counter-culture into a corporate behemoth. 

From court battles to chart success, the best of rock'n'roll writers, Peter Doggett traces the untold story of a group and a legacy that will never be forgotten.