January 2023 edit: The complete set of original Beatles Book Monthly can be viewed on the Internet Archive.
My Beatles Books has detailed info on originals and reprints.
If you’re on Twitter, check out Beatles Monthly.
Original message removed, along with others, because they were mainly tech queries.
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1.37am
13 November 2009
McLerristarr – my uncle once photocopied me a load of Beatles articles from old NMEs, Melody Makers and other 60s music papers. I don’t have them anymore, unfortunately, but I remember reading a track-by-track review of Revolver in which two writers were generally bemused by some of the songs, though interestingly they liked Tomorrow Never Knows . Music journalism in the 60s was a lot safer and more polite than it is nowadays, and they’d get excited about things like the jazz influence on Got To Get You Into My Life .
“I was let down by Don’t Let Me Down ” is another quote I recall. I wish I still had them now. I might ask my uncle for the originals – I could add them to the blog here.
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Or buy my paperback/ebook! Riding So High – The Beatles and Drugs
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10.20am
13 November 2009
Joe said:
Just about. Thanks for that. Let me know how you did it and I’ll see if I can convert the whole lot to pdf.
McLerristarr – my uncle once photocopied me a load of Beatles articles from old NMEs, Melody Makers and other 60s music papers. I don’t have them anymore, unfortunately, but I remember reading a track-by-track review of Revolver in which two writers were generally bemused by some of the songs, though interestingly they liked Tomorrow Never Knows . Music journalism in the 60s was a lot safer and more polite than it is nowadays, and they’d get excited about things like the jazz influence on Got To Get You Into My Life .
“I was let down by Don’t Let Me Down ” is another quote I recall. I wish I still had them now. I might ask my uncle for the originals – I could add them to the blog here.
That would be cool.
I once borrowed a book from the library on the 1000 greatest singles of all time or something, there were quite a few Beatles singles. In the book, it had a short quote about the single from a review around the time it was released – the author deliberately chose mostly bad reviews to prove how wrong journalists can be. I can only remember two. There was a Beatles one that sounded sarcastic as it said something along the lines of “George Harrison is the only guitarist I know that can pull off a guitar solo without making it sound planned.” and “I like the drummer – whatever his name is.” The other one I remember was a review of ‘(Just Like) Starting Over’ by John Lennon basically said John’s idea of rock was outdated and the guitar was “wimpy”. I wonder whether journalists who make those kinds of reviews about songs/albums/artists that become popular ever stick by what they said or whether they pretend they always liked them.
11.14am
13 November 2009
8.11am
19 March 2011
Okay, so while record hunting in Vegas, I came across several of these. I bought some of the 1984 and 1987 versions since they were the earliest ones there (sadly, not the June/July ones from 1987). I wanted to know if anyone had any for sale, or knew anyone that was selling them. I know that you guys are talking about scanning and preserving them/the CD Rom (I didn't really read this thread thoroughly. But I’m just trying to find out more about them.
I salute the lady who screamed "I love you Paul!" at a tribute band's concert.
7.58pm
19 March 2011
I’ve got a complete set from 63-69. The majority are originals, though I suspect a few are reissues (the condition is too good). I bought them off eBay from a guy who bought them first-time around, and replaced a few that had gone missing over the years.
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Or buy my paperback/ebook! Riding So High – The Beatles and Drugs
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9.57pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
3.17am
15 March 2017
Has these books ever been compiled into one big book?
I know it wouldn’t be the same or be worth as much as the original publications but it would be interesting to have them all compiled into one book just to have a read of the old books.
I know you can get them online but I prefer to read physical books rather than on a computer.
And in the end the lunch you take is equal to the lunch you bake.
11.46am
9 March 2017
As far as I know, they haven’t, although if you wanted to go through the time and effort, you could print each page out and make your own book, although due to the amount of ink you would need to use to do this, I recommend just using the eBooks, they’re online for free.
If you insist on having print copies but don’t feel like wasting a whole tub of ink on it and only having it on computer paper, I’d recommend getting either an original copy or the reissues they did in the 70’s/80’s. Original copies can be in the $20-25 range and reissues are even cheaper, going for about $10.
If you're reading this, you are looking for something to do.
7.04pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
It’s well hunting them down and storing them on your computer as PDF files. I hate reading ebooks but as a reference tool they are great. There are far more than 77 as the magazine returned in the 70’s, at first containing
There are far more than 77 as the magazine returned in the 70’s, at first containing reprints of the original 60’s issues along with current news before continuing onwards in their own right until the early 2000’s.
I was gutted when it stopped, my father would get them in Glasgow after work and bring them home. I still have my copies.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
8.07pm
15 March 2017
I don’t think I would bother printing them out and making my own book, for that effort I would bring myself to read them online but I think it would be a good idea to compile them in a book or multiple books depending on how many magazines there are in total.
And in the end the lunch you take is equal to the lunch you bake.
9.00pm
9 March 2017
I know that the original 77 issues are available for download, which I have, but what the Christmas specials and issues 78 onwards, I’d love to see those, although they probably aren’t as reliable as a source because unlike in the 60’s when Mal and Neil were writing them while The Beatles were still around, these other issues were written by someone else and were written after the fact. I do think the original 77 issues would make a great book though, I sure wish they made issues in 1970 instead of stopping in 1969, it would’ve been interesting to see.
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2.27am
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Issues 78+ are out there. They are very good for articles on the Beatles and solo years as well as having information on the later Beatles reissues and releases; for instance, there are reports on early configurations of Anthology 2 and 3 with songs that were eventually dropped.
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Dark Overlord"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
10.25pm
15 March 2017
9.09pm
9 March 2017
Do you guys agree with everything this book says, I personally do for the most part because it was made while The Beatles were still around from people who were associated with them, often Mal and Neil, so I therefore rank it higher than any other source besides photographic or film evidence. However, there still are a few things that are mentioned in the magazine that seem a little iffy, here’s a few:
They claim that Paul played harpsichord on Fixing A Hole . Unlike most of their claims, I tend to ignore this one because George Martin claims that he played harpsichord and also that neither Mal nor Neil were allowed at the session.
They also claim that Ringo sang backing vocals and clapped his hands on Dear Prudence . Although it is possible that they got Ringo back from vacation in time for the overdubs or that Ringo did some overdubs by himself after he returned from Sardinia, it seems unlikely.
They then claim that John is the sole vocalist on I’m So Tired . I haven’t looked into this one so I can’t say whether I think the backing vocals are from Paul or John.
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