Beatles Biography by Mark Lewisohn (6th edition)- plus Lewisohn news. *

Always ask, life's too short not to!

 

Thanks for answering; I am always impressed at your knowledge, and glad that you are a member here.

The footage from 1966 and 1967 sounds very interesting; is it studio footage?

 

The Top of The Pops Paperback Writer/Rain from 1966 exists, and there is some nice colour footage of the outtakes from Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane shoot and a few nice moments in colour from outside Abbey Road in June 1967. And then there are even more Magical Mystery Tour out-takes than even I am interested in seeing!

 

Is it his choice not to speak to Ringo, or is Ringo not on the best terms with him?

Wasn't 12 August 2012 the Olympic Closing ceremony? Do you know if their conversation was a positive one?

I am glad to hear that Mark is putting honesty above his personal relationships with Paul and Ringo. He is a historian after all.

So far, I have nothing other than positive things to say about him; Tune In (the extended edition) is truly awe inspiring IMO, and so are his other books, and I am always very impressed with his dignified manner in interviews. He is a very respectful writer, and I am glad that we Beatles fans have him.

 

I take it he's on good terms with Paul?

 

Very interesting. I am pleased to hear that the Top Of The Pops footage exists, even if it is just in private hands.

I have never heard of the footage from outside of Abbey Road before; do you know what it entails?

By the way, thanks for answering all of my questions; I really appreciate it.

 

Ringo has never been that interested in the Beatles history at that level. He would likely say hello, how are you but they were never friendly like Mark was with Paul.

Yes, but brief.

Quite.

We are indeed very lucky, Mark is an exceptionally honest and capable (self taught) historian and nobody else could have attempted such a work.

 

Time for me to go for now, but, briefly: the Top of The Pops footage has circulated in really bad quality for years but in 2009 a slightly better quality version surfaced, and so it seems reasonable to believe even better quality VHS dubs exist and ultimately a 16mm film reel. The Abbey Road film is supposedly from an All You Need Is Love Press call, a lovely sunny June evening.

 

In the recent Q&A posted earlier in this thread, Mark Lewisohn says he is not sure if Paul or Ringo read the book (or parts of it). He knows that they were sent the book, but he has not had any reaction back from them about it.

 

Well we know what Ringo's comment would be: "Peace and Love"

 

I would gladly buy a book that covered only the decade of 1986 (when I first saw Paul quoted on wanting to "finish" the "Long And Winding Road" film and record with George again) through 1996 (when Anthology 3 was released, completing the cycle). Lots of stories to tell there, I would think. I know the You Never Give Me Your Money book covers that ground, but I haven't gotten that one yet, and don't know how well it's covered.

 

Nikh, speaking of a lost videos.. Do you know if Juke Box Jury from 7 December 63 finally found by BBC? And Blackpool Night Out from July 64?

 

A major Japanese bootleg label includes a forthcoming release sheet with it's CD/DVD sets. A recent one mentions "It's The Beatles & Juke Box Jury 2CD +DVD set showing a cover illustration. Fingers crossed!

 

False alarm, sadly: Juke Box Jury was preserved on VT but this was subsequently junked. The only known audio consists of a few segments taped off air.
Blackpool Night Out was broadcast live and not recorded on site. There is always the possibility it may have been recorded onto VT at ABC's offline hub as it went out but no record of it being transferred to 16mm exists, that episode was never sold to overseas stations in the way earlier ones had been. A good audio exists of almost all of the Beatles part.
So any 2CD and DVD set might indeed include (parts of) these lost TV shows... on the CDs.

 

I thought I read somewhere that a small protion of the the 1963 Juke Box Jury had been filmed offscreen by a fan? Any truth to that?

 

I've never seen it, but sure, that could easily have happened. It won't be any good, but it would be better than nothing.

 

The end portion of ITB circulates on video as you know but audio only for JBJ unfortunately. This bootlegger does have a knack of turning up lost nuggets however so I remain hopeful.

 

Jorg Piper also claims that Lennon's Juke Box Jury appearance from June 63 is preserved in private hands

 

But whose hands?

Am I right in thinking that there were 4 Beatles related JBJ appearances then? John solo, full band, George solo and Ringo solo? But no Paul solo?

 

Private collectors. The same with all three Frost shows from 1967 (incl. Paul's solo appearance which is not appeared anywhere excerpt audio).

 

Perhaps, but it's what happened.
Even ending the book with the actual breakup of The Beatles can be considered a depressing ending.
I like Mark's work a lot, and fortunately he is dedicated to presenting all the history, and as accurately as possible.

 

There has been some speculation regarding the solo careers. I have always felt that the story of The Beatles did not end in 1970, and not 1980. The story is still ongoing even today, right up to Paul's recent tour and Ringo's latest album. It won't be over until both Paul and Ringo depart this world. That said, I would love to see a book on the solo careers from 1970 to present. And it would be nice if Mark Lewisohn at least condensed some of it as a final chapter in his last book, sort of as an elongated "Afterward".

 

In case that was just a mistake, Paul's appearance does indeed exist and has for many years though I have yet to see a pristine copy. Here's some proof:
http://www.beatlesondvd.com/19601964/19640415-pm.htm

 

I have mean 1967 appearance when Paul discussed failure of MMT film

 

Thanks for those videos posted a few days ago. It's the best Lewisohn interview I've ever seen. Great comments below it, too, especially from Arnold Grove discussing the reasons why George Martin may or may not feel some resentment about how the real story of 1962 has come out.

What strikes me most about that incredible section in the book (pages 1172-1180 in the deluxe edition) is footnote 35, which tells us that the key interview with Kim Bennett took place on July 28th 2003. Mark had this information 10 years before the book was published! For all that time, while numerous Beatles books, magazine articles and TV documentaries were churned out, Mark knew the real story.