The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit

Label: Apple

The Beatles First U.S. Visit uniquely chronicles the inside story of the two remarkable weeks when Beatlemania first ignited America. The pioneering Maysles Brothers who filmed at the shoulders of John, Paul, George and Ringo, innovated an intimate documentary style of film-making which set the benchmark for rock and roll cinematography that remains to this day.

Through the eyes of The Beatles the 81-minute film reveals a pivotal time in American history when, in 1964, the post-Kennedy nation was sprung from its gloom by its enthusiasm for the new sensation from England.

Granted all areas access, the Maysles Brothers filmed The Beatles off-guard and off-duty; in hotel rooms and nightclubs, at photo sessions, press conferences, travelling side-by-side in limos and on trains to record the trip as The Beatles sped around the States leaving the nation spellbound.

Besides revealing The Beatles offstage, this extended version of the Maysles documentary now includes film of their debut concert at The Washington Coliseum and their three historic appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show - including the seminal moment on February 9th when the band first exploded into the homes of 73 million TV viewers. Featured songs from Washington are: I Saw Her Standing There, I Wanna Be Your Man and She Loves You. The ten performances from the Ed Sullivan shows include: All My Loving, Till There Was You, From Me To You, This Boy, Please Please Me, Twist And Shout and I Want To Hold Your Hand.

The DVD package features the 51-minute Making Of The Beatles First U.S. Visit with footage that's never been seen before. The experience is revealingly recalled in a new interview with Albert Maysles, who also provides an audio commentary for the main film - which itself marks a defining moment in the cultural life of a nation.

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Wingspan: Paul McCartney's Band on the Run

WINGSPAN is an intimate scrapbook charting how Paul McCartney's band, Wings, became one of the biggest selling acts of the 1970's with memorable hits like "Band on the Run," "My Love," "With a Little Luck," "Live and Let Die," "Junior's Farm," "Jet," and many others. At the same time, Paul and his wife, Linda, a fellow band member, were raising a family at home and on the road. This book is a personal record of Wings' beginnings after the break up of the world's most celebrated rock group, the Beatles, through to the 1980's. Apart from a unique insight into the dynamics of a hugely popular band and an extraordinary marriage, WINGSPAN brings back memories of some of the wonderful songs and how they were written, recorded and performed.

Paul McCartney was born in 1942 in Liverpool, England. He createda monumental legacy through his involvement with the Beatles and Wings; today he continues to compose and perform rock and classical music.

Paul McCartney: I Saw Him Standing There

by Jorie B. Gracen

". . . a sensitive and candid look at one of the world's most beloved composers. It is a portrait that only a person with Gracen's access could create."
--Booklist

"These are among the best concert photographs ever taken of McCartney, and it's a treat to have them assembled into a single volume. . . . Both unique and revealing, this book is a must have for McCartney fans."
--Goldmine

The long-awaited paperback edition of the hardcover bestseller, Paul McCartney: I Saw Him Standing There offers more than 200 exclusive photographs of the artist, onstage and off, from 1976 to 2000. All of the photos are by Jorie Gracen, who has had exceptional access to McCartney over the course of more than 24 years. Culled from Gracen's vast archive of thousands of McCartney photos taken during tours, record signings, private parties, press conferences, backstage moments, soundchecks, award ceremonies, and personal encounters, the images capture the many faces of the subject--the musician, devoted husband, proud father, environmentalist, animal rights activist, and idol.

Paul McCartney offers a glimpse into the private persona of one of the world's greatest musician-singer-songwriters of our time.

Jorie B. Gracen, a full-time professional photographer since 1977, specializes in entertainment, editorial, and public relations photography. Her celebrity photos have been seen in such publications as People, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Teen Beat, Town & Country, TV Guide, Us Weekly, Parade Magazine, U.S. News and World Report, Goldmine, Miami Herald, and the Chicago Sun-Times. In addition, Gracen's work has been shown on Entertainment Tonight, E! Entertainment Television, VH1 Behind the Music, and Headliners and Legends with Matt Lauer, and one of her best-known works appears on Paul McCartney's Tripping the Live Fantastic album, released in 1990. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Following Lennon

Airtel

4/10/72

CONFIDENTIAL

To: SAC, New York (100-175319) (Enclosures - 2)

From: Director, FBI (100-469910)

1 - Mr. Horner
1 - Mr. Prousse
1 - Mr. Shackelford
1 - Mr. Pence

JOHN WINSTON LENNON
SM - NEW LEFT

ReNYtel 3/16/72.

Enclosed for information of New York are two copies of Alexandria airtel dated 3/31/72 captioned "White Panther Party, IS - WPP; CALREP; MIDEM," which contains information from Alexandria source relating to current activities of subject.

It appears from referenced New York teletype that subject and wife might be preparing for lengthy delaying tactics to avert their deportation in the near future. In the interim, very real possibility exists that subject, as indicated in enclosed airtel, might engage in activities in U.S. leading toward disruption of Republican National Convention (RNC), San Diego, 8/72. For this reason New York promptly initiate discreet efforts to locate subject and remain aware of his activities and movements. Handle inquiries only through established sources and discreet pretext inquiries. Careful attention should be given to reports that subject is heavy narcotics user and any information developed in this regard should be furnished to narcotics authorities and immediately furnished to Bureau in form suitable for dissemination.

In view of subject's avowed intention to engage in disruptive activities surrounding RNC, New York Office will be responsible for closely following his activities until time of actual deportation. Afford this matter close supervision and keep Bureau fully advised by most expeditious means warranted.

NOTE:
John Lennon, former member of Beatles singing group, is allegedly in U.S. to assist in organizing disruption of RNC. Due to narcotics conviction in England, he is being deported along with wife Yoko Ono. They appeared at Immigration and Naturalization Service, New York, 3/16/72, for deportation proceedings but won delay until 4/18/72 because subject fighting narcotics conviction and wife fighting custody child case in U.S. Strong possibility looms that subject will not be deported any time soon and will probably be in U.S. at least until RNC. Information developed by Alexandria source that subject continues to plan activities directed toward RNC and will soon initiate series of "rock concerts" to develop financial support with first concert to be hld Ann Arbor, Michigan, in near future. New York Office covering subject's temporary residence and being instructed to intensify discreet investigation of subject to determine activiteis vis a vis RNC.

McCartney

by Christopher Sandford

Revised and Updated

The eye-opening account of the Beatle who changed the shape of music, from his youth in Liverpool through the much-publicized dissolution of his marriage to Heather Mills

Between 1962 and 1970, Paul McCartney--the cute Beatle--did the following: sold 140 million albums throughout the world; co-authored with John Lennon twenty-six US and UK number one singles; recorded arguably the best rock album to date (Revolver), then took the whole thing to a pinnacle (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). As a member of the most important rock band ever, Paul McCartney convinced millions of fans to pick up electric guitars and others to denounce him as a degenerate--or worse. He helped usher in the Love Generation, took a personal stance on the "drug problem," and left the world dumbfounded when the Fab Four called it quits in the early seventies. However, to this day McCartney remains one of the most beloved and respected of musicians, not to mention the biggest box office draw in the world.

McCartney--drawing on dozens of original sources from court documents and files to interviews with members of Paul's family and colleagues--is a tale of self-destruction and epic excess as well as creative genius and brilliant music. The Beatles' bloody infighting, the sex, the drugs, and McCartney's extraordinary marriages are revealed here in full. McCartney is the definitive biography, charting not only the pop legend, but the man and his era.

"Sandford brings impressive skill to this portrait of Sir Paul McCartney . . . well researched and clearly written . . . Highly recommended."
--Library Journal

"Terrific stuff. If you only read one book about our Paul and the Beatles, this is it."
--Angie McCartney

Christopher Sandford is a veteran music, film, and sports writer, and the author of sixteen books, including the critically acclaimed McQueen and Keith Richards: Satisfaction. His biography of Kurt Cobain, reissued by Carroll & Graf in 2004, is currently in development to be made into a movie. His books have been sold to fifteen countries and have featured on both British and American bestseller lists. In 2005, the UK's national (GCSE) school examiners chose an excerpt from his Bowie: Loving the Alien as a set text. Sandford is married with one son, and lives in London and the Pacific Northwest.

June 24, 1966 - Circus Krone-Bau, Munich

Taped: Friday 24 June 1966

Circus-Krone-Bau, with Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, The Rattles and Peter & Gordon. Two sets, at 5.15 and 9.00pm, the second of which was filmed by ZDF, German television. Unusually, The Beatles staged an afternoon rehearsal to prepare for the TV performance.

Their set for the tour consisted of: 'Rock'n'Roll Music', 'She's A Woman', 'If I Needed Someone', 'Day Tripper', 'Baby's In Black', 'I Feel Fine', 'Yesterday', 'I Wanna Be Your Man', 'Nowhere Man', 'Paperback Writer' and 'I'm Down'. Among their guests at the hotel was Bettina Derlien, the barmaid from the Star-Club.

Linda McCartney's Sixties: Portrait of an Era

"I became like a band member whose instrument was the camera"
Linda McCartney

"A photographer's magical mystery tour"
People

"Thrilling, sweetly intimate pictures of...friends and heroes from that flower-bright, disorderly, uncompromising era."
New York Times Book Review

"The good, the bad and the ugly of 60s pop culture."
Florida Today

"McCartney's spontaneous style was a perfect match for the live-for-the-moment decade she reclaims nearly thirty years later."
American Photo

The Beatles from Liverpool to San Francisco

Label: Eagle Media

Includes Rare TV Interviews with John, Paul, George and Ringo from 1963 to 1969

They were four ordinary lads from Liverpool who became the biggest rock band the world had ever seen. Wherever they went they won hearts and sold millions of discs and cinema tickets. So what was so special about them that they could fill concert halls and airports from Tokyo to New York with thousands of fans? Why did the dream die and what have "The Fab Four" left behind? In short who were the Beatles and how did they conquer the world?

Chapter Listings:
1. "Four ordinary lads from Liverpool"
2. Beatlemania escalates
3. "Just rattle your jewelry"
4. Conquering Western Europe
5. "The Beatles have landed!"
6. Back to the U.K.
7. Hysteria reigns
8. Public appearances
9. First world tour
10. In movies, studio & hospital
11. Growing frustration
12. Going solo
13. "More popular than Jesus"
14. The end of an era
15. Drugs & the Maharishi
16. Staking out boundaries
17. An indelible mark

Bonus Feature:
Beatles Across America Documentary

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January 18, 1967 - Scene Special

Taped: Wednesday 18 January 1967
Aired: Tuesday 7 March 1967

Paul McCartney was interviewed in London by Jo Durden-Smith for a Granada Television documentary on the London underground scene, of which Paul was part. The film, for the Scene Special programme, was subtitled It's So Far Out, It's Straight Down.

Daddy, Come Home: The True Story of John Lennon and His Father

by Pauline Lennon

The truth about the alternately stormy and fond relationship John Lennon had with his father has always been concealed. Until now. Daddy, Come Home, the riveting story of Freddie Lennon's relationship with the young John, and their eventual deathbed reconciliation is told for the first time by Pauline Lennon - the girl who made front page news when as a 20-year-old she married the 55-year-old Lennon.

Beatles News

Beatles song used in TV ad a first
Macworld UK - UK
A Beatles song will be used in a UK TV ad for the first time on Monday night. The John Lewis Beatles ad, which highlights a range of festive gift ideas, ...

The Last Man Standing in the Beatles Inner Circle
WhatGoesOn.com - Santa Monica,CA,USA
by Katie Hickox, WhatGoesOn reporter Paul McCartney's publicist Geoff Baker calls Tony Bramwell, "the last man standing" because only Tony, the Beatles ...

Beatles song to be used in John Lewis TV ad
LDPBusiness - Liverpool,England,UK
A BEATLES song will be used in a UK television advert for the first time tonight. The Christmas campaign for retailer John Lewis will feature From Me to You ...

‘Life’ exposes ugly realities behind Lennon’s public image
Boston Herald - United States
The Beatles in Their Generation,” getting full access to Yoko Ono and her family for three years’ worth of interviews. But when Ono got a look at an early ...

John Lewis ad in Beatles song debut
Brand Republic - London,UK
by Colin Marrs, Campaign 10-Nov-08, 12:00 LONDON - John Lewis will tonight become the first advertiser to use a Beatles song in a major UK TV campaign. ...

The magic of The Beatles' story
thisislichfield.co.uk - Lichfield,UK
FANS OF the Fab Four were invited to take a Magical History Tour when a Beatles show played at Lichfield Guildhall. Magical History Tour was not really a ...

Beatles boot camp gives amateur rockers chance to play at Cavern Club
Liverpool Daily Post - Liverpool,England,UK
It was the finale of a week-long Beatles-themed extravaganza which also saw the “campers” play and record at Abbey Road studios in London. ...

Here’s Your Ticket to Ride the Rock Band Beatles Train
CU Columbia Spectator - New York,NY,USA
This past week, MTV Games and Harmonix announced a groundbreaking partnership with Apple Corps, the company founded in 1968 by the Beatles to manage their ...

Charlie Lennon: Uncle To A Beatle

by Scott Wheeler

Here is the full story of John Lennon's remarkable uncle, the late singer-composer Charlie Lennon, told in Charlie's own words and in tributes by some of those who knew him best. The book provides a unique, fascinating look into the Lennon family and John's early life in his hometown of Liverpool, England. Charlie talks candidly about his childhood days in Liverpool, his wartime service in the Royal Army, his memories of John and of John's son Julian, and his life as a hometown celebrity after coming home to Liverpool in 1982. His close friend Scott Wheeler takes up the story in the 1980s, chronicling his many "travels with Charlie" around Liverpool and Boston in the course of eight years of band tours. The book includes tributes from 13 of Charlie's friends, and is illustrated with 680 photos, including many rare Lennon family pictures that have never before been published.

Scott Wheeler and Charlie Lennon were friends and performing partners for 13 years. Scott, from Boston, USA, has performed rock and roll on stage, radio and TV for hundreds of thousands of fans in America and in England. He is featured every year in Liverpool's international Beatle Week festival.

Excerpt

I saw John only once during the war. I came home to Liverpool when he was four years old. We decided we'd go and have a walk-'round. John's mother and father went into the fish shop in Penny Lane, and I stood with John outside a toy shop. John's pointing at this big tin bus in the window. I said, "You want that?" And he got all excited. So, of course, I go in and buy it for him, don't I? And while I'm paying for this bus, John's walking out the door with a Donald Duck with wheels, on a piece of string. Mind you, he'd broken it before he got home! I didn't see John again until he invited me up to his home in Weybridge in November 1967. His dad said to me, "What are you going to say to John when you see him?" I said, "I'll ask for me bus back." And John had still got the bus! It was up in the music room when I saw it.