498 Productions/Bruce Spizer -- used by permission
The Beatles double album also called The White Album, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this November, will be the focus of Fab Four author/historian Bruce Spizer's 10th book on the group, he announced recently. The book, titled The Beatles White Album and the Launch of Apple, will be published Nov. 22, and feature the history of the album and fan's recollections of its release.
Spizer said the book will also take a look back at the early days of the Beatles' company Apple Corps Ltd., when Apple Records released its first records, including the company’s first four 45 RPM singles, including the Beatles two-sided hit “Hey Jude” b/w “Revolution” and Mary Hopkin’s “Those Were The Days.” Apple Records also released the double LP The Beatles, which became known as The White Album because of its pure white cover.
The book will feature 150 color and original black and white photos on how the album and the company began and then unfolded beginning with the New York media blitz, the rehearsals at George Harrison’s Esher bungalow, the recording sessions at Abbey Road and Trident Studios and the Apple press kit with the company's first four singles. The book will also recall the reviews the album received, its chart history and sales in America, the U.K. and Canada and recollections by Beatles fans and authors.
The new book will be 9 x 9, the same size as his last book, The Beatles and Sgt. Pepper: A Fans’ Perspective. on the history of that album. He told AXS.com that in putting together the new book, the fans' memories he collected were more vivid than for those of the “Pepper” album, as his own personal memories were.
“My memories of first experiencing The White Album are much stronger than those of Sgt. Pepper, so I was not surprised by the number of people who had fond memories of first hearing The White Album. And, as was the case with Sgt. Pepper, many of those remembrances were similar to mine. The one thing I noticed was that Sgt. Pepper was more of a communal experience, whereas for many, The White Album was more of a personal experience. There were, of course, exceptions, such as Canadian Beatles author Piers Hemmingsen hearing the album at a neighbor’s house.”
The new book, though it has fewer fan recollections than the previous book, has some unique tales. “Former U.S. Apple Manager Ken Mansfield tells of first hearing the album with George Harrison in a small Hollywood recording studio,” he says. “Smithereens drummer Dennis Diken does a wonderful job of describing the anticipation everyone felt for new Beatles releases and The White Album in particular.”
Spizer's own memory is in the book's preface titled “Those Were the Days.” He wrote, “I remember hearing songs from the album on WTIX-AM during the week preceding its release. I played the album three straight times in my parent’s living room on the night of its release. It was and remains my favorite Beatles album.”.
The book will be available in different formats. The hardcover edition is $30. A digital PDF is $20. The Collector’s Edition for $100 is limited to 500 copies signed and numbered by the author and also includes a cardboard O-case, which will be embossed and individually numbered with a Bates-type stamp like the original covers to The White Album were numbered. It will also contain a 9" x 9" envelope with a scaled-down replica of the information sheets and booklets included in Apple's U.S. press kit for the record company's first four singles, a special 18" x 18" poster, a bookmark; and a free early download of the PDF two weeks ahead of the publication date. All editions are available through his 498 Productions website. Additionally, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of Spizer's first book, “The Beatles Records on Vee-Jay,” all his books on sale for $20 through Oct. 15.
No comments:
Post a Comment