Teen Magazines

I enjoy collecting original Beatles-related teen magazines, mainly for the pictures. The articles can be quite hilarious because they are so over-the-top and erroneous. (The Beatles themselves didn't find them too funny, however!)

The second, third and fourth photos were taken as the Beatles rehearsed for their first appearance on Big Night Out, filmed September 1, 1963. They appeared in their collarless Pierre Cardin suits and mimed to "From Me To You," She Loves You," "Twist and Shout," and "I Saw Her Standing There." The entire show circulates among collectors, and portions of it appear in the Anthology.

Some Rare Photos from the '66 Tour

Here are some delightful photos sent to Greg of Beatle Photo Blog fame and me by our mutual friend, Jay. (Thank you, Jay - you deserve all the credit here!) You may have already seen Greg's posting, but I waited until I had time to properly enlarge and adjust the photos before posting them here. I also left the captions, which reveal a bit about how the Ronettes felt about the Beatles themselves. It appears they were quite close, with the gorgeous Estelle (RIP) revealing that she had "dated" George at one time.

Although the Beatles themselves had become weary with touring by this time, their 1966 North American tour boasted a roster of talented and enthusiastic opening acts, including one of the greatest "garage" bands of all time, Boston's own Remains. In a new documentary about the Remains, their current manager divulges that at the time of recording Double Fantasty, John Lennon had spoken with him about the quality and energy present in the Remains' performances on this particular tour, and how he would like to assemble such a band himself. (For more information about the Remains' experiences on this tour, pick up leader Barry Tashian's book, Ticket to Ride, which contains his personal journal entries written along the way.)

Random (And I Do Mean Random) Screen Captures

Someone has done the work for you...

As you, dear reader, can probably tell, I have not been updating frequently. Life is very stressful at the moment, and my time is consumed by other endeavors. Beginning in August, I will be pursuing my Ed.S. degree (which is 30 hours beyond my Master's) so I will be updating less than I have previously.

Thank you for your continued support over these past 3 years. The positive feedback I've received has served to motivate and inspire me. Having this blog has lead to many exciting opportunities for me.

So, I'm not going away, merely slowing down a bit. In the meantime, don't forget to check out the links to the right, and also the fab Kenwood blog.

Twickenham Film Studios, London - November 23, 1965

I present a plethora of screen captures from each of the promos The Beatles filmed on November 23, 1965. Although heavily edited versions of these appear in the Anthology, I chose to use other sources of the complete clips for these captures. Beginning in the afternoon and extending into the evening, the lads filmed the following promos:

• Two versions of "Day Tripper" to start
• Three versions of "We Can Work It Out"
• A third version of "Day Tripper"
• "Help!" (the strange clip with the umbrella, beam and fake snow)
• Two versions of "I Feel Fine" (which includes the unusual "exercise equipment" themed promo and the "fish and chips" version, filmed as The Beatles had their lunch. Only John attempts to mime the words.)

These promos are often hilarious due to The Beatles' poor miming talents and the very obvious way they choose to accentuate their mistakes. John keeps Paul in stitches throughout, particularly during the "Shea Stadium" jackets version of "We Can Work It Out," some of which I've captured here. I love seeing them interact this way and bringing fun into rather straight presentations of the material-- save for those weird props! It's also good to see George's Gibson ES-345, which he only used for a short time at the end of 1965 during The Beatles' final tour of Britain. These promos are the only footage we have of him using that particular guitar. (Read more in John C. Winn's fabulous Way Beyond Compare and Andy Babuik's Beatles Gear.)