Getting Back To A New Look Newsletter
Has it really been four months since I last published this newsletter? It sure has. My apologies for the longer-than-anticipated delay. The move from Texas to Maryland and the renovation work on our new home turned out to be a bit more complicated and dragged out longer than we anticipated. But at last, we are settled in and I’m once more surrounded by my books and albums ready to get back to talking and writing about the Fab Four and more.
During the break, I did some thinking about this newsletter and its content and made some decisions.
That from this point on this newsletter will be totally FREE - no more paywalled content
It will be more closely aligned with the Before They Were Beatles podcast
I want to share my love of The Beatles on the printed page.
So what does that mean in practice?
With the amount of writing work I have on my plate already I have decided to put the expanded “anniversary edition” of the Before They Were Beatles book on the backburner - I will still work on it, but at a slower pace and won’t be adding the pressure of a monthly deadline of providing content for this newsletter - hence the removal of the paid subscription level - from here on out this newsletter will be totally FREE to all subscribers.
I also want to focus more on the Before They Were Beatles podcast series, so why not make sure the newsletter and podcast complement each other? So look out for podcast behind-the-scenes and expanded content here in the newsletter, starting right this month.
As I’m also busy arranging my shelves of Beatles books in my new office I thought it might also be fun to take a look at something from those shelves each month. So I’ll be adding a Beatles Books section.
A few years ago I wrote articles on The Beatles in Comics for several magazines, as well as did a presentation on the topic at BeatleFest. I was recently asked to provide some background info for a discussion on the Fab Four in comics to be held at this year’s San Diego ComicCon and thought it might be fun to revisit the subject here too. So look out for a new Beatles in Comics section too.
And of course, I’ll continue to cover what’s happening with The Savage Young Beatles tribute band.
I hope you all enjoy the new look newsletter.
Alan
First off a welcome to the various folks you signed up for a Subscription during our extended break. I appreciate the support.
If you’re reading this and haven’t subscribed yet, remember it’s now a completely FREE way to get the latest Beatle news in your email once a month. So just click on the button below to join our growing community.
Podcast Updates
The latest Forgotten Beatles episode is now live and can be found on your favorite podcast platform, or directly right HERE.
This month the spotlight falls on The Quarrymen’s banjo player Rod Davis, and two singers who at one point in their career found themselves fronting The Beatles, Tanya Day, and former chart-topper Craig Douglas.
While it was fun doing research on how Tanya Day ended up being supported by The Beatles at the Star Club in Hamburg in 1962 (see photo above), or finding out just how successful Craig Douglas had been in the British charts until The Beatles showed up, the thing that caught my attention was related to Rod Davis.
I had corresponded with Rod during the research and writing of the original Before They Were Beatles book and he’d shared a lot of stories. But there was one Beatles connection I hadn’t heard of until the past few weeks when I was working on the podcast script.
For it turns out that on Thursday, 30th January 1969 Rod was in London on his way to a work-related meeting and just happened to walk down Saville Row past the Apple Corps headquarters at number 3 just as The Beatles were above him playing their iconic rooftop concert. When you look at footage of the crowds in the street from that day, standing looking up, and listening to that amazing music, it’s mind-blowing to think that among them is the banjo player who used to stand on John Lennon’s right-hand 12 years earlier.
The Savage Young Beatles
The boys in The Savage Young Beatles closed out the recent International Beatle Week festivities in Liverpool with a soldout gig at The Jacaranda club . From the posts on social media and the comments on the band’s Facebook page afterward it seems like everyone had a great time.
If you missed them there and are in the Liverpool area or just in the UK next month, then make sure to see them at their next gig at The Woodlands in Widnes on 8th November.
Beatles Books From My Shelves
“The Quarrymen” By Hunter Davis
One of my essential research sources over the years has been The Quarrymen by original biographer Hunter Davis.
It’s a well-written and sympathetic account not only of The Beatles’ skiffle beginnings but also of the various members of John Lennon’s first band. Following their lives before, during, and after their Quarrymen days, as well as the story of how they reunited.
As well as being a biography of the boys in the band, it’s also part memoir by Davis himself that helps position his place in Beatles history in context. As one reviewer noted it’s interesting to contrast the vague memories of Lennon and McCartney of their Quarrymen days in Davis’ official Beatles biography with the vivid memories of those who were alongside them at the start of it all.
A fun and informative read. It appears to be now out of print but you can still find copies online for around $40 or so.
Beatles In Comics
As icons of pop-culture The Beatles have appeared in numerous comics over the years, from cover shots to cameos to spoofs. And in some cases as guest stars in the most improbable stories. But what makes The Beatles different from other pop and rock groups, is that their comic appearances aren’t just confined to the years when they were at the height of their fame, but rather have continued on a fairly regular basis for over nearly fifty years.
During the early days of Beatlemania, many publishers looked for any excuse to put The Loveable Mop Tops in the magazines as a way to attract buyers and increase sales. In several instances The Beatles never even appeared in the stories printed inside. Of the sixty US comics published during the 1960s that featured The Beatles, twelve had them just appearing on the cover and for most of the others it was just a brief appearance in a couple of panels or as a cameo.
One of the earliest US Comics to feature The Beatles was a “biography” published by Dell Comics in 1964.
There are two cover versions with identical photos, one has the 35c US price while the other shows a 2/6 UK price.
Its current price guide value is just over $1,300
The Beatles story is broken into five chapters. The overall story of The Beatles consists of 3 pages at the front and 24 pages at the back. In between are chapters on Paul McCartney (9 pages), George Harrison (10 pages), John Lennon (9 pages), and Ringo Starr (9 pages).
The writer and artist of this early biography are unknown.
Rock out to our BTWB Playlists
If you would like to listen to full versions of the songs mentioned in either the main Before They Were Beatles podcast, or the new Forgotten Beatles series you can now find them on my new YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@AlanPorterWriter
Or you can check out the Before They Were Beatles playlist on Spotify below
What Else Is Alan Working On?
For more information on what else I have going on with writing, podcasting, and general slice-of-life stuff, check out my regular FREE weekly CAN’T SEE THE FOREST newsletter -
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See you next time.
Alan J. Porter
The Before They Were Beatles newsletter is a production of Megrin Entertainment, a division of 4Js Group LLC.