The Official Beatles Biography

Last week I was bidding on ebay on something called "The Official Beatles Biography."  I was the highest bidder for the longest time and then someone swooped in at the end and got it.   Darn it!   I wanted this item because it has Apple Scruff history associated with it.   And since I am a tad bit obsessive with all things Scuffy, I really wanted this for my collection of Beatles stuff.   Inside there were drawings by Lucy, who was the same girl who did all of the drawings for the Apple Scruff Monthly magazine.   Here is what the ebay description said about this book:

 

41 years ago, in 1971, the year that The Beatles broke up as a band, their press officer (Shirley Nathanson, who worked for the Apple Corp.) took it upon herself to write and make an official Beatles biography from 1962 to 1971. This book, printed by Apple, was then given to each of the band members for approval. Unfortunately, each one hated it for their own reasons. The entire group hated the fact that The Scruffs, who were a gang of groupies who hung around the Apple offices, were participating in an Apple authorised publication about The Beatles. John hated the book because he wasn't named first on the cover and it was reported that he crossed out the Beatles wives birthday section because Yoko was older than everyone else. As a result of the antipathy the press copies of the book were destroyed. Only a few escaped the net. The book was never made available commercially and this is a very rare opportunity to acquire a copy.

The front cover has a picture of a pile of apples underneath the title & over 'George, John, Paul, Ringo 1971' text, which sits above the Apple Corps Ltd, 3 Savile Row address & phone number.
The back cover is a negative image of the Apple picture & title.

Overleaf is the contents page listing the sections of the book with the Fan Club address & also the cute 'Compiled by Apple Records with a little help from their friends' text giving credit for the line drawings by Lucy 'c/o APPLE SCRUFFS UNLTD. The Steps, 3 Savile Row, London, W.1.'

Page 1 is a pair of photos - Cavern 1962 & Tittenhurst Park 1969
Page 2 features 'Dates To Remember' giving The Beatles', their wives & children's birthdays
Page 4 lists all the UK release Beatles singles
Page 5 A photo in the style of 'Please Please Me' with facsimile signatures
Pages 6 - 11 Give a detailed discography of Beatles Albums, EPs, Solo Singles & the complete released Apple catalogue to date.
Pages 12 - 19 are devoted to two page biographies of George, John, Paul & Ringo
Page 20 has a couple of great line drawings by Lucy
Pages 21-30 Detail every tour date played by The Beatles between 1963 & 1966
Pages 31-34 Shows a picture of each Beatle in turn - one from 1963 & one from 1969
Pages 35-69 Give a day by day illustrated chronology of Beatle facts, dates & events with many rare photos & more of Lucy's excellent artwork.
The final page is another superb Lucy drawing with each Beatle in 1971 period setting - for example, Paul is drawn with sheep & a baton (Obviously Lucy knew who Percy Thrillington was!)
Inside the back cover is simply 'To Be Continued' 

Here is the cover of the book

And here is the cover of one of the Apple Scruff Monthly magazines with one of Lucy's drawings.