Ringo is winning the race

 

John displays proper go-kart turn single etiquette

 

Go-karting in France

Meet the Beatles: a book review

So, I have decided to make Wednesday a "review day" so that I can review all of the books and other things that come my way.  Right now, there just seem to be a lot of great Beatle items out there, but then again, it is the season for Beatle goodies.

Today, I have a really fun book to talk to you all about. I bet many of you have already read it and might even have a version in your collections. It is called "Meet the Beatles," and it was written and edited by Tony Barrow. Souvenir Press released it as a magazine in 1963, and if your old copy is anything like mine, the front cover is coming off, and the pages have yellowed.

This is what your old vintage copy looked like

Souvenir Press did an ingenious thing: They took the magazine you remember, reprinted it, and bound it into a hardback book. This is actually a great idea, and I am surprised that more classic Beatles magazines from the 1960s haven't been packaged the same way.

So what makes this magazine so special in comparison to the hundreds of other teen mags of the day?  Well, "Meet the Beatles" was the first book to be published with the Beatle's own involvement.  The guys wrote the introduction at the beginning of the book. It is one of the few places where you get to read the Beatles talk about themselves in their own words (I guess the next time that really happened was the Anthology book?).  The rest of the book was written by the Beatles press officer, Tony Barrow, and when it was released, it had Brian Epstein's approval.  Brian must have liked Souvenir Press a lot because he used them a year later to publish his book, "A Cellarful of Noise."  

In this book, you get to read all sorts of fun little things, like George hates haircuts, John adores jelly and cornflakes, Paul has a strong liking for Kraft cheese slices, and Ringo dislikes Chinese food.

The photos in the book were rare at the time but have now been seen many times. However, they are photos taken by Dezzo Hoffman, and the book isn't totally full of the same old same old. The photos of the Beatle's "A Day in London" are such classics, and they deserve to be in a bound book instead of a yellowing magazine.  

To me, this book was a breath of fresh air.  I read a lot of "heavy" Beatles books.   (in weight and in reading).  It was such a refreshing change of pace to read something that was fun and made me smile.   By taking me back to 1963, "Meet the Beatles" reminded me of a time when Beatlemania was something new, and the Beatles were having fun being the four cheeky lads from Liverpool.


The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon, where you can purchase this book.  I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

https://amzn.to/49IGjEq

Go Go Go-Kart George

We know that George loved racecars and the Beatles seemed to enjoy go-karts quite a bit.   So it is pretty natural that George would have some fun while on the ranch zipping around in this go-kart. 

There was a a Beatles celebration in the ozarks this past week (that I sadly missed) and someone took this photo of the go-kart that George drove.    I am sorry that I found this photo online and photo credit was not given.    It is neat to see that the go-kart was yellow!  

Pre-Fab Day s

Those young kids behind John in this photo have no idea, do they?   In a few months these kids might turn into Beatles-crazed youngsters.   However, on this day in the summer of 1963, they seriously are clueless about who is riding that go-cart.   Although John had to stand out in the summertime with the "long" hair and wearing all black. 

Go-Karting

The young man who isn't a Beatle sure is hogging this photo, isn't he?  Ummm....kid don't you realize that all four of the Beatles are right behind you.   John is right there looking amazing and you are just looking at the camera?  

Go Karts (part 2)

Even though I think I know everything about what the Beatles did on every day of the band's existence, even I learn something new.   Long time pal of this blog, Bruno sent me this information regarding the Paul McCartney Go-Kart photo that I posted last night.    After the Beatles concert in Nice, France on June 30, 1965 the Fab guys did some nighttime Go-Kart racing at villeneuve -loubet.  Bruno even emailed along some newspaper clippings.       Great information! 

Go Karts

Here is Paul on a go-kart.   Can anyone tell me more about this photo?   It does not look like the traditional Beatles Go-kart photos from 1963 taken by Dezo Hoffman.  When was this?  Where was it?