The Unreleased Beatles: Music & Film

by Richie Unterberger, The Beatles (Artist)

(Book). The Unreleased Beatles details the incredible breadth of music The Beatles recorded but did not release, as well as film footage of the group that hasn't been made commercially available. Beatles expert Richie Unterberger examines a huge array of material, including unreleased studio outtakes, BBC radio recordings from 1962-1965, live concert performances, home demo recordings, fan club Christmas recordings, and other informal demos done outside of EMI studios. The staggering wealth of unreleased gems encompasses The Beatles' entire career, from a recording the Quarrymen made on July 6, 1957 (aka "the day John met Paul"), right up to outtakes from the final sessions of Let It Be in 1970. Also includes a general overview of Beatles bootlegs, their songs recorded by other artists in the 1960s, never-recorded material, and more than 100 photos.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

1 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2006

About the author

Richie Unterberger's book "The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film" details the incredible wealth of music the Beatles recorded that they did not release, as well as musical footage of the group that hasn't been made commercially available. His other books include "Unknown Legends of Rock'n'Roll," the two-volume 1960s folk-rock history "Turn! Turn! Turn!"/"Eight Miles High," and "The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience." He's also a frequent contributor to the All Music Guide and MOJO magazine, and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area."

Reviews

[John Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly fascinating facts about the best rock band ever...if you're a hard core fan that is. And by hard core, I mean REALLY hard core. Otherwise, you'll probably find this book to be pretty insane...400 pages of arcana about unreleased Beatles recordings and bootlegs isn't everyone's cup of tea.

[Tgaylord · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all-time fave Beatles reference books. Although it's focus is unreleased material, it's extremely helpful to have material from the BBC/Anthology releases included to provide context. Very well done.

[Michael Duane Robbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is more bootlegs than you can imagine, certainly more than I ever dreamed. Did anybody else know there were 85 CDs worth of unreleased material just from the January 1969 Get Back sessions [not a lot of it listenable.] The author is no fawning maniac; he can be harsh, but most of his views are fair.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much

While interesting to serious Beatle collectors and listeners, this book is the very definition of information overload. Also, Unterberger's overly colloquial style grates on the eyes after a few chapters, and this is a looooong book. Recommended for diehards only.

[Jaina Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to keep near the stereo & peruse as you listen to bootlegs of the Fab Four!