Other than ‘I Me Mine’ and some minor overdubs, The Beatles’ entire EMI/Apple catalogue was recorded in fewer than seven years: from 4 September 1962 through to 20 August 1969. Twelve albums, twenty-two singles, two standalone EPs, 213 songs. That in itself is remarkable enough.
But the quality of the music, the rapid development of musical complexity and the innovations in studio production lifted The Beatles above every other band. The Fab Four were not always fab. But that some writers take the time and expend energy to point this out and purposefully diss perfect songs such as ‘Yesterday’ merely serves to remind us that, most of the time, The Beatles were unarguably brilliant.
Authors Andrew Wild and Alberto Bravin have listened to, digested and discussed the entire Beatles back catalogue to remind them why they love their music. How do they affect us today? Answer: they were bloody good. They still are.
This first volume covers the period 1962 to 1966– from 'Love Me Do' to 'Tomorrow Never Knows', and the early albums – that were different in the UK and the USA – to Rubber Soul and Revolver, marking four years of outstanding, groundbreaking music.
Andrew Wild is a British writer, collector and long-time Beatles fan who recalls hearing the ‘Red’ and ‘Blue’ albums in the mid-1970s and has been in love with their music ever since. He has copies of every known Beatles outtake and live concert recording. His thorough and exhaustive study of every song performed or recorded by the band Four Sides Of The Circle was republished in 2024. He has written numerous music-related books, including several in the On Track series, about artists as diverse as The Allman Brothers Band, Phil Collins and Dire Straits. He lives in Rainow, Cheshire, UK.
Alberto Bravin is a musician, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. He is the lead singer of the progressive rock band Big Big Train. Alberto was previously a member of the highly-regarded Italian progressive rock band PFM – Premiata Forneria Marconi from 2015 to 2022 and for many years he also played with his The Beatles tribute band Marshmallow Pies. He lives with his family in Trieste in the north-east of Italy. This is his first book.
