lewisholm's "the beatles recording sessions"

onosideboards · May 08, 2003, 08:38 AM

is this book rare? it appears to be out of print anyway. i've had a copy for years that i kinda stole from someone else. it's paperback though and what few copies i can find on the internet are hardcover. and those go for over $100.

anyone know more about this?? how could such an important beatleology book be out of print anyway?

HMVNipper · May 08, 2003, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted By onosideboards:
is this book rare? it appears to be out of print anyway. i've had a copy for years that i kinda stole from someone else. it's paperback though and what few copies i can find on the internet are hardcover. and those go for over $100.

anyone know more about this?? how could such an important beatleology book be out of print anyway?

It does appear to be out of print...I haven't been able to find it in years, though I do have a copy...I don't know why it is, though. Mark Lewisohn is an acknowledged Beatles expert -- he's also got another book out there called "The Beatles Chronicle" which is an invaluable historical chronicle of their day to day activities, but someone told me this one is out of print too...

I have no idea why these books would be allowed to lapse -- does anyone else have any idea? [img]graemlins/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

onosideboards · May 08, 2003, 09:44 AM

amazon says that every Mark Lewisohn book is out of print except wingspan. half.com doesn't even have the recording sessions book. ebay has 1 recording sessions book going for $20 and with a cover i haven't seen.

this is the web page that got me going on this...

http://members.rennlist.com/city_of_...g_sessions.htm

beatlegirl9977 · May 08, 2003, 05:47 PM

Believe it or not, I found a hardcover edition of the Recording Sessions book on the bargain rack at Waldenbooks for $15 a couple years ago. (Don't ask me HOW that happened...) It's a fantastic book, a very close second to the Chronicle. The Chronicle, too, was re-released in paperback a couple years ago and it's already out of print again!

My suggestion for both books would be to check any used bookstores or antique stores that you can get to; that's usually where I find out-of-print titles.

sleepybomb · May 08, 2003, 06:15 PM

i bought the h/b of this in '88 and it was like getting a brand new beatle lp! i see it is worth more than $100 on amazon now!
this is the most authoritative recording guide ever done on the boys. i also bought the h/b of 'day by day', and ended up grabbing 'chronicles' too when that hit the shelves. they seem to go o. o. p. as soon as the 1st ed. runs. . . and if ya find one grab! (there was a p/b 'sessions' on ebay awhile back)
mark lewisohn is just wonderful, and it is a shame that these gems are out of print while a lot of garbage is all over the place.

lennonluvr9 · May 09, 2003, 07:02 AM

Actually, my school's library has a copy, but that's the only place I've ever seen it...

LuvLennon · May 09, 2003, 07:22 AM

I'm always seaching for "Recording Sessions" and "Chronicle." They were supposidly re-released in 2000 I think, but I never found them!

Danoota64 · May 09, 2003, 09:52 AM

I found "Chronicle" in my local library and loved it so much, i searched for it on ebay and was lucky enough to score a hardback copy for less than $30. This was three years ago.

[img]graemlins/peace.gif[/img]

Legs · May 09, 2003, 10:31 AM

Recording sessions seems to be indeed rare. I never thought about it really, I got mine a few years back and never looked to see wheter it still was avaiable and for how much. 150 pounds on Amazon.UK ?!?!

Strangly the Complete Beatles Chronicle,is cheaper, and more complete then recording sessions.

Mark Lewisohn books

EasternBird · May 09, 2003, 10:16 PM

I actually found a paperback copy of "Chronicle" at Barnes & Noble a few months back...quite a pleasant surprise! [img]graemlins/teeth1.gif[/img] But I think "Recording Sessions" is older and has been out of print a lot longer. I've borrowed it from my university library, but I've never seen it for sale anywhere.

Ebay sometimes has a few copies for sale - that's probably your best bet.

[size="1"][ May 09, 2003, 11:18 PM: Message Edited By: EasternBird ][/size]

sleepybomb · May 10, 2003, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted By Legs:

Strangly the Complete Beatles Chronicle,is cheaper, and more complete then recording sessions.

Mark Lewisohn books

i dunno richard, i find that 'recording sessions' is invaluable when studying the songwriting. i always use my copy of 'sessions', trying to track down the bootleg songs, (so many are without tracking).
'chronicles' is an incredible read, (these guys just did not stop for years!), but it kinda skims over the details of the session work.
i have all the lewisohn books and think they are the most informative and well written books on the boys. they shoyuld make 'em available to everyone.
btw, has anyone read any of the bruce spizer books about the various lables? i haven't and wanted to know if they are worth a small country to obtain. . . .

Tangledupinbluee · May 10, 2003, 02:30 PM

He also wrote "Beatles Live" or something to that effect. It was his first book. It chronicled in detail every live appearence the Beatles made. Paul even said that he owned a copy of that one and that he was impressed with it - it made him remember events he forgot had even happened. I beleive it was originally printed with a flexi disc of the beatles first ever recorded interview as a group.

May 10, 2003, 04:15 PM

I picked up a signed copy of the complete Beatles Chronicle a while ago, along with an original Spaniard in the works at this rare book shop..they were very cheap too..

Paolo Meccano · Jun 05, 2003, 01:15 PM

Hello everyone,

I realise that this won't be any help to people outside Britain, but the discount book chain County Bookstores are selling the hardback edition of 'The Complete Beatles Chronicle' for £10 at the moment - they seem to have a knack of finding large quantities of out-of-print beatles books as someone got me a copy of Kevin Howlett's 'Live at the BBC' a year or so ago...

Incidentally, don't rely too much on Lewisohn for recording information - he's lazily dismissive of anything that wasn't done at EMI: that said, at least he isn't as bad as Ian McDonald...

Legs · Jun 05, 2003, 01:35 PM

Who says Ian McDonald is bad, as to "Recording Session" I find both Lewisohns and McDonald's book very valuable can you name better books or authors?

HMVNipper · Jun 05, 2003, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted By sleepybomb:
btw, has anyone read any of the bruce spizer books about the various lables? i haven't and wanted to know if they are worth a small country to obtain. . . .

Yes! We have the VeeJay one and are planning to buy the two Capitol ones and the Apple one at Beatlefest in August...but they are AWESOME! Bruce has done some amazing work and the books are an invaluable resource, particularly about the release of Beatles records in America. Definitely worth the money.

Paolo Meccano · Jun 05, 2003, 01:52 PM

Hello Legs [img]graemlins/peace.gif[/img]

Sorry if I offended you - all I meant was that Lewisohn isn't as thorough on the non-EMI recordings as a reader of a book entitled 'The Complete Beatles Chronicle' might reasonably expect him to be and that, in my opinion, McDonald's book contains too much musicological conjecture when I'd rather know which takes are actually on the records...

Legs · Jun 05, 2003, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted By HMVNipper:
<blockquote>Quote:<hr />Originally Posted By sleepybomb:
btw, has anyone read any of the bruce spizer books about the various lables? i haven't and wanted to know if they are worth a small country to obtain. . . .

Yes! We have the VeeJay one and are planning to buy the two Capitol ones and the Apple one at Beatlefest in August...but they are AWESOME! Bruce has done some amazing work and the books are an invaluable resource, particularly about the release of Beatles records in America. Definitely worth the money.<hr /></blockquote>Yes, but it's lots of money. Don't know if I'll regret it in the future but I saw the Capitol one and I believe the VeeJay one, but didn't buy them cause they were over 100 euro's about 100 USD.

HMVNipper · Jun 05, 2003, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted By Legs:
<blockquote>Quote:<hr />Originally Posted By HMVNipper:
<blockquote>Quote:<hr />Originally Posted By sleepybomb:
btw, has anyone read any of the bruce spizer books about the various lables? i haven't and wanted to know if they are worth a small country to obtain. . . .

Yes! We have the VeeJay one and are planning to buy the two Capitol ones and the Apple one at Beatlefest in August...but they are AWESOME! Bruce has done some amazing work and the books are an invaluable resource, particularly about the release of Beatles records in America. Definitely worth the money.<hr /></blockquote>Yes, but it's lots of money. Don't know if I'll regret it in the future but I saw the Capitol one and I believe the VeeJay one, but didn't buy them cause they were over 100 euro's about 100 USD.<hr /></blockquote>They should be $50 each...there are TWO Capitol ones, maybe that's why you saw $100. And actually, according to Amazon.com, the VeeJay one is $40, Vol 1 of the Capitol set is $40 and the others are $50 each.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...610382-1309504

[size="1"][ Jun 05, 2003, 03:03 PM: Message Edited By: HMVNipper ][/size]

Legs · Jun 05, 2003, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted By Paolo Meccano:
Hello Legs [img]graemlins/peace.gif[/img]

Sorry if I offended you - all I meant was that Lewisohn isn't as thorough on the non-EMI recordings as a reader of a book entitled 'The Complete Beatles Chronicle' might reasonably expect him to be and that, in my opinion, McDonald's book contains too much musicological conjecture when I'd rather know which takes are actually on the records...

Oh no you haven't offended me, perhaps Mark or Ian but not me [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
No actually thinking about it I think I know what you mean in case of "Revolution In The Head",tho I'm not sure what musicological conjecture is. Sometimes he just gives to much of his own opinion on songs, it's clear for example that he doesn't like "Across The Universe" calling it a boring song, well I don't care for that I don't think it's a boring song. But still I think it's good book.