The Beatles Are Coming: The Birth of Beatlemania in America [Hardcover]

Bruce Spizer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2010

"The Beatles Are Coming!" covers the Beatles first visit to the United States and the events leading up to the group's arrival on February 7, 1964. It is the most thorough and accurate book ever published on how Beatlemania evolved in America. The book details why Capitol Records turned down the Beatles four times before finally agreeing to release their records. It tells the stories of two small companies, Vee-Jay and Swan, who issued the group's records without success in 1963. It details the American media coverage of the Beatles in late 1963, when Beatlemania was viewed as a curious fad happening in England that could never catch on in the United States. It explains how the Beatles were booked for "The Jack Paar Program" and "The Ed Sullivan Show," as well as two concerts at Carnegie Hall. The book concludes with stories and pictures of the Beatles historic first U.S. visit in February, 1964. The book contains over 450 images, including many previously unpublished photos of the Beatles. Foreword by Walter Cronkite.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Longtime Beatle authority Spizer's oversize tome covers the Beatles' first American appearances in near-absurd detail. Concentrating on 1963 and the first two months of 1964, Spizer exhaustively recounts the Beatles' recording sessions during the period, the fight between giant Capitol Records and tiny indy label Vee-Jay over the rights to release the group's early recordings, and the hysterical coverage of the first visit. Informative as the text is, the more than 400 record jackets, advertisements, consumer and trade magazine articles, concert photos, and record labels that only the most obsessed collector knows about, reproduced in the original color or black and white, constitute the book's raison d'etre. If the minutiae may become oppressive for all but the most fanatical Beatlemaniacs, the latter still comprise a big, eager market for further books on their idols, especially those as lovingly produced as Spizer's overwhelmingly comprehensive volume. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

A thoroughly researched entertaining account of the group's first U.S. visit, full of interesting and little known stories. -- Wlater Cronkite, from the foreword

Essential for any fan who wants to know the real "behind-the-scenes" story of the Beatles first U.S. visit. -- Daytrippin', Winter 2004

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: 498 Productions, LLC (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966264991
• ISBN-13: 978-0966264999
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #405,353 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "THE BEATLES ARE COMING" REALLY ROCKS!!!, December 8, 2003

By 

Mark Naboshek (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Beatles Are Coming!: The Birth of Beatlemania in America (Paperback)

With his previous books on The Beatles' Vee-Jay, Capitol and Apple recordings, Bruce Spizer earned a well-deserved reputation as America's leading Beatles author, archivist and researcher. He has now further sealed this reputation with what will certainly be THE definitive story of The Beatles' arrival on the American scene...and into our collective consciousness...in 1963-64. "The Beatles Are Coming: The Birth of Beatlemania in America" traces the group's dramatic rise in the States in exacting detail. Theirs was certainly not an overnight success in America and Spizer goes to great lengths to explain why that road to success was not always a smooth one. He also takes on all the myths perpetuated in other books and blows them apart, revealing the truth behind the inaccuracies we've long come to accept as fact. The story is beautifully-woven in chronological order from February 1963 through the end of The Beatles' first U.S. visit in February 1964. Intermixed with Spizer's lively and informative text are over 450 images, most in full-color and including many previously unpublished photos and documents...all vividly reproduced to bring this amazing story to life. At the heart of the book is Spizer's research. His fact-finding skills are unsurpassed. He tracks down and interviews most of the key players from those early days in America, including broadcasting icon Walter Cronkite (who has written the foreword). Expect more accolades for this book as the word spreads! And the word is "Spizer". I give this astonishing new book a solid FIVE STARS! It's an essential reader, written to satisfy both the Beatles scholar and the casual fan. Whatever you do, save some space on your Beatles bookshelf for this one!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BRUCE SPIZER HAS DONE IT AGAIN......., December 6, 2003

By 

PERRY D COX (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Beatles Are Coming!: The Birth of Beatlemania in America (Paperback)

Well, Mr. Spizer has officially released his eagerly anticipated new book which beautifully and masterfully details the Beatles first historic arrival in the U.S. back in early 1964. This time out, Bruce provides the reader with an in-depth view of exactly what those exciting and hectic days were like for the Fabs and the entire country. Of course, as is Bruce's signature style, we get a thoroughly comprehensive look back at those few exciting days and the reader will immediately get swept back in time to get a real feel for the phenomenon that truly was the first wave of Beatlemania in America. As a fan of both the Beatles and Bruce's work, I, and many others are quite literally getting spoiled to the quality and detail all of Bruce's many great books. This offering is certainly no exception as it is full of great facts, details and photos from the magic early 'Beatle Days'! Many of the items and photos featured in the book have never been published before!
So rather than repeat myself with the many superlatives this book so surely deserves, I will ask that the reader simply trust me when I say "This book will definitely be one of your all time favorites"! From Walter Cronkite's insightful foreward to the Beatles' plane leaving the last runway of the U.S., this amazing offering is simply a must have book for all. I know you will enjoy it as I have. I give it the full five stars with frosting!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Masterpiece!!!, December 30, 2003

By 

Roger Cleven (Snoqualmie, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Beatles Are Coming!: The Birth of Beatlemania in America (Paperback)

The high quality of Bruce Spizer's books certainly doesn't end here. If you have previously purchased any of his other volumes, you also need this one! If you haven't bought any of them, what are you waiting for?

Bruce has two other books in the works-"The Beatles Solo on Apple Records" (2004) and "The Beatles Swan Song" (detailing the other record labels the Beatles appeard on in the US) (2005). I can't wait!