The Beatles Solo on Apple Records [Hardcover]

Bruce Spizer (Author), Allan Steckler (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2005

"The Beatles Solo on Apple Records" details the solo records released by John, Paul, George and Ringo on their own Apple label in America from 1968 through 1975. It tells the stories behind classic solo albums such as "Imagine," "Band On The Run," "All Things Must Pass" and "Ringo." All solo projects are covered in matriclous detail, including all of the albums and singles released by John & Yoko and Paul McCartney & Wings. The book provides complete session and chart information and shows all picture sleeves, album covers and label variations, along with many of the promotional posters, displays and trade magazine ads. The book is hard cover and printed on heavy weight glossy paper. It has over 900 images (all in full color or original black & white) spread throughout the book's 358 pages. The book is the followup to the critically acclaimed "The Beatles on Apple Records," which covered the records released by the group from 1968 through 1970 and is still available from Midpoint.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A colorful, lively and informative 358-page spin through life after the Beatles divorce. -- The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), April 10, 2005

A fitting companion to Spizer's four previous, meticulously researched tomes examining the Beatles. -- The Washington Times, April 26, 2005

A masterpiece which will in time be recognized as the most authoritative on the solo careers of the Fab Four. -- The Evening Times (Glasglow, Scotland), April 30, 2005

Acclaimed Beatles historian and author Bruce Spizer adds another supremely valuable and impressive volume to The Beatles' literary legacy. -- Goldmine, April 15, 2005

An invaluable reference. Spizer's exhaustive research makes him a pop music Indiana Jones. -- Los Angeles Times, May 15, 2005

Beautifully packaged, gorgeously illustrated and thoroughly researched...a must have for any Beatles library. -- Beatlefan, March-April, 2005

About the Author

Bruce Spizer is a first generation Beatles fan and well-known Beatles author/historian. He is considered the leading expert on the Beatles in America, having written a series of critically acclaimed books on the group's American records. Bruce is the author of "The Bealtes Are Coming!," which is the definitive account of the birth of Beatlemania in America.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 358 pages
• Publisher: 498 Productions, LLC (April 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966264959
• ISBN-13: 978-0966264951
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #797,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER OUTSTANDING BOOK BY BRUCE SPIZER!, March 29, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: The Beatles Solo on Apple Records (Hardcover)

Honestly,
Bruce Spizer took over the top spot among all authors dealing with the subject of original U.S. Beatles records with the release of his first Vee Jay Records book back in the late 1990s!
With this new release, Mr. Spizer continues to soar to new heights organizing and detailing the solo era post Beatles records issued by John, Paul, George and Ringo! As with all of Bruce' superb offerings, we get the expected high quality photos and illustrations as well as the comprehensive details we've pretty much gotten spoiled to over the years. Bruce covers with expert craftsmanship the long and winding roads of the many variations and offerings for each title issued! It's a pure joy to peruse.... and of course, this is another outstanding effort. With his next book covering the Beatles records on the smaller Beatles U.S. labels such as MGM, Swan, Atco, etc., Bruce will have successfully covered the entire Beatles 'original record issue' and completed his goal of contributing to the world in magnificent fashion, these great reference books for us all.
Bruce Spizer's series of Beatles books will undoubtedly continue to be the standard for the ages!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How does he do it?!, March 24, 2005

By 

F. Daniels (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Beatles Solo on Apple Records (Hardcover)

Once again, Bruce Spizer has produced a tremendous and valuable addition to the corpus of Beatles knowledge. Although the group phase of their career(s) has been dealt with extensively in books, this time Spizer had to chart a course into the relatively unknown waters of their solo careers. And once again, he has taken an almost impossible challenge and emerged victorious. Bruce offers answers to burning questions about John's, Paul's, George's, and Ringo's solo (Apple) material -- some of which essentially had no answers prior to this book. As usual, the book pictures every major label variation of every single and LP release, including a few previously undiscovered versions. This is an astonishing book that will please nearly every fan of the ex-Beatles' releases on their own label, and I suspect that it will also please the ex-Beatles themselves.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Great Entry in Series, A Tiny Bit Less of a "Must-Own", August 7, 2005

By 

Roy Wilbury - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Beatles Solo on Apple Records (Hardcover)

Bruce Spizer has now put together five books in this series of looks at the Beatles (and with this latest volume, the solo years on Apple in the early-mid 70's) and their relationships with record labels Vee-Jay, Capitol, and Apple.

As fans of these books know, much of each book covers very detailed, minute bits of information about the release of each LP, Single, EP, etc. The cost of the books is probably due in large part to each book being printed in complete full color on every page. A large percentage of the pages are covered with every label variation of every release. If you're not a hardcore collector intensely interested in what are usually very, very minute label differences (mostly different fonts, different perimenter print on the labels), then I have to say that some of the wow factor is missing.

What has made the other entries in this series must-have books for any Beatles scholar, even if they are not interested in label variations, is the detailed history Spizer uncovers behind the Beatles' relationship with their labels. Spizer uncovers long-forgotten or never-known stories behind how the labels devised albums or singles, and many other interesting details. His book on the Vee-Jay label's relationship with the Beatles was a complete revelation that completely changed scholars' perception of the relationship between the group and Vee-Jay, and would have been a must-have for Beatles scholars even without any pictures or illustrations of any kind.

There are interesting pictures in all of the volumes, including the "Solo Beatles on Apple" other than label variations. Pictures of alternate album covers and other artwork, as well as promotional items all adorn the pages.

"The Solo Beatles on Apple..." is perhaps a tiny bit less indispensable as compared to Spizer's other books only because it doesn't have as much revelatory information as the previous entries (particularly the Vee-Jay book and the Capitol books). All of the books contain Spizer's own reviews of the music itself, as well as basic information on the background of the songs and albums. This is the only information in Spizer's books which isn't indispensible. It's all well-written, it just doesn't offer any new information. Because the "Solo Beatles" book has a bit less of the new, wow-factor type of facts that made the Vee-Jay and Capitol books so interesting, the "Solo Beatles" book doesn't have quite as much to offer in terms of the text. Spizer admits that he came into writing the book with the opinion that the Beatles' solo work doesn't hold up well to the group's output. Listening to the albums apparently did change is mind to some degree, but I do see just a bit less enthusiasm behind the writing of this book as compared to the other group entries.

Still, between the ample color artwork and still plenty of interesting details uncovered by Spizer, this book is still a must-own for Beatles scholars and record collectors. I would give it 4 1/2 stars if I could.