British Beatles Fan Club

ALL THE SONGS

The Story Behind Every Beatles Release

By Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon   Preface by Patti Smith

1 November 2013 

~ Hardcover ~ 671 Pages ~ 600 Photographs ~ £35 ~ 

ISBN 978 1 57912 952 1

All The Songs (Black Dog & Leventhal, £35) is a record of every song ever released by The Beatles from ‘Please Please Me’ (1962) to ‘The Long Winding Road’ (1970).  Paperback writers Margotin and Guesdon certainly aren’t – this is a large hardback tome weighing more than 2.5kg, with 600 photographs ranging from rare black-and-white publicity stills to intimate colour shots of the musicians in the studios. The authors delve deeply into the history and musical origins of all 215 Beatles songs, recounting the circumstances that led to the composition of each one, the recording process and the instruments used. Packed with trivia, tales and even discrepancies and mistakes in song recordings to listen out for, it is the most comprehensive overview of the Fab Four’s music to date. 

Arranged chronologically by release date, this is an intimate and revealing look at the music of The Beatles – whose popularity remains undiminished. Did you know that…

•  For ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ a contract clause prevented the Beatles from courting women in order not to let down their female admirers. 
• 'I Want to Hold Your Hand’ was written the night before it was recorded. When The Beatles sang it on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 John’s microphone wasn’t turned on so viewers only heard Paul singing. Despite this it sold 10,000 copies an hour in New York alone. 
• For the 50th anniversary of NASA and in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the song’s recording, ‘Across The Universe’ was transmitted into space. Paul commented, “Amazing! Well done, NASA! Send my love to the aliens.” 
• John and Paul composed ‘She Loves You’ in a room at The Turk’s Hotel in Newcastle. It was released two months later and was their first single to sell 1,000,000 copies.

Philippe Margotin has written numerous books on music, including biographies of U2, Radiohead and the Rolling Stones. Jean-Michel Guesdon is a producer and musician who has collaborated with Sony, EMI, Universal Music and many more.  He created Editions du Pékinois in Paris in 1986 to publish audiovisual creations in music. Consultant editor Scott Freiman is a composer, producer and educator whose music and sound design have been featured in award-winning films and television programmes, including the 11-part BBC/Discovery Emmy award-winning series ‘Life’.