Tuesday 3 December 2019

Check out Lennon's Strawberry Fields this Christmas

Did you know that the Strawberry Fields that figured in John Lennon's childhood and inspired the song Strawberry Field is now open to the public? 

Not only can you visit, but it is run as a charity that helps people get work.  All proceeds from these fun events go directly to their Steps to Work programme and help the Salvation Army. 

See the two festive events below.  They both sound like fun.


December Issue 72 - Out now!

Just in time for your holiday reading, our December issue is on its way to subscribers. This issue we kick off two new series on top of our ususal informative articles and reviews. We are sure you will enjoy it!

Remember that membership in the British Beatles Fan Club makes a wonderful Christmas gift that keeps on giving all year long with four quarterly issues of the magazine included in membership. Click here for membership details.

Non-members can order a copy of the magazine from our website here.


                                                                      Issue 72 (December 2019) includes:
  • The Beatles A Day In The Life
  • Coming Up-Forthcoming Events
  • Liverpool BeatleWeek 2019, Round-Up
  • Media Watch
  • Shrewsbury Beatles Weekend Report
  • The Beatles Not For Sale 
  • The Beatles and their Apple Artists
  • There Are Places I Remember
  • The Beatles Withdrawn Sessions Album
  • Beatle Boots
  • Paperback Writer
  • Beatle Fan Dan and Juniors Farm
  • Try Some, Buy Some-New Releases
  • This Girl, The Cynthia Lennon Story- Review
  • Offers and Discounts
  • As I Write This Letter
  • Crap Photos of the Month

Wednesday 27 November 2019

Celebrate The Beatles with Someone And The Somethings - 29 February 2020

Based in East London, Someone and The Somethings are a cast performers with a wealth of experience bringing you an exciting show of live covers of songs that’ll transport you back to those magical days when music helped shape a generation.

Join them on February 29th for a special show dedicated to the boys, The BEATLES!

Check them out on Facebook

This event in Sunbury-on-Thames is sure to be a fantastic night!

If you attend, let the band know you heard about it from the BBFC.


Beatles for Sale - Fun Charity Concert - 8 February 2020

Beatles for Sale will be performing live at Hemingford Village hall, Hemingford Abbots, Cambridgeshire on the 8th Feb 2020 The event is supporting Cancer Research URN no 644413031

See the poster below for more information. If you go to the event, let the band know that you heard about it here.  It sounds like fun with costumes and prizes too!


 Get tickets here




Monday 11 November 2019

We have Winners - Congratulations Charlotte, James and Gary!

Our competition to win a free pair of tickets to see the wonderful Mersey Beatles perform this November has ended!

The lucky winners are:
Norwich (Nov 15): Charlotte Clarke
Coventry (Nov 16): James Wheatley
Liverpool (Nov 29): Gary Fulton
Winners have been emailed details about how to get their tickets.

Thank you to everyone who entered.  Even if you didn't win, you can still buy tickets using the links below.

Saturday 2 November 2019

Competition Time: Win tickets to see the Mersey Beatles

Summer is over and we need something to liven things up, so we are having a competition!

The Prizes

We have 4 pairs of tickets to give away to see the wonderful Mersey Beatles perform.  Each pair is to a different venue and date. It is the winner's responsibility to get to the venue.  The prize is for tickets only. Tickets will be at the box office in the winner's name.

Salisbury City Hall (Nov 14)
Norwich Epic Studios (Nov 15)
Coventry Albany Theatre (Nov 16)
Liverpool M&S Bank Arena (Nov 29)

Who can Enter
It is open to both members and non-members.

How to Enter
This part is VERY important. We expect a huge response and will not be able to follow up with you if you leave something out. 

Please copy the blue text below into memory and then CLICK HERE* to open an email.
Paste the copied text into the email body and replace the blanks with the required information.
Click Send.

My name is:______
My email is: ______
I want to win tickets to the venue: {pick Salisbury, Norwich, Coventry, or Liverpool}
Are you a member of the British Beatles Fan club: {yes/no}

Note: If your email won't open when clicking CLICK HERE above, you can open your email manually and send the email to website@britishbeatlesfanclub.co.uk but be sure to put the subject "Mersey Beatles Ticket Contest"

Entry Deadline
The contest ends at midnight UK time on 10 November.  Winners will be selected randomly from the entries received by the deadline.  There will be one winner for each of the 4 venues.

Didn't win want still want to go? 
Use the links below to get your tickets!

Review: Start the season off right with a Beatles Christmas Sweater

Looking for something Beatle-y to wear this Christmas season? The Geek Store has the perfect solution with their Official Beatles Christmas Jumper / Sweater featuring a HELP! motif in a nighttime Christmas surround. Officially licensed by The Beatles and designed and engineered by numskull® Designs. The label also says "Made in England".

It is available in a wide variety of sizes to fit just about anyone. What I liked most is that the material is soft and comfortable to wear, it doesn’t feel tight, and it is a nice length reaching the hips. Most importantly, the design is knitted and not just ironed on so no worries about the design coming off in the wash.  The fabric (100% acrylic) is actual two layers (the inside is yellow) which makes it nice and warm as well. 

It is overall very nice quality and much nicer that some of the other Christmas sweaters out there, but my sample did have one small flaw – the snow part of the design along the bottom is well matched on one side seam but off by nearly two inches on the other side seam. Minor and the photographer who took these photos did not notice the flaw until it was pointed out. 

You can learn more and purchase one HERE. However, I noticed that they have a special on at the time this was posted for "buy one get a second one half off" on all their Christmas jumpers, so maybe you can get one for you and one for a friend! 

~Michele Copp

Thursday 31 October 2019

BEATLE ALONG FOR ANOTHER TICKET TO WRITE



Writers are being given a further chance to celebrate the Beatles in drama.

The Make it Write team is joining Ticket to Write to stage four new 30-minute plays about Liverpool’s Fab Four next year.

The plays will be chosen by independent judges and Make it Write will chose a director and bring together a team of actors and stage crew to perform those chosen at Hope Street Theatre in June 2020.

“As usual the plays can feature any aspect of The Beatles – their music, work or lives. They can even be inspired by a song. The work must be original unperformed work with simple technical requirements,” said producer Jamie Gaskin, who created the original Festival in 2012.

“In keeping with the popularity TTW abroad at least one play chosen will be from an overseas writer,” he added.

For full details of the competition and how to enter go to the Competition section of the website www.makeitwrite.org.uk

Friday 11 October 2019

Get your tickets - Abbey Road On Manchester Road - Charity Concerts



Abbey Road On Manchester Road Concerts

The Edge Presents: Abbey Road on Manchester Road 50th Anniversary Charity Concerts

Two nights of the iconic album played in full by a variety of amazing acts, plus more Beatles songs.

The Edge is a registered charity: 1128608 and all proceeds from these concerts go to our work with vulnerable adults and young people
 
The Edge Theatre and Arts Centre, Lancashire, M21 9JG
Fri 18th October 2019Sat 19th October 2019

Click to buy tickets

Thursday 3 October 2019

My Beatlemania by Magali Le Huche November 21 and 24

My Beatlemania by Magali Le Huche
Thursday 21 November - 6pm
Sunday 24 November - 2pm
At the French Institute

Illustrator in residence at the Institut français, Magali Le Huche along with the band La Bestiole will premiere a musical and illustrated journey that focuses on four fabulous guys from Liverpool, following their creativity and their inspiring magical world.

Magali’s relationship to the Beatles goes back to her childhood. She will pay homage to the legendary band by mixing drawing and music in this original creation. As little Magali escapes into her Beatles world, the group starts playing songs that speak to every situation she encounters.

 Book your tickets HERE

Video-Song-Benefit Concert on John Lennons Birthday

OCTOBER 9TH

JOHN LENNON’S BIRTHDAY

Special single, video and concert in aid of UK charity War Child

Steve Hogarth, Nick Van Eede and many more pay tribute to Beatles legend
 

 
As John Lennon’s birthday draws near so activity hots up for rock band Blurred Vision.
 
To coincide with October 9th, Lennon’s anniversary, BV lead singer Sepp Osley has put together a single, ‘Dear John’, video and concert to celebrate the great man. All in aid of War Child.
 
The video features many names from music passing on their good wishes… Geddy Lee (Rush), PP Arnold, Marc Almond, Paul Young, Donovan, Fish, Lawrence Gowan (Styx), Maxi Jazz (Faithless) and many more. All joined by well-wishers from around the world and Sepp himself performing ‘Dear John’.
 
The song is a melodic tribute to John Lennon, a remix for Blurred Vision by celebrated producer Terry Brown. The track originally featured on the band’s debut album, ‘Organised Insanity’, but the new treatment brings it bang up to date. It is released October 9th.

 
On the same night, at the Hard Rock Hotel at London’s Marble Arch, a John Lennon concert takes place. Admission is free but donations to the War Child charity are warmly welcomed.
 
Organised by Osley, it is no surprise that his band will be playing Lennon and Beatles songs at the show. There are, however, some very special guest artists also performing.
 
Steve Hogarth, the charismatic frontman and voice of multi-million selling band Marillion, along with 80's global hit maker Nick Van Eede of Cutting Crew "(I Just) Died In Your Arms"), head up the bill.
 
In addition, rising female pop vocalist Ilona, acclaimed soul/rock songstress Lynne Jackaman, and renowned composer/keyboardist Lyndon Connah (Level 42 etc) will all contribute to what promises to be a fun,  emotional and engaging evening.
 
Both the song and the show will benefit War Child UK and donations are encouraged now and on the night to raise funds for the charity. 
 
Full details on the video, donating, and securing your free tickets to attend the concert can be found on Blurred Vision’s official website: blurredvisionmusic.com.

 
 

See The Dung Beatles in Southampton 19 October

Wonderful band! If you are near Southampton, check them out! 

Tuesday 1 October 2019

Review - Audible Adventures - Tour Beatles Homes on Demand

Audible Adventures – Historic Audio Tours
Prices: – Guest Passport (free), VIP Monthly Passport ( $7.95),  Single tours (prices vary)

Audible adventures audio tours are described by promotional material as a device to make the Beatles homes and recording studios accessible to everyone. These tours are written by award winning producer and architectural historian Scott Cardinal, known for his lavish books about music venues and homes of the famous.

The tour I test drove on Tittenhurst Park was derived from material including in Cardinal’s book about Tittenhurst park featuring unheard anecdotes and extensive illustrations. Another tour about The Dakota building in NYC was developed from his book about that building as well.

Not all the tours are about The Beatles.  Abbey Road and Friar Park are included as well as homes of many other rock stars.  Apparently, there are over 24 tours on Friar Park in the collection.

Downloading the app was easy.  It is available for both from the Apple and Google Play app stores.  After you browse the tours, you pay and register.  For the free Guest Passport, no payment is required but you must complete the checkout process.  You will receive two emails.  The second one has a link to click to establish your password and then you are ready to begin a tour.

I test drove the Beatles at Tittenhurst Park tour about their last photo shoot in 1969 which was 20.5 minutes long. Unlike other audio tours, this one is not a tour of a location where you physically go to and follow instructions to look at specific sights along the route.  This tour is of a location that is not open to the public and it is a tour from a specific date in history back in August 1969. You must use your imagination and time-travel to a day when the Beatles assembled with various other spouses, photographers, and employees at John and Yoko’s home for a photo shoot which is now famous for being their last one ever.

As the tour begins, a woman narrator directs you as if you are arriving at the house on that date in history.  She describes what you are seeing all around you including the specific cars parked out front (and who owns them and when they bought them), the people that are around and other interesting things in the grounds that are visible as you arrive.

There is quite a lot of detail in each sentence. For example, when you arrive at the house, the narrator describes some columns you will see in the garden in front of you.  She points out they can be seen in a photo on a specific album cover and she explains where John purchased these columns.

There are tangents too.  The bit about the columns segues into some back history about where John lived before which leads to facts about those abodes too.  So suddenly we are learning about a flat in London while we are supposed to be at Tittenhurst Park!

Some of the detail is interesting and sometimes it was a bit too much.  For example, we learn that John and Yoko moved to Montague Square in London into a flat owned by Ringo after living at Kenwood because they preferred to live in the city rather than the suburbs.  However, we are also told what year Ringo purchased the house, when Paul moved in, and we get the whole list of who lived there during various dates. Sometimes there were a bit too many dates and it left me wondering when we would get back to Tittenhurst park where the action was happening without me!

Suddenly we are whisked back to Tittenhurst Park and we have turned a corner and see a group of people and a dog.  These people are described as if a reporter from society column was reporting it.  Their physical descriptions are given including everyone’s height, hair colour, and clothing. Funnily, John is described as wearing black pants which I thought odd because it was used as trousers like the American’s rather than describing his knickers!

These highly colourful and detailed descriptions are vivid, and for anyone who hasn’t seen the photos from this day’s famous photo shoot or someone who is blind, they paint a very vivid picture.  To those of us who have seen those photos many times before, it feels a little much although I do have to admit I had never noticed John’s unusual belt before hearing it described in this tour. It will make you want to look up the photos again looking for things that are mentioned.

After the physical descriptions of the people are over, the narrator has us follow the group as they move around the grounds taking photos.  The directions are very specific as if we are really trailing them down some stone steps, turning at a statue and walking toward the old cricket ground. 

When we are told that we see an ornately painted caravan parked on the grounds, the tour takes another detour into the history of the caravan which segued into a fact I had not heard before – that John had bought an island in Ireland where he kept the caravan before moving it to Tittenhurst park.

With so much information stuffed tightly into the script, I paused often to take it in.  Frustratingly, there was no ability to rewind.  I really wanted to rewind in several places including when my phone rang, and I couldn’t pause quickly enough.

The accuracy of the content is excellent.  I heard nothing that conflicted with any Beatles facts that I already knew, and it made me want to look closer at the photos taken that day.

I will try another tour, probably one of the Friar Park tours, as I know far less about that property.  It is a new and different way to explore Beatles history from your armchair especially with winter just around the corner.

Michele Copp

Download the App in the Apple or Google Play stores.


Thursday 26 September 2019

Abbey Road Gets Bespoke Manhole Cover on 50th Anniversary

ABBEY ROAD 50TH ANNIVERSARY: ICONIC ALBUM COVER IMMORTALISED IN HISTORY NEXT TO WORLD-FAMOUS CROSSING 



FIFTY years ago, four men in flares walked in sync across a zebra crossing in North London and created one of the most memorable LP covers of all time.
Abbey Road has now been immortalised in ductile iron thanks to a partnership between Wrekin Products and Thames Water.

The St John’s Wood neighbourhood hasn’t been the same since its namesake album was released by The Beatles on 26 September 1969. To commemorate the anniversary of the band’s 11th studio album, Wrekin and Thames Water have created a one-off, bespoke manhole cover, which has been installed just a stone’s throw away from EMI’s North London recording studio, with a striking design resembling the iconic LP cover. 

This one-off Thames Water-specified Wrekin Unite D400 manhole cover is situated just in front of the world-famous zebra crossing and can be seen on the Abbey Road webcam. This means that the hundreds of thousands of people every year from across the globe who visit the street to walk in the footsteps of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr will pass it while recreating the photo of the ‘Fab Four’ striding across the road.

Simon Turner, commercial director at Wrekin – a leader UK designer, manufacturer and supplier of specialist products for the civil engineering industry – said he was delighted to watch the project Come Together after months of hard work.

He added: “We’ve been aware that one of our manhole covers is situated next to that zebra crossing for a while now, so we knew we had to do something distinctive to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Abbey Road album. Before its release, most people who have been blissfully unaware of the location of EMI’s London recording studio. However, after The Beatles shared the album with the world, both the zebra crossing and Abbey Road became one of the most recognised sites in our capital city and still, hundreds of thousands of people each year continue to visit the street.

“We’re delighted with the outcome of our one-off, special edition Unite D400 manhole cover and we are proud to be celebrating five decades of one of Britain’s greatest exports. The album is one that fans hold closely to their hearts and it has now been immortalised into the fabric of the very street the record was mostly created. We hope that when people visit Abbey Road for their photo op, they also spend some time enjoying our tribute.

“Many people don’t fully appreciate the creativity that goes into industrial design, but we spend countless hours and energy creating our often-unnoticed manhole covers – they really are a piece of art that puts a lid on what is lurking below in the sewer. In Japan, there is an annual three-day festival, which celebrates the 6,000 artistic and intricate manhole covers throughout the country. Our commemorative Abbey Road cover is hopefully just the start of Wrekin combining art with functionality and making the mundane fun.”

Unite – which exceeds BS EN 124:2015 and HA104/09 requirements – includes patented design features that combine to give the longest life, and therefore lowest whole life cost, of any D400 access cover on the market. It means the commemorative Abbey Road edition will remain prominent in the street for decades to come.

Last year, Thames Water unveiled a commemorative manhole cover in Whitechapel Road to mark the first anniversary of the world-famous 130-tonne ‘monster fatberg’, made up of congealed wet wipes and cooking fat, discovered blocking 250 metres of sewers in September 2017.

Stuart White, Thames Water, said: “The famous Abbey Road crossing was the perfect choice for our next special edition manhole cover. We’re always looking for new ways to engage our customers and hope this striking one-off design and tribute to the classic album is popular with Beatles fans who walk the iconic walk.

“We also hope the new look sparks more conversations about what happens next to London’s waste, and serves as a reminder that only the three Ps – poo, pee and toilet paper – should end up in our vast network of underground sewers. Our message is always ‘Bin it – don’t block it’, and please don’t feed the fatberg that lurks beneath.” 

Thames Water is now asking for more ideas on the next manhole cover that deserves special edition attention. Share your ideas on Thames Water’s social media channels using #manholemakeover. 

Abbey Road topped the UK charts for 11 consecutive weeks, spending a total of 92 weeks in the UK top 75 and selling more than 10 million copies worldwide.

For further information on Wrekin Products, please visit www.wrekinproducts.com or call the team on 01543 440440.

Tuesday 17 September 2019

Issue 71 - Out Now!

Our latest issue is on its way to subscribers.  The September 2019 issue is overflowing with fun and informative articles and reviews.  We are sure you will enjoy it!  Non-members can order a copy from our website here.


                                                                      Issue 71 (September 2019) includes:
  • The Beatles A Day In The Life
  • Coming Up-Forthcoming Events
  • Media Watch
  • Abbey Road - The Beatles Finale
  • The Beatles 50 Years Ago, a reflection
  • The Beatles Not For Sale
  • George Harrison and the Goodwood Festival
  • John Lennon and Elton John
  • Politics of John Lennon - Part 7
  • The Last Beatles Song?
  • Beatle Boots
  • Paperback Writer
  • Try Some, Buy Some-New Releases
  • Fab Four at the Movies
  • Offers and Discounts
  • As I Write This Letter
  • Crap Photos of the Month

Tuesday 10 September 2019

Liverpool Central Library - The Beatles ‘Abbey Road’- The Making of a Masterpiece


  
At Liverpool Central Library 27th September 2019

Record and radio producer Steve Levine explores the back story of the creation of Abbey Road in conversation with writer and Beatles aficionado David Quantick. Using audio clips Steve will explore how the tracks were put together to give a completely different perspective on the influences that led to the production which many consider to be The Beatles' masterwork.

The evening will be supported and enhanced by performances by the newly created ‘Library of Soul’ choir with individual recorded and live vocal performances by the choir and musical director Kaya Herstad-Carney

“ And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make…”

Liverpool Central Library
27th September 2019 Doors 7pm for a 7.15pm start

Tickets are limited and can be bought from Ticket Quarter https://www.ticketquarter.co.uk/Online/abbey-road-with-steve-levine

£10 for unallocated seats some of which may be around the perimeter of the room
£8 over 65 and Disabled concessions available at £8. Please let us know if you require a wheelchair space or other access needs (BBFC Members - get concession pricing by showing your membership card)
Group ticket offer! Buy 9 and get the 10th free