BRAND NEW - The Beatles' Recording History In Context: Vol. 1 - July '54 - Jan. '63. Bookplate Signed by Robert Rodriguez & Jerry Hammack. Available Early March.
The story of The Beatles has been covered thousands of times in book, memoirs, discographies and academic tomes. And yet, many of these works focus on their history with little regard to how they experienced their own times. The artistic entity comprised of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, along with producer George Martin, did not operate in a bubble: they were inspired and challenged by the sounds going on around them.
Ribbons of Rust presents their story like never before, interactively immersing you in the sounds of the music they listened to and created along with the times they inhabited. Richly illustrated with period ephemera throughout, this first volume takes you along with the four individuals who became The Beatles, from the first inspiring sounds they heard to those nascent original compositions and covers they commited to recording tape (composed of iron oxide bonded to polyethylene terephthalate - "ribbons of rust").
Best selling, award-winning authors Robert Rodriguez and Jerry Hammack take you back to Liverpool and to the rough and tumble red light district of Hamburg, where The Beatles developed a sound that drew upon their own resources and their deep love of records - American Rock 'n' Roll to be sure - but also traditions that went back far within their own culture, reaching the destination of a recording contract with EMI.
Volume 1 - invites the readers into the post-war era of deprivations in England where kids reaching adolescence had their world rocked by the twin sensations of Lonnie Donegan's skiffle and Elvis: two phenomena that a generation down a path of musical (and personal) discovery. The Beatles' road to stardom has rarely been described with such attention to what was going on around them: the British music scene and stars of the day that they followed as they found their way to reach their goal, making a record themselves. And every "ribbon of rust" along the way is described in detail. You are in the room with them, from the first Liverpool recording at the Percy Phillips facility to Forthlin Road, their Hamburg sessions with Tony Sheridan, Decca and, Parlophone.
John Lennon once said of the period, "You shoulda been there!" Ribbons of Rust is your opportunity to take that ride into The Beatles' world, every step of the way, with an all-encompassing telling.
