By Bruce Spizer In coordination with the 50th anniversary of the release of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” Apple, Capitol and Universal Music Group are giving fans multiple options to experience the Beatles landmark album. Prior to jumping into this review, I must disclose that I served as a consultant on the project, contributing…
Who’s the Real Sgt. Pepper? New Beatles Book Unveils Identity of Soldier Seen on Album Cover by Steve Marinucci Published in Variety, May 13, 2017 While the picture of the man depicting “Sgt. Pepper” in the Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album looks like a character out of a story book, he was…
This story by Keith Spera in the New Orleans Advocate. May 18, 2017 photo by Rusty Costanza Nearly 50 years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play. The Beatles aren’t letting the June 1 milestone anniversary of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” pass without fanfare. And neither is local tax attorney and…
New York City – April 28, 2017 Special report by Bruce Spizer & Tom Frangione On May 19, 1967, a dozen or so journalists and disc jockeys were invited to hear the premiere of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” at Brian Epstein’s four-story Georgian home in London. Nearly 50 years later, a hundred…
Bruce will be a featured speaker at Abbey Road on the River, which has moved across the river from Louisville, Kentucky to Jeffersonville, Indiana. He will be there Friday, May 26 through Sunday, May 28, 2017, giving presentations and appearing on panels on Sgt. Pepper, as well as selling and signing copies of his new…
Bruce Spizer will hold a book signing Friday, September 15 at Beatles at the Ridge in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, where he is the Featured Speaker for the 2017 Beatles Authors and Artists Symposium. Headlining a panel of noted Beatles scholars such as Lanea Stagg, Dr. Kit O’Toole, Dr. Ken Womack, Sara Schmidt, Jude Southerland Kessler,…
COMING MAY 2017! Bruce Spizer’s latest book on the Beatles will cover the Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band album from the fans’ perspective with contributions by Bruce, Bill King, Al Sussman, Frank Daniels, Piers Hemmingsen and others. UPDATE 3/21/17: The book is coming along nicely. He has received dozens of wonderful stories from fans…
[An excellent Washington Post article quoting Bruce…] On Feb. 11, 1964, Beatlemania blasted Washington — all shrieks and Arthur haircuts and songs people couldn’t quite make out. Two nights after their hysteria-inducing welcome-to-America appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” the Beatles played their first U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. With “I Want to…
Santa is coming to town and he’s a Beatles Fan Bruce Spizer’s books tell the fascinating and sometimes convoluted stories behind the Beatles vinyl releases. Even casual fans will find the books’ stories behind the songs and records fascinating. No matter how much you know about the Beatles, you will learn something new. Every…
Prytania Theatre & Bruce Spizer present The Beatles:Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years Screenings Hosted by Beatles author/historian Bruce Spizer September 23, 2016 thru September 25, 2016 https://www.facebook.com/events/171759099921785 Tickets: http://prytaniatheatreneworleans.com/ _______________________________ Below are the special Screenings Hosted by Bruce Spizer- Friday, Sept 23, 7:30 PM – Screening of Eight Days A Week…
Bruce Spizer will be a guest at the Chicago Fest for Beatles Fans this weekend (August 12 – 14, 2016) at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare. In addition to being in the market place meeting with fellow Beatles fans and signing copies of his books, Bruce will be on two panels and give two audio/visual presentations….
The infamous Beatles Butcher cover (shown above) made its limited appearance in June 1966. After Capitol Records sent out copies of the album to distributors, disc jockeys and reviewers, the company was besieged with angry protests over the grisly photo. It marked the first time that the Beatles judgment was severely and universally criticized. Faced…
Bruce will be attending Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago in August. He will give a presentation and will have a table in the Vendor area. Stop by and say Hi!
Saturday morning, June 4, 2016. I read the news today, oh boy, on the front face of my iPhone. There were push notifications from The New York Times and CBS News. Muhammad Ali was dead at 74. He had died the night before. It was not a surprise to me as the media had warned…
Today is the 53rd anniversary of the release of the Beatles first album, PLEASE PLEASE ME. When the LP went on sale on March 22, 2963, youth-oriented albums typically contained a hit single or two packed with filler. Although British records buyers got 14 songs, they were lucky if four of them were worth the…
Bruce Spizer will serve as the Grand Finale presenter for the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi Beatles Symposium in Cleveland, Mississippi.
The 1965 Christmas season was a very special time for Beatles fans. On December 3, 1965, Parlophone simultaneously released the double A-side single “We Can Work It Out” c/w “Day Tripper” and the album “Rubber Soul.” In America, Capitol issued the same single and its version of the “Rubber Soul” album three days later on…
I will never forget the magic I felt when I removed my copy of Hey Jude from its black “The Beatles on Apple” sleeve for the first time.
Today’s trivia questions come from the “Capitol of the World” chapter in the revised and expanded digital edition of “The Beatles’ Story on Capitol Records, Part One: Beatlemania and the Singles.” What British recording artist had four singles on Capitol before the group signed the Beatles and whose management turned down a Lennon-McCartney original? Hint:…
Happy Holidays and Gold Records!