Monthly Archives: October 2011

October 21, 2011 · 1:40 pm

Book Review: The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper by Sally Carpenter

What a delight this book was to read! I had seen this book mentioned on BeatlesNews.com and decided to find the author and ask for a review copy. Ms. Carpenter said she’d contact her publisher about getting a copy to me, but after several weeks my mailbox was still empty, so I just bought my own. I prefer buying my own copies to review anyway so I don’t feel obligated to the authors/bands/producers.

Though not really a Beatle book, this fictitious murder mystery takes place in 1993 at a Beatles convention in southern Indiana. When a member of the local Beatles tribute band is murdered, Sandy Fairfax becomes suspect #1 in the eyes of the local police. Sandy is a childhood TV star turned popstar in the 70’s. Pulling from his four years on TV as Buddy Brave, Boy Sleuth, Sandy sets out to clear his name and find the real killer.

This is author Sally Carpenter’s first book in her ‘Sandy Fairfax Teen Idol Mystery Series’ and I think she’s done a great job depicting the nuances of a Beatles fan convention. Throughout the book, we Beatles fans will find many similarities to the well-known Fest for Beatles Fans that take place every year in NY and Chicago. In fact, Ms. Carpenter even mentions Mr. Lapidos’ conventions in her book. Another nice touch is the chapters are named for Beatles songs and Beatles lyrics are hidden within the text of the book.

I find this book to be a great little easy and leisurely read. I only wish Ms. Carpenter were going to write more stories with the Beatles as a theme.

By the time I was halfway through this book, my review copy showed up in the mail! So, I’d like to share this copy with my readers. Anyone posting a comment in the comments section of this post will be entered to win a copy of ‘The Baffled Beatlemaniac Caper’! Contest entries will only be accepted until 11:59 pm on Saturday, October 29, 2011. I will use the random number generator at Random.org to pick the winner and post it on Sunday, October 30th. Good Luck!

You can read another review of this book and an interview with the author here.

This book is available on Amazon.com.

I rate this book: 3 out of 4 Beetles

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Filed under Beatles books, Fan Fiction, Uncategorized

Tagged as Beatlemaniac, beatles, beatles convention, beatles fest, fiction, Sally Carpenter, Sandy

October 16, 2011 · 8:40 am

Upcoming Beatles Documentary

I’m not going to sugarcoat this…this post is going to be a plea for help! This project has just 26 days left to be financed or the entire deal will fall through…and as Beatles Freaks, I just can’t IMAGINE any of us letting that happen.

This is about Freda Kelly, The Beatles’ secretary from the early Cavern Club days when they were playing to audiences of 30 people at lunchtime, all the way through their years of international popularity and stardom, and until they eventually broke up in 1970. Freda was only one of a handful of employees for The Beatles who lasted for the entire “Beatles Era.”

Freda has kept quiet all these years and is only now starting to come forward and tell her stories about all those years ago with the Fab Four. She wants her grandchildren to know what their grandmother did in her youth…and what a great story she must have to tell. I know I want to hear about it.

In order to make her documentary, the filmmakers must raise $50,000 by November 12, 2011 at 2:59 am. Currently, the total donated is $13,390 from 117 donors.

So, let me break this down for you: If the next 7,324 fans gave just $5 to this cause, they could make this film! And you can’t tell me that they aren’t 7,324 Beatles Freaks out there that are dying to hear the inside stories from Freda! You can give more if you’d like…you can give less…that’s up to you. But I believe that we are capable of raising this money in the next 26 days. And there are bonuses…such as, if you give $25, you will get a copy of the DVD when it’s made (there are more gifts for different donation levels, but I thought this was the most enticing for those with limited income).

All together now….come together, right now…

Donate here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1215635909/good-ol-freda

Please share this post on Twitter, Facebook and other social media to help this cause.

DVD Review: Composing Outside The Beatles (Lennon & McCartney 1973-1980)

The third installment in a series of on the collaboration of Lennon and McCartney, ‘Composing Outside the Beatles: Lennon and McCartney 1973-1980’ brings a lot to the table…if you can bear to sit through it!

I had mentioned to another Beatles freak that I had been sent a copy of this video to review and since I had never seen the first two installments, they informed me that they felt the first two were ‘dry’. I don’t know that I’d use that same term, but instead I felt this documentary, about the separate careers of Lennon and McCartney after the split of the Beatles, drawled on…and on. Even my son, who was sitting within ear shot while I watched, commented, “Everyone just went on and on and never seemed to shut up.”

But as I said, this movie is not without it’s good points. I think it does do a fine job of covering all of Lennon’s and McCartney’s albums in great detail with commentary by such well respected people as: Denny Laine, Klaus Voorman, Denny Seiwell and Anythony DeCurtis, to name a few. The problem seems to arise when the producers decided to let everyone have their say about the albums, making the whole thing a bit lengthy and boring. I also think this isn’t necessarily a DVD for the hardcore Beatles freaks, since I don’t know that it gave much information that hasn’t already been published elsewhere.

All-in-all, a well made documentary, but be prepared to pause your player to enjoy life!

This DVD will be released on October 25, 2011 and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com.

**Note: I just looked at the Amazon page for this DVD. It says the run time for this movie is 60 minutes. Not true…it’s 139 minutes!

I rate this movie: 2 out of 4 Beetles

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Filed under Documentary, George Harrison, John Lennon, movies, Paul McCartney, reviews, Ringo Starr