Something on my mind

As most readers of my posts will be aware, the revised and expanded edition of my book ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions (abbathecompleterecordingsessions.com) was a self-published title, something that worked out very well for me. One of the main inspirations behind going into self-publishing was a Beatles book entitled Eight Arms To Hold You by Chip Madinger and Mark Easter (by the way, Mark is a passionate ABBA fan who supported the crowdfunding for ABBA - The Complete Recording Sessions).

Detailing - and this book really puts the detail into detailing! - the recordings made by the four Beatles members outside the group, it was first published by the authors in 2000, and has been one of my favourite Beatles books ever since. It describes every known fact about live and studio recordings (released and officially unreleased) made by John, Paul, George and Ringo up until the new millennium. It's the kind of book that sets the bar for anyone who's mad enough to try to find every available fact about the recordings of a band or a solo performer and then present those findings in book form. And, apart from anything else, as a life-long Beatles fan, I just love dipping into it to read about the background stories and facts about everything from acknowledged classics such as the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album to those much-maligned late-1970s Ringo solo albums.

I know that Chip (together with co-author Scott Raile) is knee-deep in his equally amazing Lennonology project, so it came as a surprise to learn that he and Mark have found time to thoroughly and substantially revise Eight Arms To Hold You to include every known fact that has emerged since it was first published - that's 18 years of accumulated knowledge. I have seen a few sample pages, and they look very impressive indeed. Although the scope of the book still only takes you up to the year 2000 (quite frankly, not a massive problem for me, as I have little emotional connection to most of the solo Beatles work released since then), I can't wait to read this ebook version of Chip and Mark's magnum opus.

Eight Arms To Hold You - Remastered is published today. To learn more and order your copy, click here.