Description

They toured Australia on a single occasion in 1964, but once was enough for The Beatles to claim the continent as an integral dominion in their global Empire and to forever assure record-breaking sales of their recordings.

An Overview of Australian Beatles Records details Beatles records manufactured in, or for, Australia, from the first in February 1963 until the last in 1991, with emphasis on those distributed by EMI (Australia).

It begins with a brief history of EMI (Australia) and its introduction of The Beatles to the people of Australia. It continues by detailing both the similarities and differences between EMI (Australia) and its parent, EMI UK, before focussing on the unique antipodean pressings.

The book describes local publishing arrangements, use of royalty stamps, major record label styles, record sleeve design, production outsourcing/contracting, mastering methods and official imports. Where possible, period EMI publications, newspaper clippings, press releases and people directly involved with EMI (Australia) and Festival Records have been consulted.

For collectors there's a section listing recommended Australian Beatles pressings, based on the views of numerous local and international collectors, as well as 65 pages of full-colour label and sleeve scans (covering singles, EPs and LPs), a comprehensive look at label typesetting, and a detailed discography.

Finally, a pull-out record rarity guide is included in the back of the book. This guide, by Richard Green, is an essential six-page reference that not only rates the rarity factor of a particular LP, EP or single but also documents significant label and sleeve variants known to exist at the time of publication.

With over 60 new pages, the revised edition includes new and updated information and additional images since publication of the first edition in April 2011.

Included are over 380 images, representing the most comprehensive collection of Australian Beatles record labels, outer and inner sleeves, inserts, and ephemera gathered in a reference document to date.

An Overview of Australian Beatles Records is an essential aid to the collector of Australian Beatles vinyl and is a book which will surely elevate the esteem in which this interesting subset of Beatles records is held in the global Beatles community.