Bestselling
award-winning authors Robert Rodriguez
(Revolver: How The Beatles Re-Imagined
Rock 'n' Roll, Something About
The Beatles podcast) and Jerry
Hammack (The Beatles Recording
Reference Manual series) will release the first volume of Ribbons of
Rust: The Beatles' Recording History In Context – a new series of books that explores the
Beatles’ story in relation to their lives and times – on February 11, 2025, via Parading Press.
Although The Beatles have been covered in thousands of books, memoirs, discographies and academic tomes, 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: The Beatles' Recording History In Context presents the band’s 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 of Ribbons of Rust takes the reader along with the four individuals who became The Beatles, from the first inspiring sounds they heard to those nascent original compositions and covers they committed to recording tape (composed of iron oxide bonded to polyethylene terephthalate—“ribbons of rust").
“If we’ve done our
job correctly, the reader will become immersed in 1950s Britain as a nation
struggling to regain its footing after a calamitous world war came to terms
with a rapidly changing zeitgeist,” says Rodriguez. “No one could’ve predicted
that a revolution in youth culture was coming into being through a confluence
of politics, near-simultaneous musical developments on either side of the
Atlantic, and the coming of age of a generation born in wartime and just now
asserting an identity apart from their parents. What made the individuals who
became The Beatles exceptional was their innate talent, but everyone of their
age at that time was being swept along with the same tide. The proof is in the
flowering of this new spirit across the array of arts during the 1960s.”
Rodriguez and Hammack transport 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 at EMI.
“It’s been exciting and personally a great honor to work
with Robert in bringing context to the factors that played a role in creating
not only The Beatles, but also the sound of The Beatles,” says Hammack. “To
follow their narrative thread from those that influenced them to the influence
they have had on others to this day has been a great way to expand upon the
work of my reference manuals, and to once again, help fans and scholars to look
at their work and experience their music in an entirely new light.”
Volume 1: July 1954 Through January 1963 invites
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 set 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, every step of the way. Never has the reader been brought
into The Beatles’ own world with such an all-encompassing telling. An essential companion for any
Beatles fan, scholar, student or musician, Ribbons
of Rust can be purchased on Amazon.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Robert Rodriguez has written extensively about The Beatles: five books so far, including Solo in the 70s and 2012’s acclaimed Revolver: How The Beatles Re-Imagined Rock ‘N’ Roll. He has contributed numerous articles to Beatlefan magazine and has been a regular interviewee on radio and TV about the group. Rodriguez is also the creator of the FAQ book series for Hal Leonard, the world’s largest print music publisher, and he maintains a daily archival page on Facebook where you can learn about the rock world the Beatles inhabited.
Musician, producer and recording engineer Jerry Hammack’s previous books, The Beatles Recording Reference Manuals, have all been Amazon #1 bestsellers in both the US and UK, and volumes 1 and 3 were nominated for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound by The Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC). He has dedicated over 40 years to the musical arts and is uniquely qualified to sort out the story of The Beatles’ recordings.
Both have been frequent guests at The Fest for Beatles Fans and are slated to speak at the upcoming Magical Mystery Camp in upstate New York this summer.
Rodriguez and Hammack are available for interviews, book signings, and speaking engagements. Review copies of the first book are available upon request.
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