Here’s a good collector’s piece of history when it comes to the “Fab Four”. Not an official video by Apple Corp. Ltd, but nonetheless, an acknowledged resource of the band and it’s history. The BEATLES: Celebration, is the video version of the book by acclaimed popular music authority Geoffrey Guiliano. Guiliano is often considered one of the most reliable sources when it comes to the Beatles. He has written several books on the band itself and its members individually. Including Lennon In America; Blackbird: The Life and Times Of Paul McCartney; The Lost Lennon Interviews; The Illustrated George Harrison and Things We Said Today: Conversations With The Beatles and other stars and celebrities. Such as Katherine Hepburn, Ronald Reagan and Michael Jordan.

Originally released on VHS in 1996, the DVD itself contains some popular footage of the band at various times in their career. It mostly contains photos of the band in the early days and a lot of “at home” photos of the members themselves after their break-up in 1970. The footage of Lennon is pretty good. Including a brief interview of John and Yoko in Denmark during their trip to visit Kiyoko. It also contains the famous footage of Paul getting busted in Japan over possession of marijuana in ’79 and the confirmation of John’s death in 1980. The content of this video has been collected from exclusive sources from the last two decades. It also includes some other good footage of well known insiders and those close to them. Including first manager Allan Williams, former Beatle Pete Best, Brian Epstein after the Memphis riot, Eric Clapton with George in 1991, The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Linda McCartney, Yoko Ono and Lennon’s personal assistant Fredric Seaman.

Guiliano’s painstaking regard to detail is exemplary. I’ve become a great fan of his work as a rock journalist and documentor. He researches all the facts before putting it to paper. Again it’s not an official release from the Beatles or Apple Corp., but it does give the newcomer or the die hard fan the opportunity to view a piece of history and add it to their collection. Though it doesn’t cover the bulk of material that Anthology does, it sits nicely in your DVD collection of Beatles material or just for the pop music fan. The DVD version was released in 1999 on LaserLight DVD and also includes a rare newsreel documenting the Beatles’ arrival in London after their smash tour of America in 1964 as a bonus material. Includes languages and subtitles in Spanish and Chinese.

Sonny Thomas 8.22.03