A few days ago I received a copy of “The Beatles! A One Night Stand in the Heartland” and was immediately impressed by the books production values. Flicking through it I was amazed to see page after page of Beatles related photographs that I had never seen before (not something that happens often these days).

It didn’t take long before I made time to sit down and truly absorb what a fascinating book this is. Sure we have all seen loads of Beatles photography books before, most mundane, a few exceptional. “A One Night Stand” belongs firmly in the second category.

As a 17 year old apprentice photographer Bill Carlson was in the right place at the right time and ended up covering The Beatles arrival, press conference and performance of 21^st August 1965 in Minneapolis. His photographs lay forgotten until reassembled for this book. The combination of Carlson’s images alongside contemporary press reports from local papers, and the reminiscences of those who were there, gives an intimate sense of “being there” for the reader. The major Beatles gigs from there US tours have been well covered, but by focusing on this one single day in the heartland, Carlson gives you a sense of how the whirlwind arrival of the Fab Four impacted the city and the lasting effect of their all too brief presence.

This is one of the best new Beatles books to come along in recent years and deserves a place on the bookcase of any serious Beatles fan.

              

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 4th, 2007 at 2:22 am and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.