"The Beatles Wearing Makeup (that They Put On Themselves)" 1963

When my uncle told Lennon that I was born near Frankfurt, the son of a Jewish-American father and a German-Protestant mother, John quipped that I was lucky to belong to both the Chosen People and the Master Race. He then began peppering me with German phrases he remembered from his early days in the red-light district of Hamburg with the Beatles, for instance: “Um zweiundzwanzig Uhr müssen alle Jugendliche den Saal verlassen” – At 10:00 p.m. all minors must leave the premises – and “Ficken, lecken, blasen!” – fuck, suck, blow.

John Lennon: Living on Borrowed Time, Frederic Seaman (1991)

Stella shocked us across the generation gap when she pointed to our blue Beatles' 10th Anniversary t-shirt, "That's Ringo!" she exclaimed, pointing both to the likeness of Mr Starkey and the man joking with her father a few feet away. "And that's daddy, but who's that?" she asked, pointing to the picture of John Lennon

Paul Gambaccini, 1975

INTERVIEWER: It’s hard, given his level of fame, to imagine [George] in such fatherly domesticity.

OLIVIA: You mean doing the school run? He did. He used to be there handing out oranges at half-time. Being a dad was something he loved. He just loved that time. - The Times (2014)

“George never held anything back, even when Dhani was really young, so they were very close, and Dhani had a clear understanding. Some of the things George told him, it was almost like he knew he might not be around later on, so he had to tell him then. So yes, it’s difficult to make your own way, but that’s what it was, and Dhani loved that guy, they were very close.” - Olivia Harrison, The Huffington Post (2014)

“He pulled out a photo of his baby son Dhani, and showed the group. Baby Dhani was dressed in a miniature Gumby suit, thanks to his Uncle Eric [Idle].” - Howard Johnson

“Olivia spends hours each day playing with Dhani, and George talks to him like an adult, and patiently answers his never-ending stream of questions.” - Liane Maxfield, The Australian Women’s Weekly (1982)

“What I saw in the father was great devotion, love, and gentleness. His whole thing was that little boy.” - Eric Estrada, People (1986)

“I’m sure he’d watched every skate film with me anyway because there’s no way he couldn’t have seen from start to finish every single Bones Brigade film. I must have sat him down and watched them all.” - Dhani Harrison

“I can’t even begin to describe how I miss him. He always supported me in everything I did. He was a very wise man and I realised at an early age I could learn a lot from him. He always gave me the right answer. But above all he was a very easy-going guy and all he wanted was to be my best friend. I’m an only child and so he shared everything with me. Of course he was very young to die and I was very young to lose a father. But there was nothing left unsaid between us.” - Dhani Harrison, The Times (2002)

The Beatles by Klaus Voormann

Best RPF Ship - Round 5 Match 2

THE BEATLES at a hotel in Weston Super Mare, Somerset, by Bruce Leak, an 11 year old boy who was on a family holiday with his parents and sister. 1963.

Beatles Resources Masterpost

I've never seen anyone collect different Beatles resources all in one place, so I thought it would be nice to create a masterpost for newer or less research savvy Beatles fans looking for where to find them and learn more

Included below are Beatles movies, autobiographies, biographies, magazines, miscellaneous files, archive sites, and much more

This is by no means a comprehensive list of Beatles resources, as there is an often overwhelming amount of sources relating to and informative about the Beatles; this is simply a post to gather more important, prominent, and larger Beatle related texts and media together, as I would love for the online Beatles fan community to be more organized in its research and archive efforts

This is an extremely long post, enjoy!

*PLEASE READ DISCLAIMERS*

This post does not include links to Beatles music videos or where to listen to their music; however, I highly recommend listening to the updated remasters of The Beatles' albums done by Giles Martin, George Martin's son (the remasters done AFTER 2009) instead of the 2009 remasters when possible

There is a plethora of misinformation online about The Beatles so PLEASE do your own research, using reliable sources

Some sources have disclaimers attached, in case I believe they may to any degree be misleading or require additional context

All sources have been listed within sections chronologically, not in order of importance

If at any point any of the hyperlinks are broken or are not working, let me know and I’ll try my best to fix or update them

Some of the literary sources here are no longer being published, which is why I’m happy to supply the links here to read them online. However, if they are still in print and you’re able, please go borrow them from your local public library! Some of the movies and documentaries linked below can also be found on streaming or bought online; they are linked below for those unable to easily access them or for whatever other reason

There are some other important sources I could not find reuploads or scans of, but are still listed below in case someone is looking for more important sources

If I come across links to said sources I will edit this post and add them as hyperlinks. Additionally, if someone finds a working, safe link for anything listed without a link or for something they believe should be listed, they can message me and I'd be happy to add it

Movies Starring The Beatles as a Group

A Hard Day's Night (1964) dir. Richard Lester

Help! (1965) dir. Richard Lester

Magical Mystery Tour (1967) dir. The Beatles, Bernard Knowles

Yellow Submarine (1968) dir. George Dunning (The Beatles themselves do not voice their cartoon selves in this film)

Fictional/Partially Fictional Movies made by and/or Starring Beatles (A short selection of the films most often mentioned by Beatles fans)

How I Won the War (1967) dir. Richard Lester

Two Virgins (1968) dir. John Lennon, Yoko Ono

Candy (1968) dir. Christian Marquand

The Magic Christian (1969) dir. Joseph McGrath

Imagine (1972) dir. John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Steve Gebhardt (Some of the aspects in this film are fictional, and some are akin to a documentary)

Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984) dir. Peter Webb

Documentaries/Docuseries

Bed Peace (1969) dir. John Lennon, Yoko Ono (Yoko Ono has since said in 2020 she and John were naïve to think that doing the Bed-Ins would change the world)

Let It Be (1970 Original) dir. Michael Lindsay-Hogg

Let It Be (2024 Remaster) dir. Michael Lindsay-Hogg

The Concert for Bangladesh (1972) dir. Saul Swimmer

Imagine: John Lennon (1988) dir. Andrew Solt

The Beatles Anthology (1995) dir. Geoff Wonfor, Kevin Godley, Bob Smeaton (Focuses mainly on pre-1966 Beatles history and does not cover post-breakup events)

ep. 1 ep.2 George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011) dir. Martin Scorsese

The True History of the Traveling Wilburys (2007) dir. Willy Smax

ep.1 ep.2 ep.3 Get Back (2021) dir. Peter Jackson

Yoko's Films (including films that list John Lennon as a co-director)

Rape (1969) dir. Yoko Ono, John Lennon

Fly (1970) dir. Yoko Ono, John Lennon

Up Your Legs Forever (1971) dir. Yoko Ono, John Lennon

Movies Made about The Beatles

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978) dir. Eric Idle, Gary Weis (Beatles parody)

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) dir. Robert Zemeckis

The Hours and Times (1991) dir. Christopher Munch (This film is speculative)

Two of Us (2000) dir. Michael Lindsay-Hogg (This film is speculative)

The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2003) dir. Eric Idle (Beatles parody)

Books Written by The Beatles

In His Own Write (1964) by John Lennon

A Spainard in the Works (1965) by John Lennon

I Me Mine (1980) by George Harrison

Skywriting by Word of Mouth (posthumous, 1986) by John Lennon (Partially autobiographical and partially fictional)

The Beatles Anthology (2000) by The Beatles (Book version of the docuseries)

Postcards from the Boys (2004) by Ringo Starr

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present (2021) by Paul McCartney

Books Written about The Beatles

A Cellarful of Noise (1964) by Brian Epstein

Yellow Submarine Comic (1968) by Paul S. Newman

The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics (1969) ed. Alan Aldridge

The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics 2 (1971) ed. Alan Aldridge

A Twist of Lennon (1978) by Cynthia Lennon

Loving John (1983) by May Pang

Rock 'N' Roll Times: The Style and Spirit of the Early Beatles and Their First Fans (1983) by Jürgen Vollmer

John (2005) by Cynthia Lennon

Wonderful Today (2007) by Pattie Boyd with Penny Junor

Miss O'Dell: my hard days and long nights with the Beatles, the Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the women they loved (2009) by Chris O'Dell

George Harrison: Living in the Material World (2011) by Olivia Harrison

George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door (2013) by Graeme Thomson

NOTE: Many beginner Beatles fans tend to read books written by authors Mark Lewisohn and Philip Norman as introductions to the Beatles; however, both of these authors can be incredibly biased for and against certain figures in Beatle history and require often hefty amounts of context to properly analyze them in an accurate manner, Norman in particular.

Magazines

The Beatles Book (Only Original 77 Issues) (1963-1969)

Paul McCartney Playgirl (1982)

Paul McCartney Playgirl (1985)

Archive and Timeline Sites

Meet The Beatles For Real (A site with mostly paparazzi, fan, and personal photos of the Beatles and their associates, along with some transcribed interviews, fan stories, and much more)

Beatles Bible (Primarily useful for basic information surrounding The Beatles' music together and solo can be found here, such as album/single release dates, in addition to pictures, a fan forum, and other basic info; not cumulative)

DM Beatles (Basic outlined timelines for 1963-1970 and album/single releases; not cumulative)

The Beatles On Film (A collection of almost every publicly available filmed video of The Beatles, together and solo, logged for reference purposes)

Beatles Interviews Database (Not cumulative)

Harrison Archive (Actively updating archive of interviews, fan encounters, quotes, and stories from or surrounding George Harrison; fun fact: Olivia Harrison, George's widow, follows the Instagram version of this archive)

The Paul McCartney Project (Archive of Paul McCartney interviews, dates for concerts, and more)

Misc. Documents/Videos

Around the Beatles (1964) dir. Rita Gillespie

The Beatles in Rishikesh Home Videos (1968)

The Beatles in Rishikesh Archival Footage and Home Videos (1968)

The John Lennon and Yoko Ono Playboy Interviews Transcript (1980)

The John Lennon and Yoko Ono Playboy Interviews Audio (1980)

John Lennon FBI Files

The Beatles FBI File

The Beatles Accepting Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction (1988)

The Beatles/Threetles Reunion at Friar Park (1994)

The Beatles/Threetles Studio Footage (1995)

Paul and George Anthology 3 Studio Interviews for VH1 (1997)

Concert for George (2002)

Animatics and Test Footage for Scrapped Motion Capture Yellow Submarine Remake (2009)

Audio Files

Beatles Christmas Records 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969

The Beatles Artifacts (Different takes/demos of songs along with studio chatter; the link supplied simply lines out what is on all of these Artifacts, as many of them are currently unavailable on Internet Archive)

John Lennon Last Interview (1980)

edited some of William's facial expressions for. reasons.

A style selection, 1956-1969.

A continuation of sorts from this post.

“[George’s] idea, which he ordered [in Liverpool in the 1950s], was a four-button jacket with cloth-covered buttons. Two breast pockets which were slitted (jetted) and in the shape of a bird in flight, the two side pockets corresponded. The cuffs had to be folded back with a cloth-covered button. His trousers had no pleats in the front, not normal in those days, and he was by far the very first person to have two slits at the bottom side seam of the trouser and he wanted them folded back with cloth covered buttons to match the cuffs on his jacket. The workshop queried the order when they received thinking we had gone bonkers. George got his suit and was pleased with the outcome. Later lots of guys were walking about town with cut back cuffs and side seams on their trousers, but George was the first.” - Rollo Torpey, The Beatles and Me (2015)

“At Iris’s 14th birthday party, I remember George turned up in a brand-new, Italian-style stuff with covered buttons. He looked very grown-up.” - Violet Caldwell (mother of Iris, and Alan, a.k.a. Rory Storm), The Beatles Monthly September 1965

“[George’s mother Louise] took an unusually benign view of George’s luminous pink shirts, yellow waistcoat, and drainpipe trousers.” - Pete Shotton, The Beatles, Lennon, And Me (1984)

“Going in for flash clothes, or at least trying to be a bit different, as I hadn’t any money, was part of the rebelling. I never cared for authority. They can’t teach you experience; you’ve got to go through it, by trial and error.” - George Harrison, The Beatles: The Authorized Biography (1968)

“At the Institute, George was known from the beginning as a way-out dresser. Michael McCartney, Paul’s brother, was a year below him. He remembers George always having long hair — years before anybody else did. […] ‘George used to go to school with his school cap sitting high on top of his hair,‘ says Mrs. Harrison. ‘And very tight trousers. Unknown to me, he’d run them up on my machine to make them even tighter. I bought him a brand-new pair once and the first thing he did was tighten them. When his dad found out, he told him to unpick them at once. “I can’t, Dad,” he said. “I’ve cut the pieces off.”’” - The Beatles: The Authorized Biography (1968)

“I’d started to develop my own version of the school uniform. I had some cast-offs from my brother. One was a dog-toothed check-patterned sports coat, which I’d dyed black to use as my school blazer. The color hadn’t quite taken, so it still had a slight check design to it. I had a shirt I’d bought in Lime Street, that I thought was so cool. It was white with pleats down the front. and it had embroidery along the corners of the pleats. I had a waistcoat that John had given me, which he’d got from his ‘uncle’ Dykins (his mother’s boyfriend), Mr. Twitchy Dykins. It was like an evening-suit waistcoat — black, double-breasted, with lapels. The trousers John also gave me, soon after we first met — powder-blue drainpipes with turn-ups. I dyed them black as well. And I had black suede shoes from my brother. […] That outfit of mine was very risky, and it felt like all day, every day, for the last couple of years I was going to get busted. In those days we used Vaseline on our hair to get the rock n’ roll greased-back hairstyle. Also, you were supposed to wear a cap and a tie, and a badge on your blazer. I didn’t have my badge stitched on, I had it loose. It was held in place by a pen clipped over it in my top pocket, so I could remove it easily, and the tie.” - George Harrison, The Beatles Anthology (2000)

“He was always a pretty snappy dresser, and he did always like that waistcoat look. And he used to wear a V-neck Fair Isle jumper. Sometimes he’d be a little too outrageous, like purple trousers with bright green, but it was fine. Everything seemed to be fine then.” - Pattie Boyd, interview for the British Beatles Fan Club

“The boys are wearing all sorts of fantastic clothes for their film and introduce a very new, unusual gimmick. If they’re wearing corduroy, for example, then they have corduroy boots to match. If they’re seen in velveteen suits, then they’re coupled with velveteen boots. George first thought of the idea two years ago, but when he put the idea to a local bootmaker, he told him it couldn’t be done. Well, that’s one cobbler that’s been proved wrong.” - The Beatles Monthly, June 1965 (x)