Who are you?
I’m Joe, a second-generation Beatles fan originally from England, currently living in Cardiff, south Wales. I’ve been obsessed with The Beatles since the early 1990s (I was too young to catch them first time around), and this site is an expression of my love for them.
I’ve also written a book, called Riding So High – The Beatles and Drugs, which is well worth reading. It’s available as a paperback (364 pages) and ebook.
Why are there no detailed citations on this site?
Mainly because there are too many sources to list them all accurately. The Beatles Bible contains information carefully sourced from reliable books, articles, radio and television documentaries, posters, flyers and other Beatles-related publications, in addition to original research. The majority of quotations are accredited.
When I originally set the site up I wasn’t paying too close attention to where each and every fact came from (though I was careful to only use dependable sources). I was writing quickly and dipping in and out of books, trawling old magazines and newspaper cuttings, and looking here, there and everywhere on the web. It would now be too onerous to go back and re-research everything all over again to collate the original sources.
I could add citations from here and now, but it would greatly slow me down. To list a source for every fact I publish would mean I would be unable to write as many features, and that’s not something I wish to happen.
Most Beatles books also don’t contain citations (although some do), and it is up to the reader to judge whether that publication is reliable. I would ask that the same process be applied here. For what it’s worth, I’m not interested in posting incorrect details, and if something is merely conjecture or rumour I will point it out on the page. I also regularly correct articles when readers point out errors and omissions, so if you spot something please leave a comment on the relevant page.
As a final point, this isn’t an academic work. I hold Wikipedia responsible for the fashion for citations on the web, and the belief that publications without them are in some way less reliable. In an ideal world everything here would be annotated, but it simply isn’t possible.
Can you help me with some Beatles research?
Maybe, if you’re serious. I’ve given plenty of time in the past to people working on Beatles-related projects.
However, there’s nothing more dispiriting than spending time researching and penning a reply to a help request then hearing absolutely nothing back, so if I do help you please at least have the grace to acknowledge it. All I ask for is a note of thanks.
This site is riddled with spelling mistakes!
I’m fairly confident that it’s not, but there are well over a million words on this site across thousands of articles, so it’s likely that there are some typos here and there. Nobody’s perfect; this is a one-man operation with no editor or proof reader (apart from the lovely readers who offer feedback).
If you spot a typo (or factual error, come to that) please leave a comment below the article in question. If comments are closed on that particular page, please use the contact form linked to from the foot of every page to let me know about the error.
However, please be aware that this site is based in the UK, written by an Englishman. There are many differences between American and British English, so please don’t mistake the British variants for spelling mistakes. Favourite, rumour, centre, colour, catalogue, programme and recognise are all perfectly valid spellings.
I’ve got some rare Beatles memorabilia/records. What are they worth?
I haven’t a clue. If you’re serious about selling them, take them to a dealer or, better still, put them on eBay. As long as you include a decent description and photos you should get the market value.
If they’re particularly significant items you could consider getting a valuation from a major auction house such as Christie’s or Sotheby’s. They regularly hold rock and pop sales and attract serious collectors.
I own some rare photos/footage of The Beatles and I want some more information. Can you help?
Generally, everything I know gets poured into this website. If it’s not here it’s likely that I don’t know it, or haven’t yet managed to write about it. If you want to sell the goods, see above.
I want to licence some photos/footage. Can you help?
No, sorry. it’s not my field of expertise. You probably need to talk to an entertainment lawyer or someone who knows about licensing.
I saw an advert for X product on the Beatles Bible. Why are you endorsing it?
I’m not. Companies or individuals pay Google (by bidding for keywords) to have their adverts hosted on third-party websites such as this. Site owners, meanwhile, can add a bit of code to their pages to serve up a Google ad depending on the page’s content, a person’s browsing habits, where they live and various other factors (Google algorithms are complex things).
I get a small amount of money each time someone clicks on an advert, for which I’m very grateful. However, it would be impossible for me to vet or monitor everything that gets served up to users around the world.
Can you promote my product?
No. That’s not why I set this website up. It’s not a promotions vehicle. If you want advertising, buy some Google Adwords.
Very occasionally I will retweet messages about interesting Beatles-related things that people send me, but if you’re just trying to drum up sales it’s more likely that you’ll be ignored.
YouTube links to cover versions are unlikely to be shared – there are too many of them, and I don’t often have time to watch covers anyway. Sorry.
Can we exchange links?
Probably not, unless you run an official Beatles-related site. I don’t have a generic links page, but do link to official sources in the site’s footer.
I can make you top of Google ranking! We use white hat SEO techniques to get you the best position in SERPs!
No thanks!