Richie Unterberger painstakingly compiled and documented the Beatles unreleased songs that have been in existence from 1957 to 1970. THE UNRELEASED BEATLES, MUSIC AND FILM may appeal to serious Beatle fans who enjoy reading about the most precise detail of the band's recordings in the studio, radio, concert stage as well as their television and film appearances and innovative promotional clips. The book reads and similarly weighs like an encyclopedia or dictionary of the band's unreleased material, but within these pages, die hard Beatles enthusiasts will sink their eyes into insightful information about the band, numerous lists of songs they performed, and see how the band developed musically.
As one reads every synopsis of each recording and performance, the band worked on a tight schedule. Apart from performing night after night in clubs and concert halls, the band performed on BBC radio and TV shows month after month as well as record their studio albums and make movies within the years 1962-1966; no wonder the band left the stage in 1966 and took refuge in the studio as well as try to live normal lives.
Unterberger went through thousands of hours listening and sifting through the Beatles' archives differentiating one track after the other of outtakes, alternate takes, and private and rehearsal tapes. But the most interesting aspect of the book is the tidbits about particular songs that Unterberger discusses that were as good to be released, but appeared incomplete, "That Means a Lot" and "Step Inside Love." The concluding chapter cover the band and artists who recorded and released "The Songs the Beatles Gave Away" and a list of songs that were considered throw aways,"For No One: Beatles Compositions That Were Never Recorded."
The UNRELEASED BEATLES is a humongous and tedious read but well worth the effort. The benefit of owning Unterberger's book is that most of the information about the unreleased recordings by The Beatles are in one place. And this book is an excellent accompaniment to The Beatles Anthology as well as Mark Lewisohn's THE COMPLETE BEATLES RECORDING SESSIONS: THE OFFICIAL STORY OF THE ABBEY ROAD YEARS 1962-1970.