The Beatles: A band reviewed

Fifty years ago the Beatles released their first single, Love Me Do. It eventually reached No 17 in the UK charts, but this modest debut was the trigger for a musical revolution.

I've just edited a new ebook, The Beatles: A Band Reviewed, that tells the story of the 'revolution' through news items, reviews and interviews that appeared in the Guardian and The Observer. From the heyday of Beatlemania and the groundbreaking albums to the mixed successes of the solo years, it covers all the key events. It also includes not so well-known stories, such as that of a Guardian reporter who received hundreds of phone calls, night and day, from people asking if they could speak to 'Sgt J Pepper'.

Read about the very first Beatles related feature to appear in the Guardian on the paper's music blog, along some fascinating Pathé news footage.