British Library acquires archives from Beatles biographer

completemusicupdate.com:

The British Library has acquired an archive of “notebooks, ephemera and photographs” that were pulled together by writer and journalist Hunter Davies when he wrote the only official biography of The Beatles all the way back in 1968.

I don’t know about you, I’m most excited by the ephemera. Who wouldn’t be?Says the Library: “While writing the book, Davies spent eighteen months with the band and had unprecedented access to John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, as well as to those within the orbit of one of the most influential music groups in history.

The archive offers previously unseen insights into Davies’ relationship with The Beatles; it also offers a glimpse into the care, collaboration and consideration that goes into writing a book like ‘The Beatles: The Authorised Biography”.Davies himself says of the collection: “The further we get from The Beatles, the bigger they become.

I never thought all these years later my scruffy notebooks would be of such interest – and I’m pleased that they’ll be made available to a wider audience of Beatles fans and researchers through the British Library”.And the Library’s Curator Of Contemporary Literary Archives, Greg Buzwell, adds: “We are delighted to have acquired Hunter Davies’ archive on his biography.