There are so many books written about The Beatles and their influence on popular culture, but only a few are discussing the band’s films.

The latest work by longtime music journalist Steve Matteo is extensively analyzing the five films the band produced and is an essential read for anyone interested in a band or swinging sixties for that matter. What Matteo does is basically join stories, data and all kinds of information about their films into one comprehensive work that will be an interesting read for anyone who would like to dive a bit more into one of rock’s greatest bands.

How did you first get interested in music and what led you to start working on this book?

Steve Matteo: I was a child of the 60s and AM radio in New York, like WABC, was filled with the music of the British Invasion, Motown, New York groups like the Lovin’ Spoonful and Simon & Garfunkel, west-coast pop from The Mamas and the Papas and so much more. Later on FM radio emerged and albums became important, from some of the very same artists I loved in the 60s, but also Traffic, the Allman Brothers Band, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Jethro Tull and countless others. It was around this time that I started writing album reviews, even before High School, for the student newspaper. I would read Rolling Stone and listen to New York FM radio stations like WNEW-FM. I also started going to concerts. By the time I went to college I worked on the college newspaper and at the campus radio station and punk and new wave exploded. It seems though that the music of the 1960s and early 70s resonates the most for me these days. That is why my first book was on Bob Dylan, my second was on the Beatles and my latest is another book on the Beatles, on their films.

What led you to start working on books and what led you to start with Bob Dylan and continue with The Beatles?

I knew I wanted to write books for some time, after working as a music journalist and in radio in the late 1990s. There were a few ideas I was kicking around, but when I saw the Metro Books series, I thought it would be a great format to explore. The series was focused on the 1960s and they didn’t have a Bob Dylan book, so I proposed to Bob Dylan and they went for it. I was listening to a lot of his music at the time, reading about him and he was in a good place musically at the time. It was a good first book that proved to me I could tackle a book-length project. After a few other possible ideas over the years, I heard about the 33 1/3 series and it seemed like such a cool idea and something that hadn’t been done extensively. I contacted the editor of the series and he wanted to work with me, but he suggested Dylan. I said I already did Dylan and wanted to do something else. The Beatles seemed like the best subject to tackle after Dylan, and there was no Dylan or Beatles book in the series so they agreed on the Beatles. I think I surprised them when I pitched the Let It Be album, but when I explained what a great story it would be, we had a deal. The book came out in 2004. Since before I wrote the Let It Be book, I had been working in book publishing, on some other music and writing related projects, did some writing that was in music book collections and had a few false starts for ideas on music books. I always knew I would write another book on the Beatles some day. Since Apple has been reissuing these mammoth box sets in 2017, interest in the group has gone through a major resurgence. I really wanted to go back and write another book on the group and ran into an editor I’ve known for years at Book Expo in New York in 2019. He asked me what I was up to and told him I thought the time was right to do a book on the films of the Beatles. He immediately thought it was a good idea and in a few months I started working on the book. This is the most extensive book I have written. The book is nearly 350 pages, but the manuscript I submitted was closer to 500.

What in particular fascinated you when deciding to cover truly in-depth the five films during their time together: A Hard Day’s Night, Help!, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be?

The main reason to write a book that covers all five films from the Beatles now, is that there hasn’t been a book on all the films in some time. There have been some really good books on the subject and they were integral to my research. But, there hasn’t been a book that covered them all and the Get Back series from Peter Jackson. Also, since there hasn’t been a book in a long time, I was able to use all the various VHS, DVD and Blu-ray reissues of the films in my research and the extras, bonus materials, behind the scenes and interviews in those sets, not to mention having access to all the CD, vinyl and reissue packages of the soundtracks, especially the massive Let it Be soundtrack box sets.

How did you gather all the incredible information? Who else was involved with the book?

I wrote most of the early part of the book during lock-down. Fortunately, I already had about 180 books on the group to draw from, not to mention books on 60s music, culture and film. Also, I already had all of the audio and visual material I mentioned above. As time went on I added close to another 75 books, additional audio and video material, used the internet for research, interviewed many people and had many informal conversations with writers, authors, musicians, friends, colleagues, Beatle scholars and countless other people who were very helpful in many ways.

The book is filled with stories, which are some of the most fascinating ones?

There are a lot of fascinating stories in the book. I think three main areas provide something new for readers. First, there is a lot of background on the British film scene, prior to A Hard Day’s Night, that provides real context into the world of British cinema before and during the making of the film. There is also lots of British film context throughout the book. The material on the Get Back series is probably the first coverage of the series in a book. For the readers of your music site in particular, for the sections on Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine, there is a wealth of in-depth information on the psychedelic music and culture of the 60s, particularly in London and San Francisco. There’s also a lot of context on underground, avant-garde and experimental film of the time.

Klemen Breznikar

Act Naturally: The Beatles on Film by Steve Matteo (Backbeat/Globe Pequot/Rowman and Littlefield)