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THE BEATLES ARE COMING! The Birth Of Beatlemania In America is a major new book by respected Beatles historian and author Bruce Spizer. The book presents a comprehensive and lavishly-illustrated history of the Beatles' American breakthrough - revealing for the first time the precise mechanics and the many stunning coincidences that led to the group going from being complete unknowns in America to mega-stars selling millions of records - in just six dramatic weeks.

The book is published on Friday January 16th 2004 - the exact 40th anniversary of the date in 1964 when the Beatles' first Capitol Records single "I Want To Hold Your Hand" was officially certified #1 in the US charts.

The book presents newly-discovered documents that explode many of the myths about the Beatles' US breakthrough that have been repeated and compounded for 40 years. The book features an introduction by Walter Cronkite - whose pivotal role in the initial success of the Beatles in America is revealed for the first time in the book.

While the basic chronology of the Beatles' first American visit has been frequently documented - there has never been a history that explained HOW it was that an unknown group became so successful so swiftly.

Spizer begins by explaining the history of the Beatles' UK breakthrough in 1963 and the year-long battle that manager Brian Epstein and record producer George Martin fought to try and achieve the elusive Holy Grail of American success for the Beatles.

He then reveals for the first-time ever in public - the full details of the marketing campaign devised by Capitol Records to promote the Beatles. He also uncovers the extraordinary events triggered by an enthusiastic 15-year-old schoolgirl fan living in Maryland, that caused the entire carefully-calibrated timetable to be thrown out of the window and brought forward by three weeks - much to the benefit of the Beatles.

Among the many fascinating details uncovered by Spizer:

• Why the group's eventual US label Capitol Records turned down the Beatles FOUR times before agreeing to release their records
  
  
• How the Beatles' first American releases ended up being issued by Vee-Jay - an independent Chicago-based label that specialized in gospel and R&B recordings
  
  
• How that label's failure to pay a mere $859 in royalties lost them the rights to the Beatles and the hundreds of millions of dollars their records have generated in America
  
  
• How the sudden realization of the Beatles' US potential led to there being no less than three courtroom battles being fought between four different music companies even BEFORE the Beatles arrived in America!
  
  
• What first interested Ed Sullivan in booking the Beatles on his show at a time when the group was virtually unknown in America
  
  
• How Beatles manager Brian Epstein convinced Ed Sullivan into booking the Beatles for an unprecedented three consecutive headlining appearances - and Capitol Records into spending a remarkable $40,000 (today's value - $230,000) on promotion - pivotal factors in Epstein's campaign to break the Beatles in the US
  
  
• How a decision made by CBS TV's Walter Cronkite led to a chain reaction involving a 15-year-old schoolgirl, a persistent radio deejay, a helpful airline stewardess and an adventurous record executive - all of whom were vital to the Beatles' success!

Spizer reveals how without those coinciding elements - the Beatles' first Capitol record would have been released three weeks later than it was - and it is highly doubtful that it would have reached #1 in time to generate the massive crowds that welcomed the Beatles at Kennedy Airport or the 73 million Americans who tuned in to watch them on their American TV debut. Which in turn would have considerably lessened the massive impact of that first US visit.

Spizer - a 48-year-old native of New Orleans - is a tax attorney by day and an author by night (in Beatles terms he is both a "Taxman" and a "Paperback Writer"!) and he brings to his Beatles scholarship an attorney's scrupulous attention to detail and research.

Spizer decided to discount all previous accounts of this story unless he could verify them himself - first-hand from documents. By gaining unprecedented access to the files of several record companies, court documents, personal diaries and correspondence - Spizer has reconstructed the entire historical record of the events that led from the first-ever US release of a Beatles record (exactly one year to the day before their arrival in the USA) to the end of that first two-week whirlwind in February 1964 that literally changed the world.

THE BEATLES ARE COMING! The Birth Of Beatlemania In America is a coffee-table size book extensively illustrated with over 450 color and original black & white photographs and documents - including 50 previously unpublished images.

In addition to its mass-market paperback edition ($29.95) - the book is also available as a limited-edition hardcover ($50) Both books are published by 498 Press.

The book (Spizer's fifth book about the Beatles) is destined to become one of the standard reference works about the world's most successful and influential musical artists.

Prior to this new book - Spizer has written four major reference works about the Beatles - all highly respected in the Beatles world. The books are narrative and pictorial histories of the Beatles' American record releases.

"The Beatles Records On Vee-Jay," "The Beatles' Story On Capitol Records - Part One: The Singles," "The Beatles' Story On Capitol Records - Part Two: The Albums" and "The Beatles On Apple Records" - all published by 498 Press.

In 2000, Spizer was credited by the Beatles and Apple Records as the source of visual materials used to illustrate the hits compilation album "1"