4.0 out of 5 based on 2 reviews. – Customer review on 08/10/2009

Sometime down the road, there will be a new edition of this book of "scores".
Not soon though, as there are, no doubt, quite a few copies of this edition left.
No, it'll be not long after the last musician, eager to either finally break the code of "that song", which has been gnawing away at his or her curiosity, or the new convert, tired of the derivations, who has successfully found the source and purchased the last copy of this edition.
Then will come the announcement: "Released this week, the NEW, UPGRADED..."

Why? Because there is at least one mistake in this edition, and it occurs in "Blackbird", the very first song I checked. Previously, there have been a number of fingering methods portrayed as a true reflection of what McCartney did in '67, when he wrote and recorded this song.
I'm talking specifically about bar 5, and all subsequent bars which contain the C - A7/C# - D - B7/D# changes which underlay "take these broken wings...".
I'm surprised that the transcriber wouldn't have either checked with the source, or even checked a couple of YouTube videos which clearly show McCartney playing what are both simpler, and more manageable versions of the fingering of these notes.
This is what McCartney plays: 3rd fret on 5th string (1st finger) with 5th fret on 2nd string (4th finger), 4th on 5th (4th finger) with 3rd on 1st (1st finger),5th on 5th (1st) with 7th on 2nd (4th), 6th on 5th (4th) with 5th on 1st (1st), 7th on 5th with 8th on 2nd.
These are natural and sensible changes, in contrast with what the guitar TAB transcriber has written, and no editor picked up on.
Pedantic? Well, hundreds of thousands of guitarists will now use the score version, believing that's what McCartney wrote. What's scored is more convoluted and doesn't reflect the fingering used by the author clearly shown in a YouTube video of him doing a sound check during a tour of Russia from some years ago.
So, song one... mistake. Great introduction. I'd imagine you'd be hard pressed to find too many others, but I guarantee many fingers will flip straight to page 359 to see what the transcribers made of the opening chord to "A Hard Day's Night", and... it's not a bad take on the chord, however it's not complete, as it doesn't contain the opening chord played by George Martin on the piano.
Am I asking too much? Well, the book says "Full transcriptions from the original recordings". "FULL TRANSCRIPTIONS" of some of the most popular songs musicians and music students are determined to play correctly.
So, don't be surprised if the publishers, sometime around 2015 or so, after collating all the necessary mistakes from reviews (maybe even such as this one), have pointed out, have the new edition of these scores available..."THE ABSOLUTE FINAL, WE REALLY GOT IT RIGHT THIS TIME EDITION!"
Nevertheless, this is a welcome addition to any musician, music teacher or student's library of music. Some people have complained about the size of the staves/notes etc, but they're not that bad, certainly adequate enough.
And, the packaging is excellent. A glossy hard-cardboard outer cover that the scores book, which also sports a strong hard cover, resides within. Given the thickness of the book, it's been well manufactured, with a spine that allows it stay open at most internal pages without having the covers flip closed.
I'm giving it 4 out of 5, for the reasons already stated.
Finally, Fishpond. They had the best price I found online, and delivery was free and fast.
You can't beat that, and if you're at all interested in taking Beatles songs apart, there isn't a better set of scores available....yet.

5.0 out of 5 based on 2 reviews. – Customer review on 03/06/2009

This I bought to replace a Beatles fake book I bought 15 years ago. The old book I had written in second guitar parts vocal harmonies and many other bits and pieces as it just had a melody line, vocals and guitar chords. This book has it all and heaps more.
This is value for money I fully expect to hand this down to my children when I can no longer play. If you are a fan or just need a new challenge, this is the book.
I am now sorry that I did not buy this a year ago when I first saw it.
Greatest Beatles book ever!!