Piers Hemmingsen
Piers Hemmingsen | |
|---|---|
 Hemmingsen in 2016 | |
| Born | 1955 (age 69–70) Salisbury, England |
| Occupation | music historian |
| Subject | The Beatles |
| Notable works | The Beatles in Canada: The Origins of Beatlemania! |
Piers Hemmingsen (born 1955) is a Canadian music historian specializing in all aspects of the Beatles having to do with Canada. His 476-page book, The Beatles in Canada: The Origins of Beatlemania!, was published in 2016. He has written articles, given lectures, conducted tours, and curated museum exhibits on the subject of the Beatles in Canada.
Biography
[edit]Hemmingsen was born in 1955 in Salisbury, Wiltshire in England.[1] His early exposure to the Beatles was through his older brother's vinyl records, and seeing them perform "Please Please Me" on 19 January 1963 on the television show Thank Your Lucky Stars. Hemmingsen's family moved to Canada in August 1963.[2][3]
Hemmingsen obtained degrees from Carleton University in Ottawa and the University of Toronto. He originally worked as a computer programmer, starting in the 1970s. He coded the first Canadian computerized passport printing system in 1977.[4]
Having established himself as a Beatles expert, he conducted archival research for EMI Canada in the 1990s,[5] as well as for Universal Music Canada.[4]
The Beatles in Canada
[edit]Published in 2016, The Beatles in Canada: The Origins of Beatlemania! examines in 476 pages the years 1963 and 1964, and is the first of a two-volume series.[5] The book documents how Beatlemania took root in Canada before the United States, and has forewords by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn and former Capitol Records of Canada executive Paul White.[6] The latter provided Hemmingsen with information for the book,[5] as did Beatle relatives,[7] record pressing plant workers,[8] radio station employees and others[9][10] over the course of five years of research.[7]
While researching the book Hemmingsen learned of an 8 mm silent movie which captured the pandemonium taking place at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens on 7 September 1964, when the Beatles played two concerts there. It was filmed by former Toronto Argonauts football player Don McKenzie, who worked at the Gardens. In 2010 Hemmingsen bought the film from McKenzie's son, who included two reels of soundboard audio recordings that had been initiated by his father in 1965. They contained the Beatles' afternoon performance of 17 August 1965, as well as the opening acts and press conference.[11][12]
The second volume in the series, The Beatles in Canada: The Evolution 1964-1970, will be published later in 2025.[5]
Other Work
[edit]Hemmingsen has compiled and published a discography of the Beatles' Canadian releases,[13] and has contributed chapters to many of the Bruce Spizer books on the Beatles.[14] He has written articles for British Beatles Fan Club Magazine,[4] Goldmine magazine,[15] and Record Collector magazine.[16]
In 2016 he co-curated When the Beatles Rocked Toronto, an exhibit at the St. Lawrence Market Gallery in Toronto Ontario.[17]
In 2024 he curated From Me to You: The Beatles in Canada 1964-1966,[18] an exhibit that ran for almost a year[19] at the National Music Centre in Calgary Alberta.
Hemmingsen has lectured[20][21] on the Beatles and has conducted walking tours in Toronto.[22][23]
Books by Piers Hemmingsen on the Beatles
[edit]The Beatles Canadian Discography, 1962-1970 (1999)
The Beatles in Canada: The Origins of Beatlemania! (2016)
The Beatles in Canada: The Evolution 1964-1970 (2025)
Compilations with Canadian chapter by Piers Hemmingsen:
The Beatles and Sgt. Pepper: A Fan's Perspective (2017)
The Beatles White Album and the Launch of Apple (2018)
The Beatles Get Back to Abbey Road (2019)
The Beatles Finally Let It Be (2020)
The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine (2021)
The Beatles Rubber Soul To Revolver (2022)
The Beatles Please Please Me to With The Beatles (2023)
The Beatles A Hard Day's Night and More (2024)
References
[edit]- ^ "The Beatles in Canada: The Origins of Beatlemania!/About the author". everand.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2025. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
- ^ LeBlanc, Gilles (16 November 2023). "Beatlemania is back!". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 16 November 2023.
- ^ "Television: Thank Your Lucky Stars". beatlesbible.com. 15 January 2022.
- ^ a b c "Meet Piers Hemmingsen". beatle.net. 13 July 2022. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d Krewen, Nick (22 September 2024). "He unearthed a recording". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024.
- ^ "The Beatles in Canada". The Daily Beatle. 3 March 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2025.
- ^ a b Egan, Kelly (16 November 2015). "Every Beatles tune began in Smiths Falls". Ottawa Citizen. Postmedia. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
- ^ Roy, Stacey (17 November 2015). "New Beatles book pegs Smiths Falls as birthplace of Beatlemania in North America". InsideOttawaValley.com. Metroland Media. Archived from the original on 9 June 2025.
- ^ Volmers, Eric (11 July 2024). "Love them do: New exhibit at National Music Centre explores how Canada was ahead of the curve when it came to Beatles appreciation". Calgary Herald. Postmedia. Archived from the original on 11 July 2024.
- ^ Hemmingsen, Piers (25 February 2016). "The Beatles in Canada Author, Piers Hemmingsen chats about the band's rise to fame in 1963" (Interview). Toronto Files. Interviewed by Burstyn, Helen; Deeks, Jim. RogersTV.
- ^ Worriker, Julian (16 November 2024). "Newly unearthed audio of the Beatles". bbc.co.uk. Weekend. BBC World Service. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.
- ^ Bliss, Karen (23 August 2024). "A Beatles Historian Found a One-of-a-Kind 1965 Concert Recording". billboard.com/pro. Archived from the original on 24 August 2024.
- ^ Piers Hemmingsen. "The Beatles Canadian Discography, 1962-1970". torontopubliclbrary.ca. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
- ^ "Piers Hemmingsen, Bruce Spizer". worldcat.org. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
- ^ Hemmingsen, Piers (12 May 2006). "Discover the Yorkville Sound". Goldmine magazine. Vol. 32, no. 10 #673. New York: Krause Publications. pp. 18–19.
- ^ Hemmingsen, Piers (11 July 2016). "Ahh, Wham Bam Thank You Canada". Record Collector magazine. No. 456. London: Metropolis International. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.
- ^ Kelly, Deirdre (26 October 2016). "Love Me T.O.: In Conversation with Author Piers Hemmingsen". criticsatlarge.ca. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.
- ^ Mersereau, Bob (26 July 2024). "Beatlemania is Back: National Music Centre's Exhibition Revisits The Beatles in Canada 60 Years Later". nmc.ca. Calgary: National Music Centre. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.
- ^ Fleming, Kevin (19 March 2025). "National Music Centre's 'Beatles in Canada' exhibit is a hit with fans". ctvnews.ca. Calgary. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.
- ^ Hambleton, Todd (28 November 2018). "50 years ago Cornwall brought the Beatles' White Album to Canada". Cornwall Standard-Freeholder. Postmedia. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.
- ^ Anderson, Jason (20 August 2015). "The Beatles and Help!". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.
- ^ "Beatlemania: Toronto's Love Affair". heritagetoronto.org. 16 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017.
- ^ Krerowicz, Aaron (14 September 2017). "On a Beatles Walking Tour of Toronto". aaronkrerowicz.com/. Archived from the original on 7 June 2025.