The Compleat Beatles

Video cassette

The 2 hour long "The Compleat Beatles" was the first commercially released home video telling the story of the Beatles. It was released on VHS and Beta video cassettes in 1982, as well as laserdisc in 1994 to accompany a two volume songbook of the same name.

The Beta video cassette cover

The documentary was never released officially on a DVD, but underground DVDs dubbed from a video cassette or a laser disc are available.

The two music publishing books were housed in a slipcase

The video cassette/laser disc was available for purchase as a separate release, and was not included with the books.

The laserdisc edition - front

The laserdisc edition - back

The Beatles clips used in the film have since been published in other documentaries like The Beatles' own "Anthology", in a superior quality. But for many, "The Compleat Beatles" brings back fond memories and it is a sought after relic from the early video age.

chapter 1 - Prologue
chapter 2 - Main Title - "RocK And Roll Music"
chapter 3 - "I Should Have known Better"
chapter 4 - Rock'n Roll roots;skiffle - "Jack O'Diamonds"
chapter 5 - John Lennon
chapter 6 - Paul McCartney;the first years together
chapter 7 - "Venus" - Liverpool Rock
chapter 8 - George Harrison;Stue Stucliffe
chapter 9 - Name changes
chapter 10 - The first gigs;Hamburg
chapter 11 - Bigger gigs;The Cavern - "Hippy,Hippy Shake"
chapter 12 - "My Bonnie" - Stu abdicates
chapter 13 - Brian Epstein
chapter 14 - George Martin;exit Pete Best
chapter 15 - Ringo Starr
chapter 16 - "Please Please Me" - Recording the first album
chapter 17 - "She Loves You" - The fans
chapter 18 - The Royal Command Performance - "Twist And Shout"
chapter 19 - The second album
chapter 20 - The Beatles land in America
chapter 21 - The Ed Sullivan Show - "All My Loving"
chapter 22 - The concert debut - "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
chapter 23 - "From Me To You"
chapter 24 - "A Hard Day's Night"
chapter 25 - The first world tour - "I Saw Her Standing There"
chapter 26 - The fans; A sprout of a new generation
chapter 27 - "I'm Loser" - A healthy competition
chapter 28 - "Things We Said Today" - "Ticket To Ride"
chapter 29 - "Help!"
chapter 30 - "Yesterday"
chapter 31 - "Norwegian Wood" - "Nowhere Man" - Rubber Soul
chapter 32 - "If A Needed Someone" - Beatlemania goes sour
chapter 33 - "Eleanor Rigby" - John experiments with drugs
chapter 34 - A new album - "Strawberry Fields Forever"
chapter 35 - Piccolo trumpet - "Penny Lane"
chapter 36 - Splicing together - "Being For The Benefit Mr.Kite"
chapter 37 - "Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
chapter 38 - "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" - Industry reaction
chapter 39 - "All You Need Is Love"
chapter 40 - The Maharishi ;Brian dies
chapter 41 - "Magical Mystery Tour"
chapter 42 - "Hello Goodbye" - Adios Maharishi
chapter 43 - "Yellow Submarine"
chapter 44 - "Hey Jude"
chapter 45 - "Mother Nature's Son" - "Glass Onion"
chapter 46 - Yoko Ono - "Revolution 9"
chapter 47 - The White album
chapter 48 - Mking Let It Be ; Billy Preston - "Get Back"
chapter 49 - "I've Got A Feeling" - Internal strife
chapter 50 - The Abbey Road album
chapter 51 - The Pull Of Domestic Life ; The decline of Apple
chapter 52 - The Beatles...were no more
chapter 53 - "Let It Be" - Is released - Let It Be
chapter 54 - Epilogue / End Credits - "Blackbird"