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| in the good and the bad books that i have read... |
Over the past several years I have read mountainous piles and piles of books about the Beatles. Some of these books I enjoyed more thoroughly than others, and some of them I can hardly remember reading! I've created a "Book Reviews" page so that if you're looking for a good book to read about the Beatles you can get some good advice! This is by no means a complete list of books, and if you'd like to add a book review please email me! If you can't find the book that you're looking for, Amazon always has reviews from other customers that have read or bought the product that can give you advice. All right, time for the good (and the bad!) books that I have read....
This is, without a single doubt in my mind, the very best book ever published about the Beatles. It was written by all three remaining Beatles in the 1990's, with a little help from George Martin (their record producer), Neil Aspinall (Road Manager), and Derek Taylor (Press Officer). There are also a few excerpts from Stuart Sutcliffe, Brian Epstein, and Mal Evans. And, of course, John Lennon has his story in there, too. John Lennon is by no means left out of this project. His quotes are taken from the lenghty interviews he gave throughout the course his life and has as much to say as any of the living Beatles.
As if that isn't enough to brag about, there's more. This gorgeous book is lavished with over three hundred beautiful (and in some cases, rare) photographs of the Fab Four. The book begins with each Beatle telling their tale up to around 1960, mostly. All of the remaining Beatles (and I believe Yoko Ono) provided rare family photographs and there are numerous amounts of handwritten lyrics and documents throughout the book. The Beatles freely tell their story with hilarious and touching ancetodes, which are very entertaining to read. They talk about everything--and I mean everything! It truly is a touching book, especially near the end where they speak of their break up. I love the sensitive and beautiful quotes they all say as an end to a book. I can feel their love and friendship for one another as I read the pages and look at the photographs. This is the only book you really should need on the Beatles--honestly! All the myths are demolished, and the rightful truth declared. This is the closet the Beatles will ever come to an autobiography--especially now, since George Harrison has passed away. The Beatles Anthology is the ultimate Beatles book and every Beatles fan should have a copy (they come in paperback and hardback now!) or anyone who is merely interested in music. Everything you've ever wanted to know about the Beatles, all in one book.
I do have one "bad" comment, though, even though it is minor. There is a great deal of cursing and swearing (which may offend some), but what I found very groteque was a particular picture. An explicit naked picture of John and Yoko (the album cover for Two Virgins) is in this book, and I, personally, found it disgusting. However, I easily solved this problem by simply covering up the page so I don't have to look at it. That is the only fault I can find with this book. Otherwise, it is the most authorative and definitive book about the greatest Rock and Roll band of all time. The history and legacy of the Beatles is preserved the way it should be in this radiant piece of literature.
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Wow! What a book! This book was written by Hunter Davies around 1968, and released before the whole Yoko Ono/Apple disaster, which makes this a unique account of the Beatles' career. Davies interviewed all four Beatles, their friends, their family, and numerous others. It contains several stories that make this book very personal, and it's almost like you feel as if John Lennon's telling you about the story himself. It really brought the Beatles story to life for me.
The book is also very accurate, and gives a good account of the Beatles career and history. The only problem is that the story ends at the end of 1967 or perhaps 1968 (I'm not too sure). However, I find that this is what makes the book truly unique. It's an interesting look at how the Beatles viewed their careers before they started to break up and before Yoko Ono and the Apple mess appeared on the scene. I find the book exciting because there really isn't a definitive end--you almost hope for a sequel once it's over because you don't know what's going to happen to these four talented young men. For example, Paul is still dating Jane Asher, and they are still planning to marry--it's interesting to hear Paul's views and such before he meets Linda. At least it is to me, but then again maybe it's just me and I'm being silly.
There are some great quotes and stories in this book, and if it weren't for The Beatles Anthology I'd say this is the best book about the Beatles around. Even though it does not cover their whole career, I couldn't emphasize how wonderful the book is and couldn't recommend it highly enough.
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I know I've said it before, but really everything you need to know about the early history of the early years is in THIS book! I know, I know it doesn't have as many darling anectodes as The Beatles Anthology or The Beatles, but it does give so many precise details! Besides that, it has many rare photographs, pictures of the old records, programs, and much, much more from the author's personal collection!
How They Became the Beatles is definitely a definitive book about the Beatles' early years. There are exact dates, first-hand accounts, and Pete Best actually has a lot of say in this book. The cover also boasts "wiwth 100 Never-before-published photographs" which is true and a delight to the eye! For me, the early years of the Beatles were no longer mysterious and spooky, but fascinating and alive! This is the book that obligated me to start listening to those early recordings on The Beatles Anthology One and forced me to buy bootlegs of the Hamburg period! The story was so fascinating, and I appreciated it more than I ever had before. Anyone who wants to know anything about the early years of the Beatles' career should purchase this book--it is truly amazing.
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Actually, I used to mistake this book as being written by Paul McCartney, because he has such a vital voice in the book. Barry Miles has been a friend of Paul McCartney for many years, and has written the most accurate book about him. I would consider this book an autobiography of Paul McCartney, but it really isn't. Paul gives detailed accounts of his early life, his career with the Beatles, his relationships, and a little bit of the life after the Beatles.
This book mainly covers McCartney's early years, and the Beatle years. There is an afterward, which summarizes up the next three decades of Paul's life briefly, although it does give a good overview. There is also a whole section just devoted to how Paul McCartney reacted to John Lennon's death, and there is now an epilogue, which is Paul's final tribute to Linda, his beloved wife.
I love this book to death. Paul accounts who wrote what of every "Lennon/McCartney" song, and there are some unique views into the songs, like where they came from and such. Also featured are enchanting stories of the early life of Paul McCartney and during his time with the Beatles. Another thing I liked about the book was how Paul spoke of his relationship with Jane Asher, something I had never really come across before. Paul gave detailed descriptions of his early experiences in Liverpool, which made his childhood come to life for me. He speaks about music, women, friendship...
I liked how Paul reflected upon his friendship with John Lennon, and it really was a loving and touching tribute to the man. I loved that. But, it seemed as if he sort of neglected his other friends, like George or Ringo. He did give a few stories and such about them...but it seemed as if he did sort of leave them out, which kind of bothered me. I mean after awhile it kind of got boring when every story was related to John Lennon or Linda McCartney, no offense to anyone.
This book does give a great biography of a talented man, and I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the life of Paul McCartney. It really does set the record straight.
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Ticket to Ride is an insider's look at the Beatles' 1964 North American Tour. Larry Kane, an American journalist, accompanied the Beatles during their first tour of North America. As a member of the Beatles' inner circle, Larry Kane had incredible access to the fab four.
Larry Kane was a journalist whom the Beatles actually liked. He was easy to get along with, and they knew they could trust him. They provided him with candid interviews every time. Kane didn't ask them all the regular, brutish questions, such as "What are you going to do when the bubble bursts?", but questioned them with serious intent. He even interviewed them about their views on the current war going on in Vietnam.
One of the great things about this book is that you get a bonus CD with several of these interviews from the 1964 tour, as well as a few later tours Kane went along on (for a short time in 1965 and again in 1966). Some of these interviews I've heard before, mostly on The Beatles Anthology, and some of them were completely new to me. This was probably my favorite part of the whole package.
I also enjoyed all the anecdotes Kane provided. There were several stories which were unique, heard for the first time, and very humorous. Not only were there stories about the Beatles themselves, but also about the fans and the concerts. It was all very intersting.
Also, Kane focused primarily on what he knew: the 1964 and 1965 tours he was a part of. He didn't wander and ramble about the Beatles' recording career later on, but he stayed with his subject. This is part of what makes this book so appealing. It is so in-depth on these tours, instead of other Beatles books, which merely summarize this magical part of the Beatles' career.
However, I would be lying if I didn't say there were no faults. Kane is clearly, or at least I felt he was, biased. It was so obvious that John was his "favorite Beatle", and that's pretty much how the book goes. I love John to death, but the 1964 tour wasn't about John Lennon and the Beatles, it was about the Beatles. I mean, John wasn't the only Beatle. What Kane did was great, but it would have been nice to include the other Beatles more frequently than he did.
Overall, the book was a delightful read. It was a wonderful insight into the Beatles' early tours, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I absolutely adore this book. It is, quite simply, awesome. Dowlding collects data about each song, and provides the reader with authorship, quotes, instrumentation, chart action, recording dates, little known facts, and so much more! It is packed with information.
Let's take a look at one of the entry for one of the songs, "Can't Buy Me Love". It gives us the authorship, meaning McCartney (.9) and Lennon (.1), which means McCartney wrote 90% of the song and Lennon wrote the other 10%.
This book is easy to read, well-organized (by album release with singles in between), and packed with detail about each song. I don't always like reading all this hype about Beatles' songs, but this actually was about the songs, not about the meaning of each and what chord they were in. I can't make enough good points about this book. I find no flaws within the entire book.
Also included in the book are a list of unreleased songs by the Beatles, many of which were recorded during the Let it Be sessions. This book was authored before The Beatles Anthology, and several of the songs Dowlding mentions were later released on that collection.
In a nutshell: this is a great book about the Beatles' music. Every fan should read it. It's awesome. Now go get you a copy. It's extremely reasonable.
More coming soon.