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Post by The End on Nov 28, 2007 12:48:15 GMT
What is your favourite Beatle book and why? Do you have a particular book you would recommend?
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BlueMeanie
For A Number Of Things
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
Posts: 606
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Post by BlueMeanie on Nov 28, 2007 12:52:29 GMT
I only have 6 Beatles books, of which I always highly recommend Lewisohn's 'Complete Beatles Chronicle'. I also like 'The Beatles Diary' by Barry Miles. I know it has it's faults, and a few mistakes, but it's a good little pocket sized refernce book to carry around in your bag.
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Post by The End on Nov 28, 2007 13:18:27 GMT
One of the first (and one of the best!) Beatle Books I ever owned was called " The Beatles: An Illustrated Record" by Roy Carr and Tony Tyler. First published around 1975, it was a critical analysis of every Beatle and solo release up to that date. Each Beatle sleeve was even reprinted full size (except With The Beatles and A Collection of Oldies) and in colour! A great book! Sometime in 1976, my parents bought me two Beatle paperbacks - "The John Lennon Story" by George Tremlett and " The Man Who Gave The Beatles Away" by Allan Williams and William Marshall. However it was Allan William's lurid tale of The Beatles time in Hamburg that had me rapt! As a fresh-faced ten-year-old reading this kind of material for the first time, it was very shocking! Especially reading about a recent (at that time) conversation he'd had with Ringo and George's about rubys, which was littered with F's, C's and B's (i.e. a lot of swearing)! It was absolutely fantastic and my parents certainly wouldn't have bought it for me had they been aware of the book's content! I was a huge fan of The Beatles before I read this book but they could hardly be considered rebellious or edgy, and at the dawn of punk, it was very uncool to admit to liking the band, especially at school. However, after reading the book, I took it to school and read extracts out to my school mates - usually the bit about John Lennon standing on the roof of a building and urinating on some passing nuns! With all the swearing and tales of prostitutes and strippers, it was all of a sudden OK to be a Beatle fan, and my mates each took turns to borrow the book! This is a "must read"! At last years Beatle Week in Liverpool (2006), Allan Williams revealed that he has sold the film rights to the book. It is apparently now in production, adapted for the screen by Paul Herzberg. By the way, the George Tremlett book wasn't a recommendation - don't buy it!
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zipp
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 97
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Post by zipp on Nov 28, 2007 13:39:30 GMT
An Illustrated Record is still one of my Beatles reference books. It was extremely good for its time. The other books already mentioned are good too. So I'll add A Hard Day's Write and Many Years from Now.
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Post by Michelle Revolution on Dec 7, 2007 1:23:55 GMT
I only have 6 Beatles books, of which I always highly recommend Lewisohn's 'Complete Beatles Chronicle'. I also like 'The Beatles Diary' by Barry Miles. I know it has it's faults, and a few mistakes, but it's a good little pocket sized refernce book to carry around in your bag. You so could not call my copy pocket-size, it is huge. Is it available in different sizes, I would love a copy for the beach. And I'm being serious.
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BlueMeanie
For A Number Of Things
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together
Posts: 606
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Post by BlueMeanie on Dec 7, 2007 9:06:14 GMT
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Post by The End on Dec 7, 2007 13:43:55 GMT
I've got both! The new version is about the size of a paperback - very handy
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beatlemaniac64
And That's A Start
~I've just seen a face a can't forget~
Posts: 21
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Post by beatlemaniac64 on Dec 12, 2007 22:28:58 GMT
I read Magical Mystery Tours, My Life With the Beatles by Tony Bramwell. It's great because it's very conversational and personal, since he knew them even when they were young kids in Liverpool. It talks about other things non-Beatley, but overall a good read.
Right now I'm reading Paul's biography Many Years From Now. It's great as well. And there's a big book my dad has that's called The Beatles: Unseen Archives, I'm sure most of you are familiar with it. It has tons of GREAT pictures with a few words here and there.
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Post by briank on Dec 14, 2007 8:33:51 GMT
I love the Lewisohn books - ALL of them, including the tourist guide to London. And his "Recording Sessions" is still the most fun for me to read. I also think Alistair Taylor's book was pretty good - I'm SO sceptical of "insider books" as almost all are ghost-written by someone else (look for a second name on the cover) but his has a lot of simple stuff in it, and seems fairly realistic - not too much detail.
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woodbine
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 27
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Post by woodbine on Apr 2, 2008 2:26:00 GMT
What is your favourite Beatle book and why? Do you have a particular book you would recommend? I can't pick just one favourite. Here are a few (okay, eight) that I think are among the best I've read. First, the (perhaps) obvious: The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (Lewisohn) Recording The Beatles (Ryan/Kehew) The Beatles Anthology (Beatles) All three of the above were a long time coming, and well worth the wait (even if you didn't know you were waiting). In spite of the scores of books published before Lewisohn's, no-one (amazingly) had ever properly delved into their recording sessions, certainly not with this level of detail. The writing, the research, the photographs, and the format of the book are all impeccable. Much the same could be said of RTB whose focus is the studio gear used on those sessions. I'd even say that the depth of the research here exceeds that of Lewisohn. There is an astounding level of detail in this book. When I began to realize that every single feature and control on the mixing desks, tape machines, etc. was going to be documented and described I was amazed. Everything about this book is stunning. The Beatles' own book is the third in my top three. Finally, we can read their own stories in their own words. I don't think they held anything back. It's all here (or most of it, I suppose any x-rated bits were glossed over): tour stories; juicy Hamburg tales; "the dental incident" told in technicolor detail... and lots 'n' lots of great pictures. Beatles Gear (Babiuk) "Gear" occupies an important place, and completes, if you will, a trio of "Beatle-tech" books along with Complete Recording Sessions and RTB. Where the former focuses on the sessions and the latter on the studio equipment, Beatles Gear focuses on the band's guitars, drums, and amplifiers. Very well-researched with lots of great photos of Beatle guitars and drumkits (one of the interesting little histories the author traces is the evolution of the BEATLES logo as it appeared on Ringo's bass drum through the Sixties). The Art and Music of John Lennon (Robertson) The Lennon Companion (Thomson & Gutman) Art and Music considers Lennon's output as a total artist. That is, not only the songs but the drawings, lithographs, etc. and writings also. A novel approach, it's well-written and a highly interesting read. The Companion is notable in that it collects a wide range of material on Lennon, much of which you've seen quoted in other books but probably rarely in context and in its entirety. You know the famous "pandiatonic clusters" quote from musicologist William Mann (or was it Wilfrid Mellers, I forget)? The complete article containing that quote is in here. As one example, and there are lots more. (Edit: an even better example maybe is the "bigger than Jesus" quote. Maureen Cleave's original complete interview with Lennon is here.) The Beatles - An Oral History (Pritchard & Lysaght) Ticket To Ride (Somach, Somach & Gunn) These last two are comprised of interviews/quotes from many people connected with the Beatles. The first contains extensive quotes from people like Dick Rowe (we all know his "guitar groups are on the way out" quote but rarely do we see him given a chance to speak at length), Pete Best, Horst Fascher (Hamburg bouncer and friend), Klaus Voorman, Astrid Kirchherr, Bob Bonis (American tour manager), and many others. All have interesting stories to tell and many of them I've never seen elsewhere. Where this book focuses on people more or less intimately connected with the band, TTR's content mainly focuses on other musicians and those who've been influenced by the Beatles. There are many great stories in here too, like the one where Tommy James describes a visit from Lennon & McCartney and a tape of never-heard songs. OK, two last quick mentions to make it an even top ten: MacDonald's Revolution in the Head (because it's thought-provoking, opinionated yet considered) and Bob Freeman's The Beatles: A Private View (because it's beautiful). "Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book..."
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Geoff
I'll Be On My Way
Show Me That I'm Everywhere And Get Me Home For Tea
Posts: 135
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Post by Geoff on Apr 2, 2008 6:13:42 GMT
Probably the most useful from my anorak's viewpoint are Mark Lewisohn's Beatles Recording Sessions and Complete Beatles Chronicle. Ian MacDonald's Revolution In The Head is the best piece of Beatles criticism I know of, and one of the few (Wilfred Mellers' Twilight Of The Gods being the only other I can think of off the top of my head) written by a guy with a technical knowledge of music. Of course I'd argue with some of his conclusions; but then I argue with everybody else's, too....
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Post by The End on Apr 2, 2008 11:41:48 GMT
I can't pick just one favourite. Here are a few (okay, eight) that I think are among the best I've read. Thanks for posting your reviews Woodbine - very useful You might be interested to know that one of the co-authors of Recording The Beatles is our very own Briank!
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woodbine
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 27
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Post by woodbine on Apr 3, 2008 2:51:38 GMT
You might be interested to know that one of the co-authors of Recording The Beatles is our very own Briank! I lurked for a while before joining up and gathered that, yes. That's gear!
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Post by the carnabys on Apr 3, 2008 9:46:46 GMT
Alan Clayson series....one book on each of the beatles and their life. all in nice different colours and continued theme on the lay out and style.
A Hard Days Write is great. Mainly cos you can read just a page of paragraph at a time from any point in the book and its enjoyable read.
Got loads of others but them two stand out.
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Post by macsgirl on Apr 11, 2008 22:22:30 GMT
Alan Clayson series....one book on each of the beatles and their life. all in nice different colours and continued theme on the lay out and style. A Hard Days Write is great. Mainly cos you can read just a page of paragraph at a time from any point in the book and its enjoyable read. Got loads of others but them two stand out. Good choice, A hard days write is a great read. I know its not about the fab 4, but Patti Boyds Wonderful Today is a great read, very interesting revelations in this book, I just couldnt put it down. Great pics too, would imagine George fans would really enjoy it. When is May Pangs book out?
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mudbug
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 26
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Post by mudbug on May 17, 2008 6:51:49 GMT
I'm reading 'When The Beatles met Elvis' at the moment, good book.
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Post by sondra on Jul 10, 2008 18:32:26 GMT
Besides The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions by Lewisohn, which I only recently got, (for shame) I really loved Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles: by Geoff Emerick and of course Anthology.
Other than that, I have NEVER read any of the biographies on the guys. I just bought Lennon Revealed, mainly for the DVD, but don't know if I'll ever read it. I don't want a bunch of sensationalized half truths about the guys I guess. I also have Can't Buy Me Love and that Bob Spitz book (two copies!). I might read Can't Buy Me Love one day. I don't know.
On the other hand, I love books like: The Beatles-365 Days, The Beatles:10 Years That Shook the world, and my favorite lite read: Postcards From the Boys by Ringo. That was so great!
This I'm almost ashamed to say, someone gave me an old copy of John's In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works and I just COULD NOT get into them. Oh well...
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Post by mrmustard on Sept 20, 2008 14:01:15 GMT
I have not long finished reading The Beatles From Cavern to Star-Club (premium publishing) by Hans Olof Gottfridsson. It's a bit clinical but the research that has gone into this book is outstanding. It just covers the Beatles recording activity from 1957 - 1962 which has always been murky, historically, to say the least especially Hamburg recordings but Hans puts this right with this book. It's a bit anal at times and perhaps not for everyone. I have just started reading The Beatles by Allan Kozzin eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=343108
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zipp
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 97
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Post by zipp on Sept 21, 2008 21:04:01 GMT
I have not long finished reading The Beatles From Cavern to Star-Club (premium publishing) by Hans Olof Gottfridsson. It's a bit clinical but the research that has gone into this book is outstanding. It just covers the Beatles recording activity from 1957 - 1962 which has always been murky, historically, to say the least especially Hamburg recordings but Hans puts this right with this book. You'll be interested to know that this period is extremely well documented in French author Eric Krasker's book which will be coming out in English early 2009 : The Beatles 1960-1962 Fact And Fiction. He points out, in particular, several shortcomings in Gottfridsson's conclusions!
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Post by The End on Sept 21, 2008 21:19:25 GMT
I was wondering about Krasker's book when I read MrMustard's post. Thanks for the publication update, Zipp - really looking forward to that book
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