This is a hugely researched and well documented book about The Beatles. There was so much I didn't know, especially the early years when I was not yet twenty. The large number of chapters include lots of short anecdotes on all sorts of subjects. Their antics in Hamburg are hilarious. Their three and a half months there is ultimately a disaster. George, then Paul and Pete are deported. Paul returns to his job.
A description of John and Cynthia's wedding is excellent, as is a gig in 1962 with Peter Stringfellow. And I never knew that in 1963 John went on holiday to Spain with Brian Epstein. I had no idea that when Paul met Jane Asher after a show in 1963, he moved into her parents house and had his own bedroom for the next three years. That was his new home. That piece about the Ashers is superb. Craig Brown says "If I could be any Beatle, at any time, I would be Paul in is Wimpole Street years, living with Jane, cosseted by her family, blessed by luck, happy with life, alive to culture (Jane's parents) adored by the world etc etc". I would agree.
Chapter 55 is all about Ringo. Did I know he was left handed? No wonder the drummers in tribute bands have a problem. Just as good, if not better, is the next chapter about Jimmie Nichol, a Beatle for a day (or two) on a tour of Australia and the Far East when Ringo is ill. The first two paragraphs about James Boswell's "Life of Johnson" sets it up. This episode should be a movie.
I never knew that John's Aunt Mimi did a filmed interview in 1981 with Southern TV's James Montgomery at her house in Dorset, the one John bought her. It's all on YouTube, but the piece in the book is better. Somehow the author has the impression that George is a bit thick? That's nothing like the intelligent music producer in later years, and the founder of Handmade Films.
There are obviously large parts about the creation of Sargent Pepper and the TV extravaganza "All We Need Is Love". That programme (and "Magical Mystery Tour") were, to me, big disappointments. As a huge fan of the group (dancing to the first LP at the school leaving do when I was 18 in 1963), loving the two movies, these I found self indulgent and almost embarrassing. How could they.
The last part of the book was of little interest for me. The effects of the death of Brian Epstein, the embarrassment (again) of the creation of Apple, and huge chunks about Yoko that I skipped. But then, right in the middle of all the boring stuff comes the golden nugget that is an afternoon and evening in Harrold, a tiny village in Bedfordshire an event I knew nothing about. It's the 30th June 1968, and Paul and his gang are on their way home when they take a detour. To find a pub. Their reception is a piece of history, ending with Paul giving an impromptu performance. Just magic.
The recording on the roof of 3 Savile Row on the 30th January 1969 gets a mention. Lots of police arrived from various directions and were mostly young enough to enjoy the event. Why there is so much interest in the album cover of "Abbey Road" I will never know. Then more rubbish chapters about John and Yoko. Who cares? Even worse is that satire near the end which, horrifically, includes the death of George. I wish I had given up well before. Otherwise this was a five star book.
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