Beatles biographies?

This'll probably be my first-ever ebook purchase when I finally cave and buy a reader sometime around mid-decade

nate you're a genius, my library has it too -- am going to put in a hold request for it :D :D

Does the director's cut include an in-depth history of each individual plank of the stage John & Paul first performed together on? Cause if not, gtfo.

i think that one appendix with biographies of everyone who attended their shea stadium concert is what pushed it over 1,700 pages

Man I had no idea there was an expanded edition. Fiddlesticks.

Also want to clarify that it doesn't really begin with great-great grandparents. That info is certainly in there in depth, but Lewisohn wisely opens with the first time Lennon and McCartney played music together. Only then does he reel back in time. I think it's a very graceful approach and I have not been bored.

I got it on the UK site, don't think it's been released in the US (that doesn't help you, I know--sorry, Nate :(

If I have any complaints, it's the number of notes which require 2 bookmarks and constant referencing of the appendix. A bit of a hassle given the size of the book. Wish these notes were more often on the bottom of the page or in sidebars, but I suppose that would be less scholarly.

I remember one of the beautiful things about the Ian MacDonald book was his use of footnotes.

Anybody know exactly why Mccartney and the rest (of the living) refuse to cooperate with Lewisohn on this project?

For a moment I even though perhaps the BBC Sessions 2 disc was released the same day in order to steal thunder from this book but when I checked again they were released a few weeks apart.

I don't think they refused did they? I think he wanted to try to remain independent but ran things buy them now and then when I needed a specific question answered.

Josh reveals himself to be Mark Lewisohn!

yes, iirc lewisohn has said he deliberately did not seek anyone's approval.

i've picked this up several times in the store and it's very very very tempting -- but, erg, not yet.

From Amazon:

Q. You have a long professional association with the Beatles, and some of them individually. Are they involved in Tune In and is this book authorized?

A. No. I received the odd tiny bit of help which I specifically asked for and they didn't have to give – but substantially no, they're not involved. That's fine, because it's what I expected and what I wanted. This has to be an independent and impartial book. But are the all main players appearing and speaking at the book's core? Yes, constantly. Paul McCartney decided not to talk to me for this particular project, and I completely respect and understand his reasons – but I've interviewed him maybe fifteen times in the past and I've also sourced other quotes of great strength and immediacy for all the players.

One of many reasons the Beatles' achievements and reputation sustain with such integrity is because they were true. They stood for truth, projected truth and lived truthfully as best they could. It's entirely right that their history is written as true as possible, with no embroidery, nothing faked or glossed, nothing stupidly interpreted, everything transparent, everything attributed. Of course my attachment to this subject is deep and lifelong, but I'm not the least bit interested in writing a book simply to say how great they were. They certainly don't need that, and I certainly wouldn't do it. It'd be a waste of my time. My passion is for learning everything I can about this subject, understanding it, and doing my best to set it down clearly so it can be understood relative to what happened.

the fact that Neil Aspinall talked to ML is the real scoop i'd say as he talked to hardly anyone for decades. i read an interview where ML said that many people said they would only talk to him on the record once they'd "cleared it with Neil first". your 5th Beatle right there.

i bet Macca hates it, just the same as he did every other Fabs book since time began. i was well impressed that ML was prepared to 'burn his bridges' so to speak, especially as he did Macca's sleevenotes a few times etc.

i saw bob spitz speak at an event a while back and he said mccartney liked his book. wouldn't really blame him for hating most of the other books, espec. philip norman's (very overrated) bio.

Philip Norman's book is a drag, a well-known drag. Didn't he start that business that McCartney was a righty but only played lefty because he misinterpreted something he read?

oh i don't blame Macca for hating a lot of the books either.

Bought an ebook of the Lewisohn based on except about Julia Lennon but haven't made much of dent in it yet even though it seems good, tons of detail. Last Beatle book I read was You Never Give Me Your Money, thanks to some recommendations here. Looked at the Bob Spitz book but it just didn't grab me, seemed liked it would just be Hunter Davies or Philip Norman retread with a few new facts but maybe that was too harsh.

Also want to clarify that it doesn't really begin with great-great grandparents. That info is certainly in there in depth, but Lewisohn wisely opens with the first time Lennon and McCartney played music together. Only then does he reel back in time. I think it's a very graceful approach and I have not been bored.

― Nate Carson, Wednesday, November 27, 2013 6:16 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is true. I looked at that chapter as more of a prologue, but it's true, it sucks you in immediately (though the details about their family histories, while intermittently interesting, are still a bit sloggy).

Friend gave me the spitz book a few years ago. Its ok but shortchanged the last 5 years of the band imo. Also cheap shots at yoko.

interesting webchat with Mark Lewisohn on the WORD mag forum http://www.theafterword.co.uk/content/mark-lewisohn-afterword-webchat

I'm reading You Never Give Me Your Money rn, don't know if the guys are bigger assholes or idiots...actually I'm pretty sure assholes

I may give the ML book a try; after reading so many beatles books I never thought I'd need to read another one, sounds here though like it might be worn the read?

Definitely assholes, except for Ringo.

Just starting in with the Extended version of Tune In, wish me luck

Wow, didn't know about the Extended Version until now. Lewisohn says in the webchat linked upthread:

My book contracts called for 250,000 words (already a lot), and I wrote 780,000. My UK publisher (Little, Brown) read it and said they wanted to put out the entire thing. My US partner, Crown Archetype, remain undecided still, why is why it’s only out in Britain. Both publishers required the mainstream book for which I’d signed the contracts, so I had to set about creating it from the 780k version. I was aiming for 250k and got it down to 400k, which was pretty good going, and enough for both companies to accept the length and publish. The editing task was mine – I'd not have allowed it to be done by anyone else.
It was never my intention to create two different products, but that’s the way it worked out. If you have the mainstream edition, you’re not missing anything truly vital – I made sure it’s all in there. But the Extended Special Edition (ESE) has more layers, more levels, more context, more anecdotes, more Beatles.
Both editions achieve the goals I set for them, but the ESE is the full, fullest story, everything I wrote just as I wrote it.

there are a number of revelations (the one that stayed with me most was that the knife attack on Harrison was far worse than it was made out to be at the time)

I had no idea he had been stabbed FORTY times, I mean jesus f christ

Am a couple of chapters into the Lewisohn book now and am LOVING it.

I've read a few Beatles books over the years, but there is something about Lewisohn's voice that makes this book feel much closer to them, much more *interested* in them. Idk, I may be generalizing but I always felt a bit of authorial distance in other Beatles books, like the authors admired them but were sort of looking at them from a kind of remove. I don't remember picking up on a whole lot of fondness for them. But Lewisohn turns even the teenage Beatles into characters I find myself pulling for, even though I know how they end up. Even the way he tells their stories doesn't feel as hashed over as it has before. And I love the way he layers them on top of each other so you get this clear map in your head of where they are in relation to each other, both geographically and even emotionally etc. I'm definitely fangirling over this

And I love the way he layers them on top of each other so you get this clear map in your head of where they are in relation to each other, both geographically and even emotionally etc.

Yeah, otm. For me, the more I reflect on it, the key to the depth of understanding that Lewisohn brings is how he treats Liverpool as probably the most important element of the story. Every other Beatles bio left it at "eh, it was a seaport shithole," but Lewisohn, holy shit, you can smell the city. The standard notion of "How did they come out of Liverpool?" is replaced in history by "They could have only come out of Liverpool" in about three pages.

omg yes. so spot on

and the way he keeps slowly sprinkling in key music moments, whether instruments or songs, like I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for them to hear elvis

John & Paul's first meeting in the Lewisohn book is electrifying.

like I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for them to hear elvis

Totally. That's one of the most exciting things about this book (and what will no doubt be amplified in future installments): you have some idea of what's about to happen, but when it happens, it's incredibly thrilling, and fleshed out with more detail than you could've possibly imagined. And it's not just Elvis: their discoveries (spoiler alert?) of Motown ("What's this then? 'Tamla'? Detroit?") and Goffin-King, via the Shirelles ("Hey Paul, let's snap up every record that has 'Goffin-King' on it") are reported by Lewisohn in a way that really communicates the excitement they felt at hearing those records for the first time. And that's another great thing about this: the massive pre-rock 'n' roll context that Lewisohn necessarily sets up makes those music discoveries really jump. For the first time I got some sense of what it must have been like for John and Paul to hear "Money" or "Long Tall Sally" for the first time with little precedent for either.

Yeah that lengthy description of John speechless when he first hears Little Richard -- so great.

I'm genuinely moved by the little efforts various parental figures make towards their musical interest, especially given how well he's contextualized their financial situations ...that story of George's mum sitting up with him til the wee hours making cups of tea and giving him encouragement make me a little teary. And Ringo's stepfather carting that drumkit all the way from wherever it was on like four different trains. <3 <3 <3 Oh and that student giving John the harmonica for not one but TWO songs :)

Aw, all these little details make me wonder whether the full-length is the one to buy after all...?

does the full-length one really cost like 10 times more than the regular one? if I'm gonna read this, I want to do it right, but only once

Same. UK amazon shows the full-length at £120 as opposed to £15 (for the short one, which I've already got but not read). It was £60 there on release, gah.

And Ringo's stepfather carting that drumkit all the way from wherever it was on like four different trains

Oh man, that one really got to me. Poor little Richy was supposed to have died about four or five times, and they were gonna do anything they could to make him happy.

I know it's crazy to think how he could have ended up!

I enjoyed how much it revealed that George was always George - little use for formal education, sardonic wit, can't be bothered with church, obsessive about cars and guitars . . .

you guys are making me want to read this

the Bob Spitz book I got a few years ago for Xmas is gathering dust (deservedly so)

It's worth it just for the stuff about Neil Aspinall and Mona Best, frankly. But it really is worth it. I've read *everything* over the years, and this made it all feel very fresh.

Yeah. Also feel like he gives a lot more context re the John/Mimi/Julia arrangement, or at least a lot more than I realized.

Yes, that and the whole Fred Lennon situation. And "Twitchy."

All the "new" characters at the periphery are pretty interesting, and while Lewisohn obviously deserves a lot of credit for finding and interviewing them, you wonder why no one did before (particularly the drummer that couldn't stay on because he didn't want to quit his day job).

Also, wtf, no interviewer ever asked Lennon about Sutcliffe?

Pulled out the first Anthology set to listen to the other day -- I'd listened to it here and there but I never really was jazzed about it. The Lewisohn book has made all the difference to my enjoyment of it, because now I understand more of the context about when and how the early recordings came about, and where they occur in the book etc

so good

Has anyone read the long version yet?

It's back down to £74 on amazon uk, post-Xmas, and I've got to say I'm on the brink.

I'm reading the long version on kindle, really enjoyable.

Pulled out the first Anthology set to listen to the other day -- I'd listened to it here and there but I never really was jazzed about it. The Lewisohn book has made all the difference to my enjoyment of it, because now I understand more of the context about when and how the early recordings came about, and where they occur in the book etc

Agree 100%. All of a sudden those early performances felt more like looking through a keyhole at some historic event of enormous significance instead of early scraps.

If the long version comes out in the US, or one falls in my lap, I would gladly give this a second read.

Ultimately, my one criticism of Tune In is that in a great many spots, Lewisohn encounters a grey area and assumes/implies what must have happened. Of course he always cites it, but I can easily imagine future film/miniseries versions of this including some of his guesswork as canon. Then again, it is mythology so that's not the worst thing that could happen.

Also can well imagine that as this book is read, many interesting letters and emails will make it to Lewisohn and shed light on the grey areas. Glad I read this at the library because a corrected edition will eventually be the standard text. Can't really believe there will be any need for another history of the Beatles after this one is complete. They'll just keep updating it like the encyclopedia (RIP).

I thought the story in Lewisohn of "Love Me Do"'s climb and run on the charts was equally compelling and shocking in how much it had never been told before.

yeah i agree

https://open.spotify.com/episode/66u8d0xhy1mDMAxzpYkibZ?fbclid=IwAR0aRIrcVwMRiRfN27c9qX1LlkS2DTvzk82QTnt081KFJ2sKNd_tBNj2BXg

There's a first part to this, too, but I was just listening to this.

(Lewisohn on Beatles '69)

Thanks a lot for that! It's hard enough to wait for the next volume, much less whichever one will cover the final years, so that was a nice taste. I too tried to go through all the Nagra tapes but fell behind a day or two and never caught up. Here's hoping whatever companion to the Jackson film or anniversary sets will cherry pick the best of it (including conversations). Some incomplete but pretty interesting efforts here: Get Back to Let It Be Dissected and They May Be Parted. Definitely for the hardcore only, but I found it engrossing.

Thanks so much for that! I love Dutch radio DJ voices!

i think of myself as fairly hardcore in terms of the beatles, but close readings of the nagra tapes are just too much for me. can't get past the writing style on "they may be parted" or the appalling web design on "dissected".

Yeah, the web design on "dissected" is like a peek into a world where GeoCities still rules the net. And those goofy images!

fbclid=IwAR0aRIrcVwMRiRfN27c9qX1LlkS2DTvzk82QTnt081KFJ2sKNd_tBNj2BXg

I teetered on the edge of exploring those nagra tapes and then said fuck it I'll let the hobbit guy explain it all to me later

Lewisohn's narrative is kinda interesting, he's examined the nagra reels and suggests that the Twickenham sessions (and by extension, most of the events of '69) weren't at all as gloomy as history has made it to be, far from it, in fact.

i don't know, maybe it wasn't! what i've heard from the sessions is dire, miserable music, but they certainly could have been enjoying themselves while indulging in those terrible aimless jams! i mean i guess it's not actually _worse_ than "thanks for the pepperoni"...

kind of curious as to what lewisohn makes of "a toot and a snore in '74"

I enjoyed that They May Be Parted site but lol that 7+ years later and he's still only covered the first week of recordings