Customer Reviews

With the Beatles

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Alistair Taylor was Brian Epstein's personal assistant and the "Mr. Fix-it" to the Beatles in the sixties. In this long overdue memoir, Mr. Taylor takes us briskly through the Beatles story firsthand, from Taylor's accompanying Epstein to see the Beatles for the first time at the Cavern, to his final ignominious sacking at the hands of Allen Klein. Anyone who has an interest in picking this book up will probably already have a pretty good understanding of the Beatles' history, so it won't matter that the book is cursory in describing the chronological details of that story. Instead, this book is best read for its many anecdotes, which give us insight into the personalities involved, especially Brian, John, and Paul. Taylor himself comes off as a likeable, loyal fellow and while he is honest, he does not dish nasty dirt the way Peter Brown did in his book "The Love You Make." Taylor also takes time to clear up certain myths, among them the idea that there ever was a "Raymond Jones" who came looking for the Beatles' German single "My Bonnie" at Brian Epstein's shop. (Taylor made the name up when he placed the order himself.)Taylor also cannot hide his disappointment with the Beatles, whom he served so loyally, when they did nothing to prevent his firing in the end. (Indeed, they don't even mention Taylor in "the Beatles Anthology," though they do reprint the famous photo ad he appeared in for Apple records.)
So, while this book is rather a jumpy hodge-podge of anecdotes, it will give you a new admiration for Brian Epstein, an appreciation of the mirthful madness of working with the Beatles, and some understanding of why they inspired such loyalty in the first place. Recommended for fans.

Just when you thought you had read everything there was to know about the Beatles, another book comes along! But this one is unlike the others in that it is told from a different angle. Alistair Taylor was in a unique position and this book shows it. I am glad to add it to my collection of books about the Beatles.

Amazing, I adored this book. It's so hard to pick faults with it. I'm twelve years old, and I could read this book perfectly, it's not some long drawn out book by some professor somewhere who never even met them. He was /there./

I would definety reccomend this book to you.

The Beatles is certainly an area I know well. Even among "Beatles people" I have a significant and deep knowledge. I came into this book with uncertainty: Taylor "was there" (not always a good source for accurate history!) but not too well-known among Beatle fans.

As others have pointed out - he DOES have something to say, showing some unique and interesting details no one has discussed before. I'd have to say that it's among my favorite Beatles books ever! It's an easy read, and the stories are not TOO elaborate. I found only two factual errors in the whole thing - which is good, as I am SO picky about details.

The ending is sad, and certainly true, but a good closing for a wonderful story...

Well. The poor bugger got sacked after having sacrified most of his life fixing things for the boys. The story is clattered with errors but that's probably because it is told straitght from the heart. This is probably also why you have to read some stories at least three times. Having complained before about this publishing house I will once again urge J.Blake to invest in a senior editor.

Mr Taylor would be one of the closest people in the world to give us some insight into the hectic lives of the Beatles in the 60's. His narrative in insightful and interesting, revealing unknown facts & opinions that are not found anywhere else.

You'll learn stuff about the Beatles and those around them that you won't see anywhere else! Some good, some not so good, some bad. Eye-opening and a great read!!!

Another reviewer characterized this book as a hodge-podge of anecdotes. That's just about right. The anecdotes are definitely of interest to the hardcore Beatle enthusiast--certainly this fan of books on the fabs learned a few things--but Taylor is not a master of chronology and in a few cases the ensuing decades since these events took place may have become garbled in the grey matter. To wit: on page 206 Lennon has "just discovered" acid in 1967 and pesters Taylor to try it. However, if we flip back to page 142, we have Lennon in Oct 1965 plotting to drop tabs of acid into the Queen's drink during their MBE awards ceremony. Had Lennon even heard of acid in 1965? What about the celebrated dinner party with the dentist, the inspiration for "Dr. Robert(s)"...? Is that no longer the "true" introduction of the Beatles to acid? Did that occur before the MBE awards? What gives, Taylor? Contradictory and confusing.

Nonetheless, an entertaining, if slight, volume. Its particularly strong on Brian Epstein and McCartney's relationship with Jane Asher. Taylor provides plenty of details on other topics as well, of course.

Taylor's book belongs in a special category of books by those who were sacked by Allen Klein. There may be others, but Richard DiLello's excellent "The Longest Cocktail Party" comes to mind. (Actually, both belong to a slightly larger category: those who were sacked by any edition of the Beatles management..then we can include "Beatle: The Pete Best Story" as well).

Don't hesitate to buy and enjoy.

Taylor's book is a quick read, and a decent way for a Beatle fan to pass the time. It is packed with interesting (if not-very-detailed) anecdotes about the Fab Four that I have not read elsewhere. However, it is poorly edited. The author tends to group unrelated anecdotes together. Strangely, on page 52 he references Ringo as a member of the band, waiting with the others for Brian Epstein to get them a recording contract, but Pete Best is not sacked until page 59! Speaking of Pete, he is barely mentioned in this book.

Once or twice, the author completely contradicts himself. Interestingly, the first half of the book seems to be organized and written better than the latter half; perhaps the author was up against a deadline? Still, this does not excuse the poor editing job.

I do not recommend this book for readers who do not already know the Beatles' basic story, as the author skips around quite a bit, and does not give adequate background information on some of the lesser-known "characters" in Beatle history.

I give this book two stars, as it *is* somewhat entertaining, and has several neat photos I have not seen elsewhere. Alistair Taylor's story has the potential to be very interesting, but he needs a) an EDITOR and b) to expand upon his anecdotes with more detail. Perhaps this book could be polished up and re-released??

As the owner of a fairly large collection of Beatle-related material, including a vast library of albums, guitars and books, and as one who has visited Liverpool and London on many occasions, I speak from some base of knowledge when I say that Alstair Taylor's book, "Meet the Beatles", adds absolutely nothing new to the story of "the boys", as those closely associated with "The Beatles", liked to call them. This primer on "The Fab Four" is all icing and no cake, an effort that simply skims the surface and lacks any depth or fresh perspectives whatsoever. Taylor's book reads as if he focused solely on the headlines and skipped the story in, say, "The Liverpool Echo". Anyone even remotely interested in "The Beatles" could have penned this book without even resorting to research. There was not one single insight of any value. For one who was supposed to be part of the inner circle, Taylor's view of events seemed very dim and distant. As a glorified gofer, Taylor must have been out of the room getting tea and jam butties for John, Paul, George or Ringo whenever anything of significance occurred. My understanding is that Taylor is on the dole and in a bad way financially, which might explain why this book was published at this time, but it does not excuse this most cursory and disappointing piece of veneer.