Customer Reviews

The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Overall, this is a nice volume which augments the lyrics of the Beatles with striking and memorable illustrations, particularly from editor Aldridge, which very well capture the spirit of the Beatles' music. However, the book contains one serious shortcoming: its inexplicable (and unexplained) leaving out of almost all of the Beatle numbers not written by Lennon/McCartney. This means that such indispensible songs such as "Here Comes The Sun", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Something", "Old Brown Shoe", and "Octopus's Garden" (among others) are conspicously absent from this collection. Why? Instead, we get at least a dozen Lennon/McCartney compositions that were never actually recorded by the Fab Four, as well as Lennon's three most famous songs from his early solo career.
Another drawback is that the lyrics are presented in a seemingly random, haphazard order as opposed to any kind of a chronological or even thematic one.
A wonderful concept well-executed, but must be docked points for incompleteness because of the missing Harrison and Starr songs.

No reviews, no bios, just great lyrics and good art. This book was originally published during the late 60s, and so the art reflects the time. My only complaint: "Two of Us" is not about Paul and Linda (as the picture suggests), it's about the friendship of John and Paul (lines like "you and I have memories, longer than the road that stretches out ahead" make little sense in regard to Linda; Paul had only recently met her at the time of the song's writing, and he went on to spend the next 30 years with her). That aside, I say no Beatle library is complete without it.

"The Beatles: Illustrated Lyrics" is a must-have for Beatles fans everywhere. This book features the lyrics from most Beatles songs, each song paired with anadventurous illustration capturing the mood and theme/s of that particular song. Many of the illustrations are brilliant works of art, especially those for "Eleanor Rigby", "I Want You", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Dear Prudence" and are great to look at when listening to the songs. I found the illustration for "She's Leaving Home" - a comic strip of the story told in the song to be ecceptionally neat. Some of the pictures are interesting to say the least: "Cry Baby Cry", "Blackbird" and "Tomorrow Never Knows", whereas others are just darned weird, such as "Dr. Robert", "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Within You Without You" - but hey, even some of the weird illustrations are fun to look at. Also featured throughout the book is a selection of fan art - all of it pretty good.

In conclusion, if you are a die-hard Beatles fan, you shouldn't be without this book. Sure, it's not for everyone (some of the art may be a little too much for some people), but if you love the Beatles and if you love poetry, by all means grab a copy.

I was delighted to see this book is still in print. The illustrations, ranging from line drawings to wonderfully Psychedelic Sixties from artists such as Beatle John Lennon to Peter Max add a touch of whimsical charm to the written lyrics. The songs are not arranged in alphabetical order or chronological order, which gives the entire book a free-formless and free-flowing feel.

I was highly displeased that Harrison and Starkey tunes were not included; rather, this book should have been more aptly titled "Illustrated Lyrics of Lennon & McCartney." There is just no excuse for omitting masterpieces such as "I Want to Tell You," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes the Sun," to name three.

As much as I enjoyed the book, the omission of Harrison and Starkey and the seemingly random placement of song lyrics has cost this otherwise excellent book one star.

I love this book - I don't have the original copy but I'm not such a purist that it really matters.
The art is fantastic and it is great to flick through or read at length. Full of ideas for any budding artists it has also made me well into Alan Aldridge whose designs are mind-boggling.
Suggest also checking out Phantasia by Alan Aldridge - it is out of print but can be found in the usual places...

I am comparing this book to an older version published 1969 by a different publisher. As The Beatles fan and maniac I was literally hypnotized watching the pictures of Alan Aldridge, Peter Max, and others when I saw it for the first time. It so perfectly creates an image of the 60s and atmosphere of that time.

I was holding the same expectations for this version but it was a kind of disappointment to see the low quality of the pictures - prints.

Let's make one point clear here: This book is NOT about The Beatles lyrics, this is ABOUT the ILLUSTRATIONS-pictures to each of the lyrics that make this book so valuable.
You can download lyrics anywhere on the net for free so I was devastated to see why the publisher Mariner Books DOES NOT GET IT?! How can they cheat us in such deceptive way?! Hey, this is not fair really. People who buy this book are doing so mainly because of the pictures, not for the lyrics!!!

If you pay cash for something, it should have more value in it than the cash you pay for it. This is not rocket science and suckers just don't seem to get it.

I've actually owned this book for years and was suprised to see it is still available. This is one of my favorites in my entire Beatles collection. It is filled with psychadelic paintings and artwork from well known artists such as Peter Max as well as quick Lennon sketches. It displays some nudity and is not for every Beatles fan, but captures the spirit of the era beautifully. It's colorful, fun, and filled with page after page of Beatles lyrics. How can you go wrong???

This book is utterly inspiring. The music of the Beatles is legendary, and the way the artists re-create the songs into art is visionary and fascinating. Plus, it's not bad having the lyrics handy, too. A must-have for all Beatlemaniacs!

It's very interesting to see how artists from around the world envisioned Beatles songs in their minds. Many of the songs seem to take on new meaning when you look at the accompanying illustrations.

As a former Fulbright Scholar teaching high school English in Korea, I also used this book whenever I taught pop songs. I would copy a set of lyrics and illustrations and then distribute them to the class. The students loved it! It made the song lessons much more interesting.

I ordered the book for my teen aged son who has been a Beatles fan for years (I got him hooked!) I received the book today and I wanted to check it out bvefore giving it to him and never seeing it again and as I was flipping thru the pages I was surprised by the nudity in the book. There is both animated nudity and nude photos as well as a nude photo of a young boy and girl standing side by side which in some states people have been locked up for child pornography over similar "art" photos.

I guess I will wait a few years until I let him see it if at all. Otherwise the book is a good source of song lyrics and does have alot of nice Beatles related images. definitely a book that a adult Beatles fan will like.