Customer Reviews

The Beatles: An Oral History

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If you are searching for a good biography on the Beatles, I'd steer you toward Davies, "The Beatles." This book, however, is excellent supplement to primary reference biographies such as Davies and contains some outstanding insights from George Martin and others who played critical roles in the development of the band.

This is not a definitive story of the Beatles, but rather a collection of insightful quotes from primary sources about every phase of their careers. My only historian's regret is that we do not find out when or where most of these quotes were taken from. Good stuff nonetheless. An alphabetical table of participants is helpful.

This book is sure to delight those who have extensive knowledge about the Beatles. This book has fresh, new information and provides sources for quotes. Nothing is left as vague "hearsay." This author has done his homework!

In addition to citing all sources, this author clearly knows his Beatle history and follows it thoroughly. The choice of photographs are startlingly apt; the photo on the back of the book showing the locked gate to Strawberry Fields (kind of makes you think of George's song, "Behind That Locked Door") signifies the end of the Beatle Era; a bittersweet note. This very compelling book is worth adding to your Beatles' literary collection.

Neither of these guys wrote this book per say...it is instead a collection of interviews. But as a companion to the Anthology book, Beatles: An Oral History is an important book. It is both fun to read and provides a lot of stories I haven't heard before.

You might be thinking to yourself, oh, man, I don't want another book of interviews. Didn't you just recommend the monster sized Anthology? Why would I possibly want more? That's a fair question, but luckily I have a fair answer.

The Beatles: An Oral History is full of stories that have been told by people who didn't get any airtime in the Anthology book or film: Pete Best, Cynthia Lennon, Julia Byard...a whole slew of `em. These interviews provide another facet of the story that is often neglected. It's a B-list "whose who" of Beatles second stringers.

The book itself isn't written (insomuch as it was put together) but the editors do a great job of positioning the interviews in such a way that they tell an extended story. The "characters" telling their stories almost seem to be sitting around a giant round table gabbing together. This was accomplished by the editors taking pieces out of longer interviews and arranging them in a chronological order so that no one voice is heard for too long. That makes this book more fun to read than if each person were interviewed and the resulting conversation printed "straight."

The people you hear from here provide a lot of color to the Beatles story. They are the kind of folks who they get for guests at Beatlefests and such. They have a lot to tell about the events of Beatlemania and have often been denied a place in the lunch-line by the bigger names: Martin, Ono, Epstien, etc.

This book can be had pretty cheaply (it is out of print, I think, and used copies are a bargain.) Pick it up. It makes a great piece of reading to carry around and read during those little breaks in the action life sometimes grants to you.

Here you will find The Beatles story straight from the mouths of the people who experienced it! A thoroughly enjoyable history. Put on a Beatles album. Turn up the volume. And sit back and enjoy.

Assuming any prospective reader is already interested in the history of the Beatles, don't be misled that it's all been said before. There is new material in this book, but more importantly, it legitimizes random folklore into direct quotes. It also chronicles events in the early years that are less researched I think. The author seems to purposely omit any reflection or opinion. This pulls you through the entire saga, devoid of the usual narrative, fully aware of the grim undertows that you always know are there. The back of the jacket photo says it all. It's an extremely haunting photo of a locked gate to Strawberry Field. It looks so abandoned while it continues to beckon you. Not unlike this book. Why it is not on the cover instead of the back I'll never know.

As many Canadians are aware, authors Pritchard and Lysaght have produced critically acclaimed radio documentaries on The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. This seductive transcription of interviews conducted over the past 15 years stands apart from the glut of Beatles post-mortems and attempts at academic analysis of their lives and music by the simple virtue of reflecting what the individuals they knew really thought about them as people. Essential to any serious Beatles library.

One of the worst Stones books I ever read. Rehashed qqoutes from other books. Hardly any Brian Jones. I would not recommend this to anyone. Absolutely horrible. What a waste of money.

A wonderful book by the Stones "archivist". I highly recommend this book to all Stones enthusiasts.

Best Beatle book, PERIOD!!!