Customer Reviews

Beatles Undercover with CD (Audio)

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This is really a terrific book for a lot of reasons -- best of all it's completely fun to read (you won't be able to put it down) plus it's so packed with rare and esoteric information that in about five minutes you'll have absorbed enough obscure factoids to impress anybody at the next Beatles convention, and even sound nearly as expert as author Kristofer Engelhardt himself, a true Beatles scholar and collector who has lovingly gathered the information here for the past seven years. That in itself is extraordinary: how many writers have spent seven years researching one book? And the author's ambitious scope is immediately obvious: it's amazing how active and involved the Beatles have been in other musicians' recording sessions from the most famous (Dylan, Beach Boys, Zappa) to the utterly obscure (Crowbar, Splinter, Timon, though most musicians here will be familiar) as well as to combinations of both (who were all those players in 'Elephant's Memory'? ).

But what makes this book really so valuable is that Engelhardt has a professional historian's fanaticism for accuracy. Full disclosure: I've been lucky enough to know couple of the musicians discussed here (Dennis and Brian Wilson, guitar legend Jesse Ed Davis) and the facts Engelhardt entertainingly lays out in BEATLES UNDERCOVER are all rock-solid as far as I can tell. Tangential rant: it's not widely known but a lot of rock and roll "history" books are junk...woefully inaccurate and historically useless, with various tales, myths and canards repeated ad infinitum verbally and then immortalized in print by so-called professional writers who really don't know what they're talking about (Steve Gaines' book on the Beach Boys is a glaring example... ). Here you get the real thing -- as far as I can tell everything here is solid gold you can take to the bank, and no doubt BEATLES UNDERCOVER will be must-read basic source material for all future writers with a serious interest in the Beatles and the 60's-and-beyond pop music scene.

Besides the Beatles' own stories there's a further interest served with Engelhardt's fascinating and erudite thumbnail overviews of the careers of all the non-Beatle artists discussed. If you didn't know that Count Basie was born in 1904, started on the drums and then studied piano with Fats Waller, it's all here, and if BEATLES UNDERCOVER does neglect to mention that Jesse Ed Davis claimed to have taught Duane Allman how to play the slide guitar -- a claim with substantial merit it turns out -- that's only because the Beatles never jammed with the Allman brothers ... because if they had, they'd be in this book!. A great read, and a major piece of scholarship that will be re-read for pleasure and consulted for serious study for a long time to come.

I am a Beatles freak (I just attended the 1999 Beatlefest in Irvine, CA two days ago), but checked this book out of the library reluctantly, thinking it would mainly be boring trivia, and maybe 5 pages out of the whole book would be interesting. Books that categorize minutae are mainly good as RESEARCH books worth pulling off a shelf only when you need to look up a fact, rather than good READING experiences. But, boy, was I pleasantly suprised to find this to be a riveting piece of work. It includes fascinating facts you'd never learn anywhere else, plus, best of all, there are some wonderful stories about the Beatles in these pages. And they are well written. One of my big complaints about a lot of "historical" books is that the authors are often brilliant RESEARCHERS, but they are dull WRITERS. But Englehardt has that rare and blessed combination of being a great researcher and a first-rate writer. I kept reading the book, thinking it had to bog down somewhere, but it really kept my interest from the first page to the last.

Having praised the book so highly, I do have to add that the music on the CD that comes with it is not very good. It's interesting for one listen to hear songs that individual Beatles were involved in. But you probably won't want to play it more after the first listen has satisfied your curiosity about it.

But the book is suprisingly good, and should be read by anyone who considers him/herself a diehard Beatles fan.

Beatles Undercover is mandatory reading for any fan of the fab four.It not only lists every conceivable session that The Beatles played on that was not a Beatles project -(UNDER "cover" - get it?), but it gives an in-depth bio on the people who played with John, Paul, George & Ringo. Doris Troy, David Peel, Denny Laine, Jo Jo Laine (who phoned me last night!), and many more.Alvin Lee's "Real Life Blues" featuring Jon Lord of Deep Purpleand George Harrison is just oneexample of the nuggets uncovered here. The bio information on thesongs and the artists is even morein-depth than ROCK ENCYCLOPEDIA byLillian Roxon, which set the standard way back in the sixties.And that is the highest praise I cangive this or any book

Kristofer Engelhardt's book "Beatles Undercover" is a detailed and comprehensive look into The Beatles' session work for over 200 recording artists. The author interviewed a tremendous number of musicians who worked with The Beatles. Many of them recount their previously undocumented musical encounters with The Beatles. Years of exhausting and painstaking research obviously went into the making of this fascinating work. For fans of The Beatles who are jaded by the same old rehashed information this book will be a revelation. The wealth of beautiful b&w and color photos and reproductions of documents alone makes this a "must have" book. It belongs on the bookshelf of every self-respecting fan of The Beatles or fans of the dozens of other famous artists covered in the book. If that weren't enough this 550 page book also includes a bonus CD of previously unreleased recordings produced by John Lennon. What a treat and what a bargain at $26.00. If you thought there was nothing new under the sun about The Beatles, prepare to be amazed by "Beatles Undercover."

Ernie Clark

I believe this is a must for those seeking a highly informative and yet a simple to read book. I commend Kris Engelhards' dedication and perseverance for eight years on excellent research. I love that a CD is enclosed with three songs that John Lennon had produced and one that he had penned. In fact, this may be the first time anyone besides those who were involved with the recording has ever heard. I also might add, that I am one of the two singers on this CD that was honored to have worked with John, Lori Burton

Kris has done a fantastic and exhaustive amount of research to bring to you a book the likes of which you have never seen. The contribution these lads from Liverpool added to the music world is all presented in this book. With fame constantly nipping at their heals, a normal lifestyle was difficult at best. The desire to perform, produce or in someway collaborate with other musicians was very difficult to do, yet a neccessary part of their character. How to do this was another question. Kris has unearthed some very interesting times and places that one of the Beatles found a way to share their notoriety with other musicians. Beatles Undercover is presented in a very user friendly fashion, listing in alphabetical order any group or musician any of the Beatles ever worked with! If you are looking for juicy or spicy gossip, this is not the book for you. How nice to see a book published with facts. Beatles Undercover is an offering of respect and love for what the Beatles impact had on the music industry as a whole, from producing to arranging to delivery, they changed it all. While the change was happening they found a way to share their "wealth" with other musicians. This book certainly is the cornerstone to all Beatle collections.

The truest test of any nonfiction writer is the ability to work within the limits imposed by the methods employed in the collection of data. Kris has passed the test with flying colors in Beatles Undercover. He manages to maintain an objective stance even though the information available is scant enough to substantiate any personal bias. A "must" for any rock and roll reference collection.

I looked at this book for 20 minutes and still had no idea what it was about. I have every book about the Beatles but to me, this was a piece of garbage. This is the only book I've ever returned in my life-anywhere.