Customer Reviews

Beatlesongs

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Beatlesongs is THE book for the stories behind the songs by one of the best musical groups of all time. It gives all the facts (who wrote the song, when it was recorded, etc.)as well as critical views of the songs (comments from Beatles and others). This book also shows discrepancies in the facts behind the music. Arranged in a well-organized format, it is the ideal Beatle reference book. It has settled many disputes about the music for me personally. All in all, this is a wonderful book. It is well researched, and anyone would be hard pressed to prove any of the information presented therein wrong. I consider it a must-have for any true Beatle fan.

I hate to be the sole dissenter here, but while "Beatlesongs" is an entertaining book to read, far too many of the "facts" articulated are incorrect.

The author has compiled information from numerous sources, but he has relied on far too many faulty ones. The most serious problems are found in the descriptions - lauded by many readers here - of which group member performed on the songs, and which parts they played. Mr. Dowlding seems to use as a source an older, similar and terribly flawed tome from the early 80's that was riddled with errors. The great number of references to John Lennon playing "lead guitar" are the most striking, since that rarely occurred ("Get Back", "Come Together" being definite times it did).

It's a fun book, but it is far from a definitive reference source. For that, readers are urged to read "Chronicle" by Mark Lewisohn; that book is THE reference source for details on the recording and performing careers of the Beatles.

An excellent companion book. I find myself constantly referring to when I listen to Beatle songs. The information on who played what, who wrote what is all there. The only disappointment is that I'd like to have had more beatle quotes. Some excellent songs have no quotes at all. Quotes from others are interesting also.

I realize I am in the minority, but I hated the Beatles Anthology Cd sets. The little music on the cd's was not worth the price. In contrast, this book is worth every penny for Beatles fans as it gives the reader a new look at the songs.

Dowlding takes a look at each Beatle song in this book and explains the authorship, meaning of the song, where it was recorded, quotes about the songs, as well as other miscellaneous information. I picked this book up several times at a book store. After reading through the book so many times in the store, I had to purchase and read the whole book. I was not disappointed.

While the book is not written in s story format, it is an easy read. You can skip around to your favorite Beatles songs and not miss a thing. I suggest reading the story behind "Octopus's Garden". It is a very interesting story as are many of the other stories.

The Beatles are, of course, one of the two best rock bands/artists ever (the other being Bob Dylan). This book makes listening to their tunes even more fun because you can find out exactly what went into the writing, recording, and packaging of each song. I have read through my copy of this book a number of times and the stories still have not gotten old. My only problem with the book is the way it totals the number of songs written by each Beatle and almost makes a contest out of it. That is not what the music is about. Other than that this is a fantastic book. Every Fab Four fan needs a copy.

If not for the "Anthology," this book would be the best Beatles book ever written. However, the "Anthology," bumps this book down to No. 2. No shame, of course, to be author of one of the best books ever written by THE best musical group of the twentieth century!
This book has everything you'd want to know about each individual song. It has every single instrument or vocal and who performed it. It includes not only the dates each song was recorded but, (for most songs), what was recorded on each date. It includes the real authorship of each song. For example, it will say under "Can't Buy Me Love,":
"McCartney (.9) and Lennon (.1), meaning McCartney wrote 90% of the song, and Lennon 10%. The book includes information about each single and album, how it did on the charts, and roughly how many copies were sold. There are quotes by the Beatles and other musicians and people about songs. This is definitely one of the best Beatles book ever written. To quote the author in his introduction, "This is the book I always wanted to find in a bookstore." If you want to know the details about each Beatles song, this is the book for you.

This is a spectacular book, given that it tries to list authorship for each song. Unfortunately, the ratios given are that of a fan, just working out what he thinks in his mind, without any factual evidence. For example, he gives Ringo a 0.2 writing credit for 'what goes on'. where does that come from? And John giving a line on 'piggies' or 'taxman' is hardly 0.1 of the song. This is taking things too far and being pedantic. Anyome can contribute a one-liner to a song, but this hardly represents anything.
He also attributes songs like 'Wait' 50-50. This song has many people claiming Lennon wrote it, but Paul claims 'in his own write' to have done this himself, and he sings the lead vocal. Also where does the 0.65 and 0.35 come from in 'in my life'?

There are also factual errors. Many many of them. Harrison plays violin on 'don't pass me by'? No piano from John on Oba di obla da, even though the writer even notes John plays it. And the numerous mentions of John playing tambourine, when it is well known he could not keep rhythm well.

Still worth 5 stars, as it is a tremendous read and a good effort.

This book is both informative and entertaining. The only other comparable book I've read is by Tim Riley, which contains so much of Tim's own interpretations (and a lot of them are, IMO, simply wrong or ridiculous).

An example of what's neat about Beatlesongs is the evolution of "Strawberry Fields" from an acoustic ballad by John (written while he was filming, "How I won the war") to the heavy, psychedelic version that emerged when the Beatles screwed around with it in the studio (and what a song it turned out to be!).

In short, this book is a very satisfying read for the total Beatles fan.

This is by far the most important book for any Beatlemaniac to own--from the burgeoning fan to the certified nut. Be it the album, the song, or informative quotes, this book has all the info you need. Excellent. My own copy is battered and worn from years of use.

Beatle fans will love this as it tells a story about songs and also has words..as if we dont know them already!
I was at Shea Stadium, 1965!!!