Customer Reviews

Blackbird

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

at how utterly ATROCIOUS this work is! This is ghastly and appalling and slander, plain and simple. It is bad enough that the author neglects to do his homework. Inaccuracies regarding dates and other documented facts abound; slanderous attacks against Paul McCartney's wife Linda are numerous.

Although I am an inveterate Beatles fan, I do not regard the Beatles as "sacred cows." It isn't so much that the author has thrown negative items into the mix. It is his approach. He appears to be looking for anything he can to smear the McCartneys. This is disgraceful! I am so glad I borrowed this from the library instead of wasting my hard earned money on it.

What this author fails to realize is that Paul and Linda have contributed so much to the world at large. Paul used his artistic talents and natural intelligence and Linda her love for children, animals and environmental issues. They were clearly a rock solid couple and loving parents to their children. Theirs is truly a story of love, commitment and respect for one another.

The author appears to have a real axe to grind and one cannot help but wonder why. He is no "Paperback Writer!"

In the words of Paul McCartney in 1964, "then we will remember things we said today."

In my opinion, this book is not as bad as many people think it is, although it is certainly not the best. Let's just say, it offers a different angle... The weakness of the book is, of course, that a big part of it is based on interviews with people who felt mistreated and not fully appreciated by McCartney. I also found it annoying that the author took liberty to criticize the musical quality of certain songs and albums that I had always admired. It just reminded me of those lame newspaper columns that show up each time Paul releases a new CD - articles written by those musically challenged grungy "rock experts" who can't stand anything that is NOT neurotic, ugly and angry - in other words, something they could identify with! On the other hand, having been a dedicated fan of the Beatles and Paul McCartney for over 20 years now, I was not at all offended by reading that Paul was not a saint. It wasn't hard for me to imagine. Most talented people have difficult personalities. And, yes, the book does show, no matter what the author's intention was, that Paul McCartney IS an outstanding genius, one of the gratest musicians and songwriters of all time. Somehow, I tend to believe Denny Laine, his ex-wife, and many others, who told Giuliano their bitter stories. Unfortunately, we all hurt people's feelings from time to time, and you can't always please everybody. The problem is that when Giuliano put it all together in one book without even bothering to balance it with any other information, he ended up with a very biased picture. However, any intelligent reader, especially an educated McCartney fan, should have no difficulty seeing the real human being - with all his weaknesses and enormous, extraordinary talents, someone who has his ups and downs, - behind the biased portrait painted by Giuliano. And, from this standpoint, I found the book interesting to read. As for Denny Laine, I'm sure he himself now feels uncomfortable about some bits of his interviews that made it into the book. I don't think he ever fancied himself as the 2nd John Lennon, or something. After all, he is a talented guy and a good musician - otherwise he wouldn't have played with McCartney for more than 8 years! Obviously, he holds a grudge, and, most likely, he has his reasons. But don't judge the guy. It was Guiliano's fault that he practically built a book on those personal comments and called it "The Life and Times of Paul McCartney." (By the way, the edition that I have lists only Giuliano as the author.)

The author depends heavily on old interviews (that fans have probably read elsewhere) along with his own interviews with disguntled ex-Wings member Denny Laine and Laine's ex-girlfriend, both of whom obviously have an ax to grind. Their intense dislike of McCartney results in pettiness that is indeed laughable. If you deeply dislike Paul McCartney, you will be pleased with this book; if you are a fan or if you are looking for a factual, objective source of information you should definitely look elsewhere. The losers in McCartney's life get here an opportunity to have a go at him . Most of these were related to the awful Wings business. Furthermore he suggests that the writing partnership of McCartney and Denny Laine will be better appreciated in the future . Is this a joke? There are many other instances of the author crawling . He refers to several minor personalities as gifted , talented etc . This is irritating . Frankly, I believe this book it's a bummer.

A reader wrote that "Geoffery Guiliano makes it his life to put out as much as he can about the life of The Beatles..." Well, actually, Guiliano makes it his life to try and dig up dirt and when he can't, just makes it up as he goes along.

Guiliano has long been known as the very worst kind of Beatles opportunist; somehow, likely by sheer volume, he's developed a reputation as an "expert", but he's traded on his friendships with Fab Four hangers-ons to pump out cheap low-brow books (mostly picture books, appropriately) and talk CD's on the group and the various members. Clearly, he doesn't really LIKE the group that much, as he is hell-bent on demystifying them.

With "Blackbird" he's set his sights on Paul McCartney. For his primary research he's pretty much limited himself to Denny Laine and his wife Jo Jo (clearly beloved by Guiliano who describes her in glowing, flowery terms and dotes on her "talent"), who clearly have a MASSIVE axe to grind and their dislike of McCartney is palpable on every page. Guiliano delights in this all, as he spins a tale of a massive egomaniac of limited talent and range, a complete fraud and probably a commie - everything but gay (which he saves in his hatchet job of Lennon in "Lennon in America"). So...given the extreme bias of the "primary research", it throws the legitimacy of the entire book into question...and thus, finds the book to be deserving of being thrown out altogether.

Look folks...really...there is absolutely NOTHING whatsoever of value, historical interest or entertainment on this lightweight piece of junk. It's just designed simply to separate the casual Beatles fan from more of his hard-earned money. You're smarter than that, I just know you are. Don't buy this - if the public avoids this miserable type of garbage, hopefully Guiliano might someday go away.

Oh...don't buy his CD's or videos either.

For a book that is as rotten as Mr. Giuliano's. Um, if you hate McCartney,and his late wife Linda(god rest her soul)so much then why'd you write a book about them?

It sufferes from the biases of several people who have been associated with the McCartneys(Denny and ...JoJo Laine.Linda comes off as being a it-rhymes-with-witch at times. But then again, JoJo Laine has a lot to gain(it rhymes!)by expressing her(negative)opinion of the McCartneys. She claims that they were drug users. Interesting given the story in the book about JoJo selling spare tickets she stole to get drug money, Tsk tsk. Giuliano also drags out Paul's former stepmother and stepsister who lost out on the McCartney millions once Paul's father died and that Paul didn't help them out

Giuliano also manages to get in digs at Yoko Ono(granted, she isn't high on Beatles' fans lists of favorite people)but he stoops pretty low just the same.If you've read any of his books you know that Mr.Giuliano wishes that he were some sort of music insider,which he obviously isn't(read any of his other books on the Beatles-of which there are many)for proof of this.And more than that, it's just BORING!!and there's stuff in there that I'd read a zillion times before, in other, better, Beatle bios.The one good thing about this book is that there are some great pictures in it.Otherwise,it'd be a waste of your money.

I was this close to buying this book at Amazon.com until I read all the bad reviews for it so I decided to borrow it from a library instead. Boy, I am now glad I didn't waste my money on this trash. I know that Paul McCartney wasn't as angelic as his image portrayed him when he was a Beatle but the author of this book makes him out to be a drugged out sleaze bag. It's a real shame trees had to die so this book could get printed. The only purpose this book serves is to line the bottom of a birdcage.

This book is frighteningly full of factual errors. Example: the author actually prints one of his erroneous statements directly under the one photograph that provides evidence to prove the statement wrong. The parade of factual errors which are easy to disprove is mind-boggling. That combined with the writing style of a seventh-grader makes this one pathetic piece of work.

Geoffrey Giuliano seems to be deeply conflicted about Paul McCartney. On the one hand, he acknowledges Sir Paul's awesome musical genius by commenting favorably about a number of his songs in the book. On the other, he seems determined to trash his subject's reputation by seeking out and quoting at great length two people he knows will "dish dirt" -- whether true or not is a matter of opinion -- about the ex-Beatle; that is, Denny Laine and Jo Jo Laine.
A few of the incidents in the book also have a "made up out of whole cloth" feel about them, such as John Lennon's supposedly smashing a window in Paul's house on one occasion, and ripping a painting from the wall and demolishing it on another. In neither case, as Giuliano tells it, does McCartney do anything to retaliate or get back his own -- just stands there in frustrated impotence. Is this intended to make McCartney look like a weakling -- not quite a "real man" -- and Lennon to appear as a daring, macho "tough guy?" Remember, the book Giuliano wrote about Lennon was titled "John Lennon, My Brother," which might lead one to believe he idolizes Lennon and wants to tear down McCartney as a definite threat to that idol.
If you hate Paul McCartney, you'll love "Blackbird."

If you're the kind of fan who thinks it is a sin to write anything negative about Paul McCartney, stay away from this book. Yes, the author is heavily partial towards Denny Laine and suspiciously supportive of Paul's stepsister Ruth. But he does provide some unusual views of Paul's career. One thing that is difficult for some hardcore fans to understand is that everyone has a right to give their side of the story. All I can say is that I really enjoyed reading this book. And somehow I thought I would when I read the negative reviews from the "Paul-can-do-no-wrong" supporters who felt offended by it.

The world of rock journalism is rife with shoddy writing, biased agendas, unfair ad hominem barbs, and sub-Nietzschean posturing. While this literary school has produced many noteworthy opinionated hacks, such as Robert Christgau, Albert Goldman, et al., Geoffrey Giuliano may very well be the prime exponent of this proud tradition.

Blackbird is, to put it simply, an utter waste of time, space and sorely needed trees. As some other reviewers have already mentioned, Giuliano's primary sources are disgruntled McCartney ex-employees, as well as the ex-wife of one of those ex-employees: of whom the author is apparently obsessed with, as he fawns over her incessantly in print, and has several pictures of her included. This is a little odd, as the book is ostensibly about Paul McCartney. (Giuliano also has numerous pictures of himself included in the photo spread, much to our collective indifference).

But it's one thing to produce a readable book that is filled with unreliable smear; it's quite another to produce an unreliable book that is rendered unreadable by sleazy, melodramatic prose. Giuliano is the veritable poster-child of such prose.

If you must read this, then be sure to check it out of your local public library. This book was, I think, the first McCartney bio, and accordingly most public libraries have a copy. And if you absolutely must buy this, then be sure to check out your local used-book store, as the one I shop at has about 7 copies of this tripe for sale.