Come Together: The Business Wisdom of the Beatles [Hardcover]

Richard Courtney (Author), George Cassidy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2011

As the greatest rock and roll band of all time, the Beatles rocketed to worldwide fame soon after their 1964 arrival in the United States. Much of their achievement can be attributed to the unique Beatle sound, but it was more than just the music that catapulted them to the summit of success, and kept them there even after the band ceased touring and broke apart. How the Beatles both failed and triumphed as businessmen and the lessons today’s entrepreneurs and business leaders can draw from this unique journey is the subject of Come Together: The Business Wisdom of the Beatles. Authors Richard Courtney and George Cassidy recount the band’s many exploits, from its early struggles in Hamburg to the success of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and beyond, revealing from a business perspective what worked and what didn’t. More than the music, this book explores what it took to pass the audition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Treat[s] the Beatles’ successes and failures as a sort of Rosetta Stone not just for aspiring rock stars, but also for businesspeople everywhere…It’s an intriguing idea.”

 

Amy Wallace, The New York Times

 

“Once you read Come Together, you’ll never look at the Fab Four the same way again.”

 

Rieva Lesonsky, SmallBizDaily.com

 

“Come Together is one of the most innovative books ever on the Beatles. They don’t teach it like this in business school, but they should. It’s like getting an MBA from the greatest band in history.”

 

Larry Kane, Author of Ticket to Ride and the New York Times bestseller Lennon Revealed

From the Inside Flap

The premise of this book is quite simple: the steps that The Beatles took to become the most successful rock band of all time can be successfully applied to any business venture.

 

Their success was not a fluke, nor was it simply the inevitable result of their immense talent. Come Together chronicles the calculated and often brilliant effort that turned four teenaged greasers from Liverpool, England, into a multi-billion dollar franchise with multigenerational appeal.

 

In 100 concise lessons, you will follow the steps taken by the Beatles to get to the top of their field time and time again for nearly 50 years. Along the way, you will see familiar episodes of Beatle history in a new light. And you will learn never-before-published information gleaned through interviews with Beatle insiders like Joey Molland, Louise Harrison, Geoff Emerick, May Pang, Jack Oliver, Nancy Andrews, Chris Huston, and Tony Bramwell.

 

Once and for all, this book dispels the myth that the Beatles, for all their musical brilliance, were bunglers in the business arena. In Come Together, the Beatles are unveiled as the ultimate business case study - one that will be of interest to any entrepreneurs and Beatle fans worldwide.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 306 pages
• Publisher: Turner; First Edition edition (March 21, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596528087
• ISBN-13: 978-1596528086
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,354 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read, full of good information & advice March 5, 2011

By Bill Decker

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a great book - fun to read and full of good information & advice. As a business management book, it does a great job of presenting solid business principles in an interesting (and memorable) way. As a book on the Beatles, it provides a host of unique stories about the story of how they "came together" to become such a success. The format of the book makes for easy reading, with short chapters each focused on a specific business topic and illustrated by a snippet of Beatles history. I found myself looking forward each day to reading a quick chapter or two, and often found myself thinking back during the day to what I had read earlier. Is this book a comprehensive textbook of business strategy? No. Is it a comprehensive history of the Beatles? No. Instead, it is an enjoyable read and certain to both (1) remind you of some business principles deserving attention, & (2) provide a number of interesting stories about how the Beatles made it to the top.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice niche March 24, 2011

By Robert Rombach

Format:Hardcover

This book is built in a very cool way. Short chapters. Good insights. Practical, relevant and entertaining. This would be a great addition to any Beatles fans bookshelf. It would also be a great addition to any entrepreneur's or business owner's bookshelf.

The authors do a great job identifying the nuggets of truth from the career of the Beatles from beginning to The End. Well planned out and while it is chronological, it doesn't need to be read in order. Just flip it open and start reading.

Highly recommended!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The success and the failures of the Beatles contains business lessons for all March 4, 2011

By Charles Ashbacher HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

No one that was not alive and a follower of pop music (as I was) when the Beatles were hot and when they broke up can understand the depth of their influence. There were many rumors about their demise before the event but when it was announced nearly every conversation that was started between friends began with, "Did you hear about the Beatles?"
This book is interesting on two levels, the first is the tidbits of Beatles history and the second are the lessons on managing a business that the authors derive from it. There is no question that all the Beatles were incredibly talented musicians and that their rise to the "Toppermost of the Poppermost" was meteoric. There was no way that their business talents could ever approach the level of their musical abilities so it was inevitable that major errors were made.
The book is a series of short vignettes where a point of Beatles history is mentioned followed by a description of the business consequences and what others can learn from it. While most of the stories are based on a problem or failure, there were some major successes and that should be emphasized. One important note to be made is that all four of the lads were still very young men when they broke up, only two of them had even reached thirty years of age. Given where they started, how far up they went and how successful they were after the breakup, even their problems could not damp down their talent.
The stories cover their success as well as the breakup and many of the causes of the split. Each of the items does have relevance to even the smallest of businesses, whether it is a single proprietorship or a complex corporate structure. There are some very important lessons about the management of business in this book and the history lesson is an added bonus.