Eight Days a Week: Inside the Beatles' Final World Tour [Hardcover]

Robert Whitaker (Photographer), Marcus Hearn (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Metro Books (2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905287755
• ISBN-13: 978-1905287758
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 10.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,392,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Backstage Pass to The Beatles in Concert!, November 9, 2008

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Eight Days a Week: Inside the Beatles' Final World Tour (Hardcover)

Beatles fans will enjoy this marvelous photo guide to the group's last tour, a June-July 1966 romp that took them from Germany to Alaska then to Japan and the Philippines. Accompanying them was their official photographer, Robert Whitaker, who took the snaps found in this 256 page METRO BOOKS volume and supplied the accompanying narrative. EIGHT DAYS A WEEK offers an unparalleled, behind-the-scenes look at the Fab Four in action.

By 1966 the Beatles were just about burned out by touring. The endless trips were deadening, the overall experience being one of "airport-cab-hotel-van-concert-van-hotel-cab-airport." At the concerts themselves, the screams of the crowds drowned out the music.

The photos in EIGHT DAYS A WEEK document the drudgery and the fun times. There are endless shots of the Beatles killing time in hotels, rehearsing their numbers, meeting with local celebs, performing, screaming fans, etc. It's great to see so many new and previously unpublished shots of "the lads" but you sometimes wonder about the chintzy arrangements they made do with, etc.

The experience in the Phillipines may have been the straw that broke the Beatles' back. Unintentionally snubbing Imelda Marcos, the group found themselves under siege by angry Filipinos and without police protection. Before their aircraft was permitted to leave, Brian Epstein was forced to give back all the money the Beatles had earned in the P.I.

The candids Whitaker took back in 1966 and the accompanying commentary he supplied for the book offer an entertaining and insightful window into the world of the Beatles circa 1966. The photography is first-rate and Whitaker's remarks are perceptive and sometimes touching. In short, a great book for any Beatles fan! Recommended.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EIGHT DAYS A WEEK AND 12 MONTHS A YEAR, November 10, 2008

By 

cynicalgirl "Susan" (Laurel MS USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Eight Days a Week: Inside the Beatles' Final World Tour (Hardcover)

I still remember when the Beatles announced they would stop touring. They would never have come to MY hometown but still it was great to think that maybe someday I would see them LIVE. Well, I didn't but this book is a wonderful memory of that last special tour and also makes it easy to understand why the touring had to end. It was wonderful to see "the lads" all so young and happy. Beautiful memories that will last forever.