Lennon and McCartney: Together Alone: A Critical Discography of the Solo Work (Paperback)

by John Blaney (Author) "MCCARTNEY'S first solo project outside of The Beatles was a commission to write incidental music for a film made by the Moulting Brothers..." (more)
Key Phrases: recording location unknown, customised labels, ihc song, Denny Laine, Yoko Ono, New York City (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Two of popular music's greatest writers and performers, John Lennon and Paul McCartney both went on to intriguing solo careers after their work with the Beatles. This book chronologically tells the story of their post-Beatles music, starting with McCartney’s soundtrack for the movie The Family Way and Lennon’s Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins with Yoko Ono. The book details Lennon and McCartney’s creative highs and lows in an authoritative and engaging critical fashion. Information for collectors includes release dates, catalog numbers, composer credits, recording personnel, recording studios used, and producer credits. There is also a keyed index to help trace each song and the albums it appears on. Lennon and McCartney: Together Alone tells the stories behind the songs of two giants of modern music.

About the Author
John Blaney is a passionate fan of The Beatles who brings to his writing the expertise and rigor of a professional historian. Born in Devon, England, he trained as a graphic designer before starting a career in music retail. He subsequently studied History of Art at Camberwell College of Arts and Goldsmith College (both in London) before taking up his present post as curator of a museum of technology. He is the author and publisher of previous books on both Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Jawbone Press (March 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1906002029
• ISBN-13: 978-1906002022
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,160 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Research, Insights And Revelations !, March 31, 2007

By	Brien Comerford (Glenview, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

John Blaney has written a book loaded with verifiable insights, revelations and little known facts about John Lennon and McCartney. To be honest I thought I was a master of knowledge in reference to McCartney. Blaney blows me way. I had no idea how many side projects and charitable musical ventures that McCartney has engaged in. He descibes the themes and nuances of all of McCartney's lyrics and songs. For example "Off The Ground" is by far Paul McCartney's most political album as he pontificates about universal peace, animal rights, protecting the environment, idyllic love and racial harmony. Blaney also unveils that McCartney is a very spiritual individual. The Firemen CDs and Paul's vegetarianism and classical works are thoroughly discussed. As for John Lennon, this book made me feel like he is still alive. EVery significant post 1980 John Lennon media and musical development or event is discussed in detail. A must have book for people who love John Lennon, Paul McCartney, both of them or only one of them.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Critical discography of Lennon & McCartney solo releases, June 22, 2007

By	Wayne Klein "If at first the idea is not absu... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Lennon & McCartney go together like peanut butter and jelly--they are complimentary but with distinct different flavors. John Blaney's critical discography will make fans both happy and mad--while he completely covers the duo's recorded output (to the time this was written after "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard")giving information on the recordings, trivia about the songs and how they charted, he also gives us his opinions some of which Beatles fans will disagree with. On the whole, though, Blaney is on the mark in his assessment of the strengths/weaknesses of their various songs and recordings.

For example, Blaney discusses Lennon's "Mind Games" assessing the final product as the type of bland music that Lennon thought fans and the record company might want. While that might be true of some of the material on "Mind Games" he also points to the stronger recordings/songs as well. Personally, I disagree with some of his critical assessments of the songs on "Mind Games" but he makes strong, valid points for his opinions. As with "Mind Games", Blaney is equally unforgiving of McCartney's "Red Rose Speedway" which he basically suggests is a half finished album lacking cohesion and capable lyrics. Again, his assessment is often on target although one could argue with him about some of the songs on the album. There are a number of opinions here that while informed a Beatles-Lennon/McCartney critical fan would disagree with. The only major flaw with the book is numerous proof reading errors aside from that, Blaney's book is well thought out, argued and intelligently written (even if you do disagree with his opinions).

Blaney has done his research and whether or not you agree to disagree with him he has written an impressive book on the post-Beatles careers both men had. Like Bruce Spizer's books on The Beatles Capitol and Apple recordings, Blaney tries to be as exhaustive and accurate as possible. He also includes bits of trivia that even I wasn't aware of for example that "Jamrag" which is credited to Lennon and Ono was actually a Frank Zappa song called "King Kong" that the two credited to themselves on the "Sometime in New York City" album. While Lennon and Ono appear on the recording itself they had absolutely nothing to do with the song which Zappa had written before their onstage collaboration.

He even discusses McCartney's side projects such as "Thrillington" (and points out that while McCartney attacked arranger Richard Hewson's over-the-top arrangement for "The Long and Winding Road" he collaborated with Hewson to create "Thrillington" commissioning him to write the orchestral arrangements of the songs from "Ram"), The Firemen and Twin Freaks.

The book comes separate discographies for both Lennon and McCartney as well as a list of collaborations that both men did with other artists as songwriters/producers/performers. You may disagree with Blaney's opinion (or not)but he's done a marvelous job of cataloging both Lennon and McCartney's post-Beatles careers and putting them into perspective by discussing the circumstances that helped create the variuos albums they made.

Oh, and I think the cover is kind of cool. I've often felt that Lennon & McCartney were a perfect compliment to each other as songwriters and this is a visual that suggests that as well.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An inexpensive alternative to his previous volumes, June 29, 2007

By	shep "shep" (Princeton, NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

Mr. Blaney has previously written two excellent detailed song-by-song discocraphies, one on Lennon "Listen to this book" and one on McCartney "The songs he was singing". This new book "Together Alone" appears to be a slightly revised combination and abridgement of his two earlier titles, with somewhat less discographic detail. It is a cheaper, one-volume version, and as such is a very good buy. For those who already have the 2 earlier books, this new one is largely redundant.