Customer Reviews

Liddypool: Birthplace of The Beatles

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David Bedford has done the seemingly impossible: he has retraced the Beatles history in Liverpool and has compiled what is arguably the most amazing book on the the Fab Four and their roots.

In all, 27 musicians and countless name changes has comprised what is known as the Beatles. He dispels myths, interviews old mates, and has pictures of every venue the Beatles every played. This is not just a coffee table book but a valuable resource.

Bedford, a Liverpudlian, spent 10 years conducting research on "Liddypool" and his efforts have paid off.

Well done!

Having been a Beatles fan since 1963, I can pretty much say I've read just about e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g that's ever been written about The Beatles.
Some has been great stuff, some good, some mediocre, and some, I don't even know HOW they found a traditional publisher to actually print it!
BUT...then David Bedford took a decade and wrote Liddypool.
It's very true... as it says... IF you want to know The Beatles, then you have to know where they came from.

David Bedford takes you there in an exquisitely done book with photographs even a long time fan like I am has never seen!
FABulous!

I bet Paul and Ringo even have a copy of this one!

:)

I ordered this book on the recommendation of Jay Johnson, co-owner of Fab Cabs, a Beatles tour service in Liverpool. My wife and I took the tour after the National Trust visit of Lennon and McCartney's homes. At tine end of the day, we both agreed that there was but a handful of sites we had not seen. And, as a fan since 1963, I believed that I knew a majority of what was to be known about the band.

Wrong...completely and totally wrong.

It's hard to categorize Liddypool. It's an oversimplification to call it a history of The Beatles. Nor is it a gazetteer of Beatles related sites. However, it contains information that falls into both categories. It is also neither a puff piece nor hatchet-job about how The Beatles came to be. Finally, it does not try or provide any explanation for why Beatlemania happened.

So, what is it?

Well, let's say it is an opportunity to get answers to virtually every question you may have had about how the band came to be. This aspect is presented very early in the book when the author list 10 questions about the band, followed by citations of where to find the answers. Some may think this arrogance; some may think it's overkill. After all, who needs to know what 27 people were, at one time or another, in bands with one or more of the Fab Four? Does anyone need to know each and every site at which predecessor versions of the band played?

Yes, there are people who want and need to know this sort of stuff. They're not all the people who journey to Liverpool for the tours. It's a subset of that group, It's persons who - in front room of Mendips - start weeping. It is those people for whom The Beatles were not just a favorite band but was a part of their life.

And so, Liddypool - the name applied to the city in a Lennon poem found in his first book - is, to my mind, a family album covering the period from their births to their triumphant return to stand on the city hall balcony. The book uses copious interviews carried out over a 10 year period to chronicle how it happened with as little bias as I imagine is humanly possible. That's not to say there is nothing controversial discussed. In fact, I would be very surprised if mst readers do not learn something they didn't know or with which they might even disagree. The author's narrative is driven by the personal recollections by many of those involved; again some well-known and others virtually unknown. Period and current photosgraphs are interspersed; again a good number being new and/or less wfrequently published.

After telling the story, the book provides a series of tours of Liverpool and its environs. These include not just the locations you know and not just the locations you want to know. It also has one of the more complete links of song titles and lyrics to places.

A wonderful book, bringing the reader much, much closer to John, Paul, George and Ringo...and virtual cast of thousands.

This book stands in the top ranks of the hundreds on The Beatles in my library. Included are many beautiful photos in this large format, some are quite rare. All have been assembled with great care in historical order. Overflowing with fantastic stories and interviews with everyone possible in Liverpool. Also includes great walking tour maps and guides, I wish I had these on my visit. Overall it makes me want to return to this friendly city and dip into the best part of the past again. A great resource and must have for any serious fan. And, yes, I too think Ringo and Paul have it and they must love it as much as we do.

Amazingly well researched, written, and presented. This book should be required reading for anyone professing to be a Beatles fan. The work offers insightful information from the sources and offers "never before written", sound theories and explanations of subjects such as Pete Best's sacking, Brian Epstein's introduction to the band, and the most detailed assessment of the Quarrymen ever published.For those who have read all the others, be prepared to rethink all you know and have learned. For those new to the Beatles, this is the best foundation available. I love this book.

David Bedford is a genius. It's as simple as that.

Liverpool is a bustling, northern England coastal sea town that has since become synonymous with Beatles because it is the city where all 4 Beatles were born. Readers learn about the history of this sea town and the people, places and influences that helped shape and create the Beatles.

David Bedford answers just about every question known to Beatle fankind in re the genesis of the Beatles' coming together. He provides lists of questions AND answers and cites his sources meticulously. This is not a book of trivia; it is a book of factual details that many fans might not have otherwise known.

Beatle researchers and people whose special interest is the Beatles will avidly read this book, gladly taking in the knowledge that David Bedford so kindly and painstakingly provided. The Beatles, a nonpareil band (the World's Number One Band) are a part of everybody's life. Countless artists to this day have been influenced by the Beatles and, if not for the Beatles, other artists would not have been heard, such as the Dave Clark 5 and other British invasions. The iconic Beatle haircut found its way on the heads of many young people and seeing Beatle coiffure in American as well as British bands was very common during the Beatles' run. Anglophilia was very much in vogue and, the Beatles as well as the countless English artists they would go on to influence provided an English handshake around the world. Listeners and fans from places outside of the British Isles developed an interest and fondness for English culture and English history.

John Lennon unwittingly supplied the title for his book. In his 1964 classic book, "In His Own Write" followed in 1965 with a second book, "A Spaniard in the Works," John Lennon's Lewis Carollian style writing led him to play with words, spelling, use and arrangement and that included "Liddypool." His 1965 classic "In My Life" could easily be the soundtrack of this book.

Readers are treated to many interviews the Beatles gave during their career together. How David Bedford was able to write this book from an objective standpoint without slipping into Beatlemania is a feat that is nothing short of remarkable. Given the depth and extent of detail, one cannot help but think this gifted author has to be a Beatles' fan. To his credit, he keeps things on an even keel.

As a bonus treat, readers get to take a Magical Mystery Tour of Liverpool and take in the scenery there. Readers also get some more background of songs the Beatles wrote and how Liverpool, their town of birth had a large impact on what they wrote.

An A+ book, one of the best biographies of the Beatles to date. I give it a hearty yeah, yeah, yeah! This is a must have for any Beatles' library.

Really terrific stuff about Liverpool, with all the pre-fame happenings, right up the Beatlemania era. Not like many Beatles books (and there are hundreds), this one tells it like it was from the Liverpool scene, where the fabulous Beatles hail from.

This is an amazingly detailed, thoroughly researched and fascinating book. The quality of the printing and design is very high. I found it a pleasure to look at and revealing and entertaining to read.

Having grown up with John Lennon in Liverpool and been a close friend of his during the 12 years of schooling that we shared between 1945 and 1957, I thought I knew all that was worth knowing about the Beatles' Merseyside story. I was wrong.

Anyone with even a remote interest in the subject of the book won't be disappointed by its contents.

I'm very glad to have purchased this book. As someone asked already, "do we really need another book on the Beatles and Liverpool?" In this case, the answer is YES, and this book is the one you need for Beatle and Liverpool background information and history. I did my Beatle's tour in 2004, so many of these sites I'd seen. But there are far more that I missed and now I wish I could return to see today. Some of those sites you see when visiting Liverpool are only viewed from outside, or from a distance.John's and Paul's childhood homes need a reservation to visit inside. In this book, you're at the door step, or right inside. It seems if theres a place the Beatles touched, or played, it's shown here. Great quantity of pictures, and great quality pictures abound throughout this book. Many of the surviving people that knew and played with the Beatles are interviewed and pictured as they were then, and are today. I can't recommend this book enough to Beatles fans and those wanting to know their background. If you can't afford a trip to Liverpool, this is the next best thing. I highly recommend thisbook! Glad to I bought it for my Beatles collection.

I'm more interested in the later stages of Beatledom, but nonetheless, this book sucked me right into 1950s Liverpool. I actually started by reading the extensive `Liverpool stories' in the middle. As Steve Jobs famously said, "Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!"

Most new Beatle bios find their justification in new interviews, whose highlights are then distributed throughout the book. Sometimes I'd rather have just read the new interviews and dispensed with a book otherwise treading the same old ground. Here David Bedford does the reader exactly that favour. He gives us a series of stellar interviews, mostly from people we haven't heard from before, or at least not heard a lot from.

And good grief, if he doesn't start solving one Beatles mystery after another. Why was Pete Best REALLY fired? What did Stu Sutcliffe REALLY die of? How many bloody permutations and combinations of Quarrymen or Quarry Men were there (and which way was it REALLY spelled)? What REALLY was it that tuned in George Harrison to India? WAS Stu Sutcliffe a lousy bass player? WAS Brian Epstein already familiar with the Beatles prior to his famous excursion to the Cavern, and what did he find so impressive in their set that night? WAS the sweet-sounding `Penny' Lane named after some sweet guy? Was Aunt Mimi self-sacrificing in taking John off Julia's hands, or a baby-snatcher?....and so on. I was sort of anticipating just a picture book; these Sherlock Holmes-ian debriefings were a completely unexpected bonus. "Oh wow!" indeed.

As for the pictures (and explanations), they're there. Hundreds of crisply-rendered period photos I'd never seen before, shots of any Liverpool landmark you've ever read of on your way through various Beatle bios, photo updates of people involved in the Beatles story so you can see what they look like more recently, detailed walking tours of every Beatles-relevant section of Liverpool for the SERIOUS Beatles fan who isn't content with a mere glimpse of this or that aboard the Magical Mystery bus tour, revealing period photos of scantily-clad Beatle girlfriends...whoops, sorry, that's the one thing on my wish list for this book that Bedford did not deliver on, his being a family man and all that I suppose. In any case, be prepared for your night dreams going on location to mid-century Liverpool for awhile after you've soaked up this book.

And what an organizational and aesthetic treat it is. Savor and fondle it; this ain't no mere e-book experience, it's exquisitely physical. It's also a bit like a Liverpool-targetted acid trip minus the danger of falling off some roof.