Customer Reviews

Once there was a way...Photographs of the Beatles

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Once there was a way to get back home--a haunting and beautiful lyric if there ever was one. But now there is another beautiful way to get back to the early days of the Beatles and beyond and to see in black and white what it must have been like to be with them during some of their most intimate moments!This large, arresting photographic journey back to the Beatles is a coffee table sized book that would make a perfect Christmas gift for any Beatles aficianado! Benson was there when it all began, and his stories and the photos of the Beatles at their best take us all on a long and winding road back to when the world was younger, and we were too--a time when there was a way, and the way seemed clear and lovely.

It grieves me to give any Beatles photograph book only four stars, but I have to say these photos have almost all been published previously. If you're new to the Fabs or don't have many photograph compilations of them, then this will be a magnificent book. But if you've collected on them for years and own Benson's previous book, then many of the pictures will be recycled ones to you.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter, any book featuring the boys is always a treat, even if the information has been read a thousand times before. The quality of the book is good, the photos are reproduced beautifully, what's not to like? Incidentally, the cover photo of John, Paul and Ringo is one of the more evocative photos in the book, they usually crop poor Ringo out of this one. Enjoy!

This is a wonderful coffee table book. Unfortunately, I had to give this book four stars, and it's The Beatles! However, I was quite disappointed with the pictures that were displayed. I own a previous photo book that Harry Benson had published several years back that was smaller in size, and it was quite better than this one. I guess, I have been fabbed out with the pictures that have been released of The Beatles, and there is not a shot that I have not already seen before from a different angle or shown either in film or video form. I guess it just didn't fulfill my expectations.

But nevertheless, I recommend this book for those who have not yet experienced the remarkable photography of Harry Benson, and the photogenic traits of the topper most popper most band that ever existed. For all you black and white photo aficionados, you'll love the blow ups.

The book was fantastic & as it was a christmans present for my cousin, it could not have been a more perfect gift! Great purchase!!!!The price was even better,love it, love it, love it!

This is a beautiful book for Beatle fans. The phographs are good and interesting.

This is a delightful book replete with exceptional photographs of the Beatles during their early years performing. The majority of the photographs are taken in 1964, the year the Beatles came to America.

What makes this book such a treat is that there are some cute anecdotes about some of the photographs and I like the way an index print (or contact sheet) is included in a photo series of the Beatles, in February 1964 horsing around in their hotel room. They were like big children, natural and full of fun and the photographs do a good job of capturing that.

I love this book. Although there is very little in the way of new information, if any, it is still guaranteed to bring smiles to the faces of all who read it. I give it a hearty recommendation and a resounding, "YEAH, YEAH, YEAH!"

I had hoped for at least one good group portrait, but there was none to be found. However, this book was a great picture history of the early Beatles. The stories behind some of the more famous photos were interesting. For example, the famous pillow fight in the hotel room in Paris looked like such romping good fun--until you see the proofs and read that it was all choreographed and that poor Paul had to do the mid-air jump repeatedly until they got a good photo. And the same trip to Paris, the Fab Four were strictly instructed to stay in their hotel room--for their own safety. Paul and George were able to sneak out for about 20 minutes before they were discovered missing, and then were captured (on film) looking at postcards! All B & W photos, but well worth having a look.

This is a huge coffee table book with some cool pics like one of an exhausted John Lennon with a handful of pills laying on the end table beside him. Unfortunately, these photos are not great. Benson includes blurry shots, and none of the photos show all four Beatles at the same time. The cover shot is the best picture in the whole book. In a word: disappointing.

Hola Gente:

Outstanding pictures but with a big abuse of crop and zooming to get that large pictures with poor definition.

Saludos, Allan.