Blackbird (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Alone, in the dimly lit bedroom she had shared with John Lennon for the previous seven years, Yoko Ono walked soundlessly across the plush white..." (more)
Key Phrases: sings backing vocals, New York, Denny Laine, John Lennon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fans will recoil from Giuliano's disparaging biography of former Beatle, Wings founder and solo musician McCartney. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Though McCartney's legions of fans are always interested in his doings, the immense popularity of the three recent Beatles Anthology collections, the release of a chart-topping solo album, and his knighthood have given Sir Paul his biggest burst of publicity in many years. Giuliano's update of his 1991 original follows McCartney through his first foray into classical music with the Liverpool Oratorio, his work with animal rights, the reunion of the "Threetles" to cut new songs for the Anthology albums, and wife Linda's bout with breast cancer. Also included are excerpts from recent interviews and an updated discography. This may be more popular now than when first released.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; Updated edition (August 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306807815
• ISBN-13: 978-0306807817
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,906,327 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Biased but still interesting., March 3, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

In my opinion, this book is not as bad as many people think it is, although it is certainly not the best. Let's just say, it offers a different angle... The weakness of the book is, of course, that a big part of it is based on interviews with people who felt mistreated and not fully appreciated by McCartney. I also found it annoying that the author took liberty to criticize the musical quality of certain songs and albums that I had always admired. It just reminded me of those lame newspaper columns that show up each time Paul releases a new CD - articles written by those musically challenged grungy "rock experts" who can't stand anything that is NOT neurotic, ugly and angry - in other words, something they could identify with! On the other hand, having been a dedicated fan of the Beatles and Paul McCartney for over 20 years now, I was not at all offended by reading that Paul was not a saint. It wasn't hard for me to imagine. Most talented people have difficult personalities. And, yes, the book does show, no matter what the author's intention was, that Paul McCartney IS an outstanding genius, one of the gratest musicians and songwriters of all time. Somehow, I tend to believe Denny Laine, his ex-wife, and many others, who told Giuliano their bitter stories. Unfortunately, we all hurt people's feelings from time to time, and you can't always please everybody. The problem is that when Giuliano put it all together in one book without even bothering to balance it with any other information, he ended up with a very biased picture. However, any intelligent reader, especially an educated McCartney fan, should have no difficulty seeing the real human being - with all his weaknesses and enormous, extraordinary talents, someone who has his ups and downs, - behind the biased portrait painted by Giuliano. And, from this standpoint, I found the book interesting to read. As for Denny Laine, I'm sure he himself now feels uncomfortable about some bits of his interviews that made it into the book. I don't think he ever fancied himself as the 2nd John Lennon, or something. After all, he is a talented guy and a good musician - otherwise he wouldn't have played with McCartney for more than 8 years! Obviously, he holds a grudge, and, most likely, he has his reasons. But don't judge the guy. It was Guiliano's fault that he practically built a book on those personal comments and called it "The Life and Times of Paul McCartney." (By the way, the edition that I have lists only Giuliano as the author.)

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If you hate your subject, why write a book?, October 29, 2001

By	GBS "showbiz27" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

A reader wrote that "Geoffery Guiliano makes it his life to put out as much as he can about the life of The Beatles..." Well, actually, Guiliano makes it his life to try and dig up dirt and when he can't, just makes it up as he goes along.

Guiliano has long been known as the very worst kind of Beatles opportunist; somehow, likely by sheer volume, he's developed a reputation as an "expert", but he's traded on his friendships with Fab Four hangers-ons to pump out cheap low-brow books (mostly picture books, appropriately) and talk CD's on the group and the various members. Clearly, he doesn't really LIKE the group that much, as he is hell-bent on demystifying them.

With "Blackbird" he's set his sights on Paul McCartney. For his primary research he's pretty much limited himself to Denny Laine and his wife Jo Jo (clearly beloved by Guiliano who describes her in glowing, flowery terms and dotes on her "talent"), who clearly have a MASSIVE axe to grind and their dislike of McCartney is palpable on every page. Guiliano delights in this all, as he spins a tale of a massive egomaniac of limited talent and range, a complete fraud and probably a commie - everything but gay (which he saves in his hatchet job of Lennon in "Lennon in America"). So...given the extreme bias of the "primary research", it throws the legitimacy of the entire book into question...and thus, finds the book to be deserving of being thrown out altogether.

Look folks...really...there is absolutely NOTHING whatsoever of value, historical interest or entertainment on this lightweight piece of junk. It's just designed simply to separate the casual Beatles fan from more of his hard-earned money. You're smarter than that, I just know you are. Don't buy this - if the public avoids this miserable type of garbage, hopefully Guiliano might someday go away.

Oh...don't buy his CD's or videos either.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sketchy narrative is mostly quotations, January 27, 2000

By	Cristian Ciurel (Bucharest, Romania) - See all my reviews

The author depends heavily on old interviews (that fans have probably read elsewhere) along with his own interviews with disguntled ex-Wings member Denny Laine and Laine's ex-girlfriend, both of whom obviously have an ax to grind. Their intense dislike of McCartney results in pettiness that is indeed laughable. If you deeply dislike Paul McCartney, you will be pleased with this book; if you are a fan or if you are looking for a factual, objective source of information you should definitely look elsewhere. The losers in McCartney's life get here an opportunity to have a go at him . Most of these were related to the awful Wings business. Furthermore he suggests that the writing partnership of McCartney and Denny Laine will be better appreciated in the future . Is this a joke? There are many other instances of the author crawling . He refers to several minor personalities as gifted , talented etc . This is irritating . Frankly, I believe this book it's a bummer.