The Day John Met Paul: An Hour-by-Hour Account of How the Beatles Began (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: quarry men, skiffle group, church field, Peter's Church, Church Road, Menlove Avenue (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

fine, lyrical book - Liverpool Daily Post

Product Description

With many new photos and an updated introduction, The Day John Met Paul, a critically-acclaimed Beatles book, re-appears in a visually stunning second edition. The book is an hour-by-hour account of the fateful day the two founding Beatles met in July 1957. But it is much more than that: it's a spellbinding story of how fate brought together two men who would radically change othe face of popular music, from its look and feel to its sound. Jim O'Donnell, a veteran rock music writer, spent eight years researching The Day John Met Paul. Published in 1996 and translated into several languages, the book was widely praised for its blend of accurate reporting and colorful storytelling. Long out of print, but revered among Beatles fans, the new printing enlivens the text with many well-chosen photos of the Liverpool landmarks--from Strawberry Field to Penny Lane--that played a role in the Beatles' lives and works.

The Day John Met Paul chronicles the first "Day in the Life" of the Beatles--a day that changed the musical world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; Revised edition (September 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415979331
• ISBN-13: 978-0415979337
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #842,241 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #24 in	Books > Entertainment > Pop Culture > Music > Beatles > Paul McCartney
  #52 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( L ) > Lennon, John
  #78 in	Books > Entertainment > Pop Culture > Music > Beatles > John Lennon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very Little Content, Very Fluffy Writing, March 16, 2008

By	B. T. Larkin (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm so disappointed in this book. Overall, it's like a bad teenage research paper. There's about 5 pages of content stretched into 138 pages of fluff. Admittedly, it has a narrow focus, but the author spends endlesss paragraphs talking about the weather and 'Rock-N-Roll lightning' striking instead of actually giving us insight into the people involved.

The author claims to have interviewed dozens of persons there that day but confines his narrative primarily to imagining how Paul and John felt. It would have been much better to just relate different persons observations about what they saw and remembered that day with a bit of narrative in between.

A representative example of the fluff throughout this book from page 102, "Like a dexterous pickpocket, a passing cloud steals the sun from the long gray vest of the sky. The cloud edge is black frosted. The shadows of the Liverpool field become more ill defined. It's a summer evening of deepening dampness. The humidity hangs in a dim blue haze. A sudden breeze whispers a warning of whimsical weather."

If you want to read a book of such poetry with a wee bit of Beatles info, then buy this book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review, July 14, 2007

By	Example: Mark Twain - See all my reviews

I own about 320 books about the Beatles, and this book is in my top 5 favorites. Why? It is a very unusual Beatle-related book. This book took years to research and it pays off. I felt like I had relived the day that they actually met. It is just fascinating to read as the hours count down to the very moment that the two meet at the fete.
Please remember: This book is just about one small slice of Beatle lore.
If you have all the esential Beatle books, then this will be a nice variation for you.