Books - Reviews by JPGR&B

Books - Reviews by JPGR&B

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Member	Item		Review/Comment
JPGR&B SUBS ● 6th Nov 2023		Book Jewelle Lewis - Just Imagine: A Past Life With John Lennon? (1995)	Review Annotation: Following a journey of self-discovery and illumination, the author attempts to prove she once shared a past life with John Lennon. Even worse, she communicates these discoveries to the literary world - what a pity. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 26th Sep 2023		Book Andrew James - Drumming Is His Madness: The Ringo Starr Discography (2023)	Review On his You Tube channel Beatles fan Andrew Dixon reviews Drumming Is His Madness: The Ringo Starr Discography by Andrew James 23 September 2023 [YouTube Video] ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 26th Sep 2023		Book Andrew James - Drumming Is His Madness: The Ringo Starr Discography (2023)	Review On his You Tube channel Beatles fan Andrew Dixon reviews Drumming Is His Madness: The Ringo Starr Discography by Andrew James 23 September 2023 [YouTube Video] ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 13th Sep 2023		Book John Blaney - Paul McCartney: The Songs He Was Singing Vol. 5 2010-2019 (2023)	Review On his You Tube channel Beatles fan Andrew Dixon reviews Paul McCartney: The Songs He Was Singing. Vol. 5: 2010 – 2019 by John Blaney 10 September 2023 [YouTube Video] ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 7th Sep 2023		Book John Blaney - Paul McCartney: The Songs He Was Singing Vol. 5 2010-2019 (2023)	Review Online Revolver Beatles Fanzine reviews Paul McCartney: The Songs He Was Singing. Vol. 5: 2010 – 2019 by John Blaney Gwyn Jenkins, 20 August 2023 ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 23rd Aug 2023		Book Pete Frame - The Beatles And Some Other Guys (1997)	Review Annotation: This is highly recommended. Pete Frame's 'Family Trees' are not only absolutely vital pieces of research material, covering all aspects of the developing rock cultures of the 1950s-1980s, but are mighty artistic achievements in their own right - masterpieces of design. Frame began these 'family trees' in the excellent Zig Zag magazine - which is of little-no interest to Beatles fans - unless they also adore the likes of the Buffalo Springfield, the Byrds, and Love. Wonderful stuff. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 21st Aug 2023		Book Mary McCartney - From Where I Stand (2010)	Review Annotation: This collection by Paul McCartney's eldest daughter (born August 28, 1969 in London - the baby peeking out of his sheepskin jacket on the cover of 'McCartney') includes photographs of her famous parents, Bono, Elvis Costello, Madonna and others, such as members of the Royal Ballet. McCartney seems to have an eye for what makes an image interesting and communicative, and it would appear that she inherited something of her late mother Linda's ability to make her subjects relax and relate to the camera in a revealing and honest way. The 192 pages cover Mary's career from the mid-90s to the present, and feature, in addition to some domestic settings, photographs at rock concerts and fashion shows - events with which family connections have provided her access and familiarity. However, although she may have gained access to some of the faces and places by virtue of her surname, she demonstrates an ability and vision that give her work independent credibility. Melissa Davis Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 21st Aug 2023		Book Charles Tillinghast - How Capitol Got The Beatles And Then What Happened (2008)	Review Annotation: The author was an attorney in the legal department of Capitol Records, involved with Beatles-related work during much of his tenure (though he is careful to note that this was not as plum a position as it might sound and does not give in to the temptation of exaggerating, or even stressing his role) and therein lies both the book's usefulness and limitations. Tillinghast is able to shed some light on key decisions made by Capitol during the era, suggesting, for instance, that the A&R department's reluctance (or inability) to recognize the potential popularity of the Beatles in America could be chalked up not only to the poor track-record of imported pop artists, but perhaps a bit of chauvinism, as well. He is also able to provide background on the decision to reconfigure British Beatle LPs for American release and negotiations with Allen Klein and Apple, an important part of the story of the Beatles in America, but the book is, once again, frustratingly shy on detail. It is in his attempts to flesh out his narrative where Tillinghast falls far short of the mark. Firstly, the book doesn't lend itself to discussion of the Beatles' individual personae or interpersonal relationships - that has been done better and in more depth elsewhere. Secondly, Tillinghast gets basic details simply wrong: putting George Harrison's birth date in 1946 (rather than 1943), stating that Cynthia Lennon and at least one, unnamed girlfriend of Paul McCartney's travelled with the group on tour and speculating, unbelievably, as to why Cynthia did not undergo an abortion in 1962 rather than drop out of art college to marry Lennon. These unfortunate (and inappropriate) forays, possibly added to make what should have been a magazine or journal article into a book, add nothing, bring into question the accuracy of the facts he does relate, and put the reader quite off the whole exercise. Melissa Davis Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 8th Aug 2023		Book Doug Wolfberg - The Beatles: Fab But True (2023)	Review Book Gets to the Bottom of Beatles Legends, Lies and Offbeat Tales Bob Ruggiero, Houston Press, 7 August 2023 ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 6th Aug 2023		Book Dezo Hoffmann - John Lennon (1985)	Review Annotation: A photographer with probably one of the largest archives of early and mid-1960s photographs, Dezo Hoffman's book John Lennon was published in 1985 as a luxurious coffee-table book. The work contains several interesting portraits of the former Beatle, most of which had already appeared elsewhere but, in some cases, had been chopped for other publication purposes. Following the photo collection there is a section entitled 'Captions', which provides further information on the individual photos. The overall quality of the book is excellent and the photographs are both revealing and mysterious. Revealing in that Hoffman certainly seems to capture the Beatles, and especially Lennon via his expert portraiture techniques, but also mysterious in that the gestures and proxemics caught by the camera remain elusive. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 4th Aug 2023		Book Harvey Kubernik - It Was Fifty Years Ago Today (2014)	Review The July 2014 Glass Onion Beatles Journal Review ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 29th Jul 2023		Book Barry Tashian - Ticket To Ride (1997)	Review Annotation: This is a most worthy addition to the Beatles library. Barry Tashian was a member of the support band, the Remains, who opened for the Beatles during the tour. Tashian also interviews very well and his comments concerning this last tour are of great historical interest. His suggestion that, to paraphrase, the modem day touring industry began as soon as the last note of that Beatles tour ebbed away is a perceptive and emblematic remark - recommended. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 24th Jul 2023		Book Robert Rosen - Nowhere Man (2000)	Review Annotation: This text is almost recommended for its utter dreadfulness. It is probably even worse than Geoffrey Ellis's I Should Have Known Better, which is saying something. Robert Rosen was a 28 year-old New York cabbie and graduate of journalism school when John Lennon's personal assistant, Fred Seaman (later fired by Yoko and prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to five years’ probation for theft), approached him to collaborate on a book about Lennon. Seaman and Rosen briefly had in their possession the personal diaries of Lennon, but Rosen's notes were stolen (and the diaries returned). Hence, Rosen does not base his account on anything more than his memory of the journals he claims to have read, hearsay, and imagination. Nowhere Man is certainly a work of the imagination (much more so than Rosen is willing to admit in the opening pages) although he does concede that 'I have used no material from the diaries'. What he writes therefore should not be taken as factual in any sense. Rosen tells us of his attempt to get inside Lennon's mind and lifestyle, which turns out to be unintentionally funny: 'I ate the foods that he ate. I fasted. [ ... ] I lived as he would have lived, but without Yoko, without Sean, without a staff of maids, cooks, governesses, chauffeurs, and their assorted servant seers and personal assistants. I lived as he would have lived, but without his Beatle past, without his superstar present, without his $150,000,000'. The deluded Rosen was not living remotely like Lennon. Rosen also presents Sean Lennon as a junk-food scoffing cry-baby and Lennon himself is portrayed as spontaneously aggressive, 'forever complaining about the disobedience of [housemaid] Uda-San and their servants'. For Rosen, Lennon's existence in the Dakota was a 'living death'; he wanted to get away from Yoko, but 'there really was no choice'. The book ends with a distasteful invitation to get inside the mind of the man who murdered Lennon: 'Imagine Mark David Chapman in Honolulu, Hawaii'. This text is utterly puerile from start to finish. It should be stressed that the author had apparently colluded with Lennon aide, Frederick Seaman, resulting in his prosecution and conviction for receiving stolen property by Seaman as part of an elaborate scheme to defraud Ono; in other words, 'Reader beware.' See also Seaman, Frederick. Melissa Davis Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 24th Jul 2023		Book Frederic Seaman - The Last Days Of John Lennon (1991)	Review Annotation: When this reader first came across Seaman's text some years ago he was indeed encouraged. The author, it seems, spent a considerable amount of personal time with John Lennon shortly before Lennon's death in December 1980 and from his position of a relative outsider offers a very interesting perspective on both John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Only photographer Bob Gruen can perhaps offer such a personal attestation to these years at the Dakota. It also appears that, according to Double Fantasy producer, Jack Douglas, Lennon loved having Seaman around. Seaman was arrested in September 1982; the charge was theft of items, including John Lennon's diaries, from the Dakota Buildings. After the hearing, Seamen commented that he did not take the properties for revenue, stating 'there are aspects of this case which have not been revealed'. As it turns out this is a witty, emotional work which, upon further re-reading, holds-up well, albeit in a rather obsequious way to the memory of John Lennon (as for Yoko, Seaman does not appear to have a great deal of time for the woman who sacked him in 1982). The Last Days of John Lennon continues to be a 'must read' for all who want to glean not only a little authentic information, but also an interesting perspective concerning Lennon's last years. Michael Brocken While providing a supplement to Albert Goldman's portrait of Lennon's last years, it must be noted that the author admitted abusing the trust reposed in him by John and Yoko in not only violating the confidentiality clause of his employment contract, but also in absconding with 374 photographs and private papers, including letters and a diary, belonging to Lennon, which he then sold after Lennon's death. Seaman apologized in open court as part of a settlement agreement in which he returned the photographs and the profits from the sale of the papers, as well as paying an amount in unspecified damages to Yoko Ono. His memories may add something to an understanding of Lennon during his self-styled 'house-husband' years - a note from Lennon to Seaman asking if the latter had 'sold or perhaps rented' boots indicates that Lennon may, himself, have had doubts about Seaman's trustworthiness - a caveat, perhaps, from beyond the grave. Melissa Davis Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 15th Jun 2023		Book Ron Cook - The Beatles Anthology (1995)	Review A well written overview by Ron Cook. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 14th Jun 2023		Book Bob Smeaton - From Benwell Boy To 46th Beatle... And Beyond (2018)	Review Very readable and enjoyable. Finished it in a day. 1 person found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 11th Jun 2023		Book Andy Neill - The Beatles Across The Universe (2009)	Review Annotation: British reporters and press photographers in the early-mid 1960s had it made. The Beatles were among the hardest-working groups around, and were eager to offer interviews and pose for pictures amid the endless rounds of recording, performance and travelling. At this time, the Daily Mirror was Britain's highest-selling tabloid, and, being aimed at the more working class readership, the paper was quick to capitalise on the Beatles' growing success. Many of the photographs in this text are from the Mirror archive and have never been seen before; others were first published in The Beatles Files, by Andy Davis (1998), a text now out of print. Some also came from the long defunct Daily Herald, the Sunday tabloid The People, and from the agency Syndication International. Here, Andy Neill chronicles the Beatles' live performances from what he sees as their first days to their final tour dates of 1966, accompanied by archival photographs. As such, the book begins in September 1963, which is a major pity, for the Beatles' live performances before this, chronicled elsewhere in local press accounts such as Mersey Beat and the Liverpool Echo are omitted. Therefore, while Neill accounts for stage appearances day-by- day from September 1963 with accounts and photographs from what he views as the most significant dates, information concerning the group's formative successes (not simply their formative years) is lacking. As a result, we have a classic example of how not to chronicle anything: via expediency of suitable archive availability. Here we have the potential for an interesting chronicle, but it is all of little use, if important Beatles live activities (such as their television appearances prior to September 1963, for example) and the accompanying reportage are simply omitted on the basis of this expediency. Neill can only prove the researcher with a partial history - which is ultimately insubstantial. The reader is given the impression that the group's fame effectively 'started' when the book begins - which of course is far from the case. So it is not 'all here' (as the blurb suggests), and such claims should not be made. Daily Mirror reporter Don Short (see separate entry) provides an introduction to this disappointing text. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 16th May 2023		Book Amanda Geraldine - George Harrison: Biography Of The Brilliant Beatles' Guitarist (2023)	Review This book is effectively a poor re-write of the whole entry for George Harrison in Wikipedia without the explanatory notes, citations, and general and cited sources one would normally find at the bottom of the Wikipedia entry. 2 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 16th Apr 2023		Book John Astley - Why Don't We Do It In The Road? (2006)	Review Annotation: The author looks back to the 1960s and attempts to analyse the global phenomenon surrounding the success of the Beatles and popular culture. Astley's text is interesting in its own right, actually stemming from the late-1970s and an early example of neo-Marxist academic thought concerning, not only the Beatles, but also popular music in general. John Astley is therefore deploying his skills as a 1970s Marxist sociologist of culture to develop a very specific ideological 'take' on the kaleidoscopic landscape that gave birth to the Beatles phenomenon. If the text is appreciated as such, a rewarding read is in store. On the one hand, all popular music was questioned by Marxists, such as Astley, as an unrewarding facet of mass production that created a state of false consciousness in its listeners; on the other, many such British Marxist sociologists such as Stuart Hall, Paddy Whannel, Dick Hebdige, et al were also coming to appreciate that popular music was an authentic representation of working class discourse and that reception was relatively autonomous. Such struggles with ideology kept many such British popular music critics and scholars such as Simon Frith up at night in the 1970s, as they sought to legitimise popular music as an authentic dialogue, while also acknowledging that the Marxist premise of historical materialism regarding the music industry still encapsulated rhetoric power. This work therefore pursues such struggles with ideology. So, this is well-written text, and valid, but appears these days circular and unreconstructed. It is plausible to state that although history is forged in conflict (as Marx alludes), clearly such conflicts require history to represent the debates concerning such struggles for ownership, rather than simply reflect historical materialism (and indeed the realities of the masses), as a given. Perhaps, it is of appeal only to hardcore Marxist-Leninist Beatles fans (should there be any these days, of course). Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 16th Jan 2023		Book Stephen J. Spignesi - In The Crosshairs (2004)	Review Annotation: The author has compiled brief accounts of attacks on 75 famous persons, providing a 'police blotter' report of the facts (date, time, place, weapon, assailant, injuries) followed by a narrative of the event, as well as the outcome and disposition of the case (and assassin). The four pages on John Lennon present an accurate, fact-based description of the Beatle's murder, a stark departure from other sources that too often tend to the maudlin or sensational. The three pages on the attempt on George Harrison's life in 1999 include a discography (although there is not one for Lennon) and mentions Harrison's fear of a 'copy cat' attack following Lennon's murder, although the chapter is silent as to the disposition of the case against his mentally ill assailant. Disturbing reading to be sure, but Spignesi gets the facts right and the book is a good source of basic information. From a popular culture standpoint, it is of interest that of the 75 victims featured in the book, which include presidents and other political figures, religious leaders, a radio talk-show host, an artist (Warhol) , a designer (Versace), and even an assassin (Lee Harvey Oswald), only President John F. Kennedy and John Lennon are represented in photographs on the cover (literally in the 'crosshairs' of the lens of a high-powered rifle - get it?). This, along with Lennon's name also being in the subtitle (with Julius Caesar) is surely intended to make a statement, although this writer is not entirely sure what that statement might be. Melissa Davis Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 4th Jan 2023		Book Martin Goldsmith - The Beatles Come To America (2004)	Review Annotation: Several disparate reviewers have congratulated this work. Beatles-Unlimited magazine (May/June 2004) wrote: "written in an easy and pleasant style [ ... ] a useful addition to the collection of the avid Beatles fan." The New Statesman found it "full of fascinating quotations from those fusty Americans" (12lh April 2004), as did Publisher's Weekly (January 19,2004): "the book does offer many fascinating details." Others found it entertaining, intelligent and revealing: "a breezily intelligent biography [ ... ] perhaps the first serious Beatles history to have a truly happy ending" (Entertainment Weekly, February 6,2004); Bookpage in February 2004 wrote: "magic blows through the book, past delightfully obscure anecdotes and insightful reflection." However, this writer remains unmoved. Perhaps it has something to do with the author's writing style or perhaps it is because the work does not appear to have a point. Goldsmith's rather recycled tome seems to be lacking in depth, especially given the monumental task provided by the book's rather unfortunate subtitle. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 3rd Jan 2023		Book Various Authors - Here, There And Everywhere: The 100 Best Beatles Songs (2004)	Review Annotation: At over 300 pages, this informed, opinionated, yet expansive ranking of the 100 'best' songs by the Beatles came out in time for the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' first visit to America. One read will have those of us who hate such lists spitting feathers. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 1st Jan 2023		Book Various Authors - Paul McCartney: Now And Then (2004)	Review Annotation: This is a surprisingly dull and lacklustre piece of writing ill-befitting Tony Barrow. The brief text (less than 150 pages) carries a 'McCartney Then and Now' premise whereby Barrow looks back on McCartney as he was 'then', recycling much of his own previous materials to offer an account of life inside the Beatles camp of the mid-1960s. The 'now' part of this book is drawn from Robin Bextor's exclusive interviews with Paul McCartney during which he talked 'candidly' about his private life and his life as a singer, musician, composer and 'businessman'. This information is not without interest, but its level of subjectivity is oddly bland. Sadly therefore the text is rather uninspiring and not really recommended. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 29th Dec 2022		Book Roy Adams - Hard Nights (2003)	Review Annotation: This is a moderately interesting piece of work from the owner of club-land properties in Liverpool's Mathew Street, site of the Cavern Club where the Beatles and many other groups played. Adams was involved in establishing the New Cavern (following the demise of the original Cavern club in the early 1970s), plus the clubs, Revolution and Eric's, at the same premises on that famous Liverpool side street. Following the demise of Eric's, Adams opened the short-lived Adam's Club in Wood Street (in the newly-developed Ropewalks area of the city). The text is illuminating for its insight into Liverpool's nightlife and 'gangster' fraternities, but is in all likelihood of only passing interest to Beatles collectors. It is of far greater use to the researcher of Liverpool's varied popular music scenes, which informs the reader of the intricate web of property holdings and alliances in Liverpool's city centre (irrespective of the actual club operating on the premises) that have always had a great bearing on the music purveyed and performed in the area over decades. However, overall the work is (sadly) rather poorly written, and required serious rewriting and sub-editing. This lack of proofing causes it, at times to be a little unrewarding and repetitive: this is a pity, for much is to be learnt here. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 29th Dec 2022		Book Al Aronowitz - Bob Dylan And The Beatles (2004)	Review Annotation: Aronowitz, who died in 2005, was a maverick journalist of some repute and introduced Bob Dylan to the Beatles on 28th August 1964. According to his own journal entries, at this meeting he brought along marijuana (reportedly the first 'pot' smoked by the Beatles); the book is a compilation/re-write of these journal entries. However, by placing himself at the centre of this narrative, Aronowitz ensures that this work is curiously monotone. This is a great pity for it seems that the so-called authenticity of rock journalism, here, gets in the way of historicity. Authorhouse, formerly known as 1st Books, is a self-publishing company based in the United States providing 'vanity' press services: Aronowitz would have probably paid for this re-publication occurring just before his death in 2005 when he was unable to secure a publishing contract; as such there is something of the desperate about this. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 27th Dec 2022		Book Paul Wane - Sgt. Peppers (2005)	Review Annotation: This companion text from Wane features photos taken outside EMI Studios between January and April 1967 while the Beatles were recording the famous album. The photographs are actually very interesting from a fashion perspective as they show the group arriving dressed in their psychedelic finery (and leaving in the early hours of the morning). Many of the shots have been accurately dated and are accompanied both by comments from the fans who waited outside of the studios and by details of the relevant recording session. Also included are articles written by observers at the 'Pepper' recording sessions. This is a good example of how photography can be described as a vernacular art - unwittingly capturing seemingly ordinary occurrences for posterity, but also revealing a great deal of contextual information. The text contains approximately 40 previously unpublished colour and black and white photographs. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 27th Dec 2022		Book Paul Wane - Paul McCartney, London, NW8 (2005)	Review Annotation: This volume contains a compilation of photographs taken outside 7, Cavendish Avenue, London throughout 1967 by the fans who devotedly waited outside of Paul's house for a glimpse of the Beatle. The photos show McCartney arriving and leaving his home, chatting with fans and posing for photos. This is an interesting collection of photographs depicting Paul from the 'Sgt. Pepper' era through to the 'Magical Mystery Tour' period. It is accompanied by several recollections from the fans who gathered there as a sort of unofficial palace guard, aka 'Apple Scruffs' (so christened by George Harrison in a song dedicated to them on his 1970 release, All Things Must Pass). The book is hard cover spiral bound with 60 pages and approximately 50 previously unpublished colour and black and white photographs. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 4th Dec 2022		Book Tim Ungs - Paul McCartney And Stella McCartney (2005)	Review Annotation: This is a 48-page hard-backed monograph, part of a series of books concerned with the families of well-known personalities. It is of little-no interest to Beatles researchers, but might be of some value to the completist collector. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 3rd Dec 2022		Book Geoffrey Ellis - I Should Have Known Better (2004)	Review Annotation: Geoffrey Ellis was a boyhood friend of Brian Epstein from Liverpool who became the latter's personal assistant in October 1964. He then became Chief Executive of NEMS Enterprises in 1965 and co-director of Dick James Music Ltd. following Epstein's death in 1967. Such close proximity suggests an interesting window into the day-to-day decision-making at NEMS. We are, however, disappointed - Ellis evidently cared little about what went on around him - or else has forgotten - not necessarily a great starting point for writing a memoir. Undoubtedly the 'swinging sixties' has been grossly mythologised, however Ellis certainly appears to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time for most of the time. For example, regarding the 'Sgt. Pepper' release party he states "I went to bed and to sleep quite early [...] There were twin beds in the bedroom, and I woke to find the late comedian, Kenny Everett, in the other bed. We had no conversation as, by the time I left the house, he had not yet surfaced" - wow, how interesting. Such writing led the music journalist of The Times Caitlin Moran to describe the book as "so bad it's good". Indeed, despite there already existing many utterly terrible Beatles books available by the time of this publication (2004), one should regard I Should Have Known Better as the Plan Nine From Outer Space of Beatles' texts. There are occasional moments of interest for the Beatles' researcher, but the author's personal wrath obscures any context. For example, Ellis evidently hated John Lennon. He mentions, but does not deliberate, Lennon's "scorn of the fans, his sharp tongue and his conscious nurturing of his 'working-class hero' image"; according to Ellis, Lennon was, apparently "too clever for his own good" and "unkind" to Cynthia. "I cannot overcome my distaste for his memory", he states - but why? We never find out. Utterly awful; could Geoffrey Ellis actually be the 'Ed Wood' of Beatles writers? I should have known better and left my money in my wallet. Michael Brocken Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?
JPGR&B SUBS ● 15th Nov 2022		Book Diann Venita Bobbitt James - ...Tell Them, "The Beatles Are Your Salvation!" (2005)	Review Annotation: Authorhouse is an American self-financing publisher. While noting that the lyrics of Beatles' songs are primarily about human relationships, James seeks to place the words in the context of a spiritual journey in her Christian faith. The author employs the now over-used contrivance of using song titles for chapter headings, but in her case they tie directly to the meaning within, whether it be finding faith in oneself ('I'm A Loser') or faith in the power of forgiveness ('Hey Jude'). Simple, straightforward and devout, the book is nothing more than what it claims to be. Not a research tool, per se, but of interest in the way the Beatles' work is found to have meaning by the individual receiver of it in ways the group probably could neither have intended nor have imagined, so not without value to the researcher. Melissa Davis Source: The Beatles Bibliography: A New Guide To The Literature - Michael Brocken and Melissa Davis (The Beatle Works Ltd., 2012), with acknowledgement, and used here with permission from the authors for educational and historical purposes only. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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