Correction/Clarification: (Published Oct. 7, 2000) "Shout," a biography of the Beatles, was published in 1981. An incorrect date was given in a Thursday story.
Now that the Beatles have had their say, you may be interested in looking back on what some other books have had to say about them through the years.
I won't pretend I've read a lot of Beatles books since reading half a billion back in high school while the other kids were being normal. So I asked some friends for input. This is not a comprehensive list. It is, however, recommended reading:
"The Beatles: After the Breakup 1970-2000," by Keith Badman: From what I've read about the Badman book, it's apparently off on a number of dates and times. Which may be all you need to know to pass on what, I'm told, is otherwise a fascinating read. For anyone who's in the market for a detailed day-by-day account of post-Fab living, this would be the book for you. But check those dates when possible. They may be wrong, and then where would you be?
"The Beatles: Recording Sessions" and "The Beatles Chronicle," by Mark Lewisohn: Fresh off the plane from touring Paul McCartney's childhood home, local Beatle enthusiast Carl M. Grefenstette swears you can't go wrong with the Lewisohn day-by-day, hour-by-hour account for cut-and-dry facts. His work is not only impressive but accurate, says Grefenstette. Jim DeRegotis, among the more respected critics in the nation, agrees. He placed the "Sessions" book at No. 1 on a recent list of Beatle books. After picking apart the Badman book on Amazon.com, one Beatlemaniac was moved to write, "This may be a harsh opinion, but when it comes to Beatle books there is only one thing you can do and that my friends is to compare them to the Lewisohn books." So there you go. The best, we're told, of all the diaries.
"Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records in the '60s," by Ian MacDonald: The best, says local Beatlemaniac Rob Conroy. "Definitive," rave the critics at The Independent and The Guardian (in which the book also is hailed as a "groundbreaking" effort). And hey, they're British; they would know. A song-by-song attempt to place the Beatles in the larger context of the '60s -- although, as John Lennon would tell you, the Beatles were larger than context -- all while analyzing every lyric line by line. It's all the context and perspective missing from the new "Anthology" and so much more besides.
"The Longest Cocktail Party: An Insider's Diary of the Beatles," by Richard DiLello: A memoir of the Apple years, as told by "house hippie" and public relations director DiLello, the book is said to have captured the mood of the rock 'n' roll circus that was the Apple Corp.
"Shout: The True Story of the Beatles," by Philip Norman: Referred to in a recent L.A. Times review of one of Norman's newer books as "1968's then-definitive group biography," it may have been surpassed in recent years in terms of research, but I still remember getting by on two or three hours of sleep a night while I was feasting on it back in high school. And as recently as 1996, a Seattle reviewer swore that Norman's book "remains the best book written about the Beatles."
"The Beatles," by Hunter Davis: Iit hit the street in 1968, the year the Beatles hit the street with a self-titled two-record set. As that alone should tell you, sometimes old is old and sometimes old is classic.
"The Birth of the Beatles," by Sam Leach: This guy booked a lot of early Beatle gigs, before they found their Col. Tom in Brian Epstein. Apparently, Lennon once referred to Leach as "the pulse of the Mersey Beat." A "heavily recommended" book, says Grefenstette.
"Beatle! The Pete Best Story," by Pete Best: Twenty-five years down the road from being traded in on Ringo, drummer Pete Best did a book tour for "Beatle!" that found him insisting to anyone who cared to listen that he didn't have a clue, even then, as to why he was sacked. Apparently, he hasn't read a lot of Beatles books.
"The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics": Everything the title promises, the illustrated lyrics struck at least local Beatles fan Patty Pisula as offering more insight than the books she'd read about the Beatles.
