Rating: 
Summary: A Beatle reader/listener
Review: Almost ten years ago I bought this book --hardcover-- in Mexico City, noy quite knowing its content. As a growing Beatles fan myself, I found it as a perfect guide to the group's development into studio techniques. If one wants to know how the Beatles turned the recording studio into an instrument in itself, one just has to read in detail: the 1962-1966 period (when the simplest, most straightforward music was composed) has only 60 pages, whereas the complex 1966-1970 period accumulates 120. One can know the origin of the backwards tapes, the tape edition (ie, at the end of "...Mr Kite!"), the outside musicians, the psdychedelic "sonic textures", the fundamental roles of producer George Martin and engineers Norman Smith and Geoff Emerick. One can even know the names of the orchestra performers. One can know the problematic "Get Back" sessions held in January 1969. This book opens a window to the landscape of the big experiments going on in Abbey Road studio two where the history of popular music changed. It's no surprise Paul McCartney calls this book "the bible".
Rating:
Summary: THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE BOOK
Review: Anybody with even a passing interest in The Beatles must have this book. Set out in a diary format it gives details of all recording sessions by the group. Sometimes it gets fairly technical with details about recording equipment, overdubs, etc but it is still essential information. One criticism, if you can call it that - most Beatles songs have gained legendary status and it can be quite disconcerting at times to have them clinically dissected in this fashion. But that is a small criticism. The fact that the book is apparently out of print is deplorable. It would be good if it were issued free whenever anybody buys their first Beatles CD, it is that important. It isn't a book, it's a rite of passage.
Rating:
Summary: Beatles Recording Facts, Secrets, Gossip, Timeline, Trivia!
Review: I am simply dumbfounded that this book has gone out of print. There is simply no other source for the information contained in this book, and it is consistently fascinating, entertaining and enlightening. In view of the never-ending interest in The Beatles CDs, and the fascination with how the band was able to make such huge strides forward in the evolution and revolution of pop and rock music, not to mention our popular culture in general, it is amazing that this book even exists in the first place as a miraculous wellspring of information. It contains virtually everything you would ever want to know about how all of the Beatles songs were recorded, from many different perspectives including producer George Martin, engineer Geoff Emerick, the Beatles crew members, and anyone and everyone who was present. You will see the exact sequence of events as song ideas turned to demos, demos to masters, overdubs, special effects, recording accidents, mixes and mastering. You will see how albums took shape, and songs from one period ended up on albums from another period. Amazing facts abound...how about the fact that in the entire recording history of The Beatles, drummer Ringo Starr never made a musical mistake which caused the tape machines to stop rolling. Think about it...a perfect record of studio drumming! With all the complexity and variety of the music, not to mention 16-20 hour recording sessions for months on end, with guitars hitting wrong notes, voices cracking, piano note bloopers etc. A truly amazing feat! As the owner of both a Hardcover copy and a Softcover copy of this book, I suddenly realize that I am far richer than I thought! Find this book, read it, study it, and treasure it!
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: I found this book by chance and it gave me a new impression of The Beatles. Mark Lewisohn opens the doors of Abbey Road Studios and gives a very good day by day account of the their recording sessions. Very readable I can highly recommand it for everybody who likes the music of the Fab Four and wants to get more information of how and why their songs were made. The great pictures make the book even more valuable.
Rating:
Summary: Inside The Beatles
Review: I have been a dedicated Beatles fan for many years. The Beatles have been with me for years and have inspired many of my own works. Listening to the albums and watching the Beatles' movies has been a very important part in my life, and owning this book is the ultimate experience. I'm twenty-two and unlike my mother and father who were actually around to experience The Beatles, I have grown up only listening and watching everything about them. If you have ever wondered about the background of a certain song or the reasons behind certain lyrics, you need only turn this book. I bought this at a flea market when I was about twelve and I continue to pick it up and read or find about a certain song or recording day in the life of the amazing group that we call The Beatles. This book is a must have for the Beatles collector, and will be more valuable beyond its price.
Rating:
Summary: A must-have for musician Beatlemaniacs
Review: I love The Beatles records and have since my Dad purchased "Meet the Beatles" in 1966. The first records I bought on my own, as soon as I had a paper route and spending money, were The Beatles' LPs, in order of American release. I even knew the exact running time of every Beatles song and couldn't imagine that there were people in the world who didn't know every Beatles song. If you're like me, the revelation of the details of the recording of every Beatles track, as detailed in this book, will be a thrill to pore over.
Rating:
Summary: Beatles recording history
Review: I walked into my university bookstore years ago during a book sale and I spotted this book... "Some Beatle garbage" I said to myself. Then I found myself buying the book...!Then I found myself buying all the Beatles CD so I could listen to the music that was described in the book... I think the Beatles ARE BRILLIANT and I despair what to think my life would have been without the Beatles!! I just spent the whole day of New Year's Eve listening to various Beatle cds and other sources!! This is a great book! and it's not being published...! :(
Rating:
Summary: The only Beatles book you need
Review: It's all here - the outtakes, the insights, the photos, everything. Sit down with this one and the "Beatles Anthology" CDs and you'll appreciate it even more because many of the most notable outtakes and unused variants described in the text are included on those 6 discs. If you want just the Beatles' story there are plenty of books for that, but if you adore the band and the music itself this one is a must-have.
Rating:
Summary: A quick read.
Review: Since editions and publishers change, I am certain if I am reviewing the exact book. This book will be interesting mainly to those who were teenagers during the 1960s. These persons will recall the first time they heard each of the Beatles' albums, or they will recall the event of buying these albums. For example, I first heard Sgt. Pepper at the Fillmore Auditoreum in San Francisco. The album was played before the performers went on stage -- that was Cream on their first American tour, along with Gary Burton Quartet and the Flaming Groovies. Anyway, the book takes the form of a diary detailing when and under what circumstances many of the songs were composed, recorded, and performed. The book contains 360 pages of small print, and almost every page has a ? sized photograph, though some are 1/8 sized or ? sized. The latter part of the book contains color photos. The reproductions of the photos are better than one might expect -- nice contrast and sharp focus. We learn that the original name of the Beatles was the Quarry Men, where this name came from Quarry Bank High School for Boys (page 12). We learn that the Quarry Men (John, Paul, George, and John Lowe (drums)) made their first recording in 1958 (page 13). We learn that Ringo was the drummer for a band called "Al Caldwell's Texans" even before he (Ringo) jointed "Rory Storm and the Hurricanes." (page 16) We learn that the first appearance of the lineup of John, Paul, George, and Ringo took place on August 18, 1962, and this was at Hulme Hall, where the occasion was the Horticultural Society's annual dance (page 75). We learn that the Beatles' first U.S. performances were in February 1964. An interesting fact is that Charles Finley, then owner of the Kansas City Athletics baseball team, paid $150,000 out of his own pocket to persuade the Beatles to play in Kansas City, and that the manager of the hotel in Kansas City cut up the Beatles' bed linen into 3-inch squares, and sold them for $10 each (page 139). We learn that the trumpet players on Strawberry Fields Forever were Tony Fisher, Greg Bowen, Derek Watkins, and Stanley Roderick (page 234) and that Dave Mason played the B-flat piccolo trumpet on Penny Lane (page 240). We learn that Maxwell's Silver Hammer took 27 takes, that She Came In Through the Bathroom Window took 39 takes, and that Here Comes the Sun had 13 takes (pages 324-327). Again, the reading is fairly dry and fun facts are encountered only on occasion. There is essentially no information on the Beatles' social lives. But for those who were teenagers during the 60s, the book is likely to be a page turner.
Rating:
Summary: A quick read.
Review: Since editions and publishers change, I am certain if I am reviewing the exact book. This book will be interesting mainly to those who were teenagers during the 1960s. These persons will recall the first time they heard each of the Beatles' albums, or they will recall the event of buying these albums. For example, I first heard Sgt. Pepper at the Fillmore Auditoreum in San Francisco. The album was played before the performers went on stage -- that was Cream on their first American tour, along with Gary Burton Quartet and the Flaming Groovies. Anyway, the book takes the form of a diary detailing when and under what circumstances many of the songs were composed, recorded, and performed. The book contains 360 pages of small print, and almost every page has a ¼ sized photograph, though some are 1/8 sized or ½ sized. The latter part of the book contains color photos. The reproductions of the photos are better than one might expect -- nice contrast and sharp focus. We learn that the original name of the Beatles was the Quarry Men, where this name came from Quarry Bank High School for Boys (page 12). We learn that the Quarry Men (John, Paul, George, and John Lowe (drums)) made their first recording in 1958 (page 13). We learn that Ringo was the drummer for a band called "Al Caldwell's Texans" even before he (Ringo) jointed "Rory Storm and the Hurricanes." (page 16) We learn that the first appearance of the lineup of John, Paul, George, and Ringo took place on August 18, 1962, and this was at Hulme Hall, where the occasion was the Horticultural Society's annual dance (page 75). We learn that the Beatles' first U.S. performances were in February 1964. An interesting fact is that Charles Finley, then owner of the Kansas City Athletics baseball team, paid $150,000 out of his own pocket to persuade the Beatles to play in Kansas City, and that the manager of the hotel in Kansas City cut up the Beatles' bed linen into 3-inch squares, and sold them for $10 each (page 139). We learn that the trumpet players on Strawberry Fields Forever were Tony Fisher, Greg Bowen, Derek Watkins, and Stanley Roderick (page 234) and that Dave Mason played the B-flat piccolo trumpet on Penny Lane (page 240). We learn that Maxwell's Silver Hammer took 27 takes, that She Came In Through the Bathroom Window took 39 takes, and that Here Comes the Sun had 13 takes (pages 324-327). Again, the reading is fairly dry and fun facts are encountered only on occasion. There is essentially no information on the Beatles' social lives. But for those who were teenagers during the 60s, the book is likely to be a page turner.
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