Read the Beatles Classic and New Writings on the Beatles, Their Legacy, and Why They Still Matter

by Sawyers, June Skinner; Kirchherr, Astrid

• ISBN13: 9780143037323
• ISBN10: 0143037323
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-31
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

A must-have volume for all Beatles fans—a career-spanning selection of writings about the Fab Four There are, of course, many books on the Beatles, but this is the only one available that is a comprehensive, career-spanning collection of journalism about the legendary band, before and after the breakup. Consisting of more than fifty articles, essays, interviews, record and movie reviews, poems, and book excerpts—many of them rare and hard to find—Read the Beatlesis an unprecedented compilation that follows the arc of the Fab Four’s iconic and idiosyncratic career, from their early days in Liverpool through their tragic and triumphant histories after the group’s split.The book also includes original essays from noted musicians and journalists about the Beatles’ lasting influence and why they still matter today.

Author Biography

June Skinner Sawyers is an editor and journalist who writes frequently about music and the arts. She is a regular contributor to the Chicago Tribune, for which she wrote a nightlife column for two years, and is the editor of several literary anthologies.

Astrid Kirchherr is a photographer and artist who was a close acquaintance of the Beatles during their early career in Hamburg, Germany.

Table of Contents

The afternoon hours	p. 5
The Liverpool scene	p. 10
Fab four tour Deutschland : Hamburg 1961	p. 21
The great freedom	p. 23
from The Beatles : the biography	p. 39
Newsweek, November 18, 1963	p. 43
What songs the Beatles sang ...	p. 45
from The Beatles come to America	p. 48
The menace of Beatlism	p. 51
A hard day's night	p. 56
Beatle with a future	p. 60
A stranger in the bedroom	p. 69
Another version of the chair	p. 77
Portland Coliseum	p. 83
How does a Beatle live? : John Lennon lives like this	p. 85
The Beatles revive hopes of progress in pop music	p. 92
We still need the Beatles, but ...	p. 97
Pop music : the messengers	p. 102
Secular music	p. 115
The beatles	p. 120
May '68 : rock against revolution	p. 135
from Helter Skelter : the true story of the Manson murders	p. 142
from Turn Me On, Dead Man : The Beatles and the "Paul-Is-Dead" Hoax	p. 151
The breakup heard 'round the world	p. 158
Seven fat years	p. 167
They were the most brilliant, powerful, lovable pop group on the planet ... but now they're really important	p. 177
Ten great Beatles moments	p. 185
from Lennon : the definitive biography	p. 195
from Gimme Some Truth : the John Lennon FBI files	p. 204
Playboy interview : John Lennon and Yoko Ono January 1981	p. 210
from The last Lennon tapes	p. 218
Something to be - John Lennon	p. 222
New York City blues (for John Lennon)	p. 229
The mysterious smell of roses	p. 231
Paul McCartney looks back	p. 237
"Here today" (song for John)	p. 241
McCartney : my life in the shadow of the Beatles	p. 243
The WFRX interview	p. 257
from Mystical one : George Harrison	p. 261
The unsung beatle : George Harrison's behind-the-scenes contributions to the world's greatest band	p. 266
George Harrison, world-music catalyst and great-souled man : open to the influence of unfamiliar cultures	p. 273
Ringo start : domesticated beatle	p. 279
The first EMI recordings (September 1962-February 1963) : new drummer Ringo Starr	p. 292
Girls, screaming	p. 299
Crossing the line : the Beatles in my life	p. 302
The ten most important Beatles songs	p. 308
Inside mendips	p. 311
All you need	p. 319
Toppermost of the poppermost	p. 322
Remembering the Beatles	p. 327
Where you once belonged	p. 330
Too late for the show	p. 333
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