I have only reviewed books which I have read. Ratings:
= good
= very good
= excellent
The Complete Beatles Chronicle by Mark Lewisohn
A combination of The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions and The Beatles Live!
by the same author, this is a great book which I certainly recommend. It contains a day-by-day
chronicle of the Beatles' progress; everything you need to know about the Beatles is
in this book. It records every recording session, live appearance and filming during the years
1957-early 1970 (Beatles official break-up). It does not examine the Beatles' private lives
and relationships however (as long as they didn't influence the Beatles as a band), so if you
want to read more "gossipy" stuff you should probably get another book. I would still
recommend buying this one though, it is a Must-Buy for every Beatle fan.
The Beatles Files by Andy Davies
Basically what this book contains is many photos of the Beatles that were taken by the Daily Mirror
during the sixties. It also has a bit of a "biography"; that is, it contains extracts
from articles about the Beatles progress taken from the papres of the time and also from Beatles
biographies. An interesting book, nice to own (only remember that some of the info is taken from Daily
Mirror articles so don't take everything seriously!)
The Beatles Anthology by the Beatles NEW!
This is the Beatles story told, for the first time, by the Beatles themselves. Compiled by
interviews done for the Beatles Anthology TV series (John Lennon is represented by interviews he did while living),
this is a Must-Buy for every Beatles fan. The book is full of anecdotes, photos and interesting stories, and, more
important than all, it represents the Beatles' own point of view: how they felt, why they did things.
(However, I don't think the Beatles Anthology renders other biographies useless. It is still worth reading another biography by a third person, basically because a person who wasn't
there can be more unbiased, even though they will not know the story as well as the Beatles themselves. Also, you will find
that a book based on the memory of 4 people can have some bits missing).
And to answer the two main questions you probably have about it: "Is it worth giving all that money?" -Yes it is.
"Will I ever be able to read all of that huge book?" -Yes you will. The book is an easy read because
the story is told in natural, everyday speech language. Also, the pages are thick and many are half-full of pictures.
You'll be through it before you thought. So go ahead!
