Product Description

Bridging a serious gap in the Beatles fandom market, The Beatles: Literary Anthology collects the best writings on the Beatles from the last 40 years. It is a unique volume, containing writings by mainstream journalists, rock reporters cultural commentators, friends, acquaintances and contemporaries.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #529476 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 448 pages

The Mail on Sunday, September 26, 2004
'Excellent, revealing and amusing... He has produced an invaluable collection which will be enjoyed by all'

Guardian Guide, July 31, 2004
'A "best of" the archive writing’s overdue... Evans draws from the Himalayan range of interviews, articles and books with panache'

Record Collector, November 2004
'Evans leaves no emotion unturned... presenting a collection that explodes to an even greater degree the influence this quartet wielded.'

Customer Reviews

Rave Reviews , Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
This is a book of extraordinarily high caliber. Like the Beatle book by Mojo, this one includes a myriad of magazine articles spanning the Beatles' careers as well as musical analyses, comprehensive biographies and analytical dissections of each Beatle.

One drawback the book has are some inaccuracies, e.g. that George Harrison did not contribute in a musically significant way until 1969 with the release of the Abbey Road album. That just isn't true. George Harrison was a gifted guitarist and extraordinary lyricist who had been writing songs for years prior to 1969! Just LISTEN to the 1966 stellar gem "Revolver" which has 3 songs by George Harrison. The intensity of his lyrics and his unique guitar playing helped define the Beatles as the extraordinary band that they were. Suggesting otherwise is counterproductive.

On the plus side, this book digs quite deeply into history and provides fascinating accounts of the inception of the Beatles; Pete Best's dismissal from the group in 1962 and his replacement Ringo Starr; personal accounts from Best himself; Beatle manager Brian Epstein's first encounter with the boys in 1961.

Each Beatle and the influences that helped shape and guide him down his individual Long & Winding Road are discussed in depth; their philosphies; political ideologies and core values and beliefs are explored as well.

If you are on a quest for buried treasure, you will find plenty of it in this book. You will uncover anecdotes about Beatle conventions; Murray the K, a New York disc jockey who followed the Beatles around during their first trip to America in 1964; his views on John's wife Yoko in later years; John's and George's tragic and untimely demise as well.

Even with the death of two Beatles (at the time of this review), the book does an excellent job of portraying their staying power and how they continue to influence music and other art media.

All in all, a solid job. I highly recommend this one, yeah, yeah, yeah!