Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #116400 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Synopsis
History's most influential rock group continues to impact and inspire countless musicians today, and there is keen interest in the tools that John, Paul, George, and Ringo used in their quest for musical perfection. This updated edition analyses all the gear and how the trend-setting Beatles played it to sculpt and unforgettable range of sounds. Year by year, it examines in fine detail specific instruments, amplifiers, and other equipment used by each artist - from the pre-Beatle days in 1956-57 Liverpool, throughout the global Beatlemania of the '60s, to the group's disbanding in 1970. Much of this chronicle is told through the reminiscences of The Beatles' colleagues, including musicians they toured with in the very early days, road manager Neil Aspinall, roadie and confidant Mal Evans, manager Brian Epstein, instrument manufacturers and sellers, and many others. Author Andy Babiuk performed years of painstaking research, interviewing more than 400 sources - including Fred Gretsch of Gretsch Guitar Co., William Ludwig of Ludwig Drum Co., John Hall, owner of Rickenbacker Guitar Co., Christian Benker, owner of Hofner Bass, and Dick Denney of Vox Amplifiers.

Other research included discussions with George Martin at Abbey Road Studios, plus Ginger Baker, The Beach Boys, Ravi Shankar, Tony Sheridan, and others.

Customer Reviews

One of three essential books about The Beatles recordings
If you're a bit of a Beatles recordings obsessive this is one of three essential books. It's a thorough and well-researched guide to all the musical equipment The Beatles used during their amazing career, with many good pictures, and is largely free of error.

The other two books you'll need to compliment it are Mark Lewisohn's 'The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions' and 'Recording The Beatles' by Kevin Ryan & Brian Kehew [Curvebender Publishing ISBN 978-0-9785200-0-7].

The latter is wonderful, subtitled 'The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums' it not only lists all the recording equipment the band used for their recordings, but includes exceptional photos, often of the actual equipment. Additionally there are sections on the studios (Abbey Road predominantly obviously) and breakdowns of some songs' recording processes.

Buy all three books!

Great pictures!
I liked this book mainly because of the new pictures it contains. I have read lots of Beatles books and I found a lot of pictures in here that I have never seen before.
It also gives a fresh spin on some well-known stories, for example, the story about The Beatles logo... that is something I have never read before, and it is very interesting to see their first attempt!
Although it doesn't go into detail about why they wrote the songs (it focuses more on the instruments) it does give a good overview of the band's history from start to finish.
I would recommend this book even if you aren't interested in the instruments - there is still plenty to read.

Who Cares if You Don't Play These Things!
For too many years, I have watched the Beatles play their beloved instruments, and always wondered what the guitars and Ringo's set of drums felt like? Were the guitars heavy? Could Ringo really "tune" up his drums? This book is magic. Even if you do not play an instrument, or never tried, this book answers all questions and has gorgeous photos of the instruments. The text is enjoyable and it made me appreciate the music even more!
There are so many books, but you must have this one!