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10.27pm
10 November 2010
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As far as I know there are currently 3 extensive biographies of Paul McCartney available – Barry Miles: Many years from now, Peter Ames Carlin:Paul McCartney, A life, and Howard Sounes: Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney, the latter two fairly recent I think. Any clues which is best?
11.01pm
10 November 2010
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Sorry, you are right! I just posted my introduction!
8.21pm
10 November 2010
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OK, I have now read the Howard Sounes Fab book: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney. I have not read any of the others but I think this one is good. In an unauthorized bio you want the complete picture, the good and the bad sides of the character. And I think Sounes makes a good job here. He describes McCartney as a very ambitious, sometimes impatient genius who at times can be rude when he doesnt get what he wants, but on the other hand as a charming, communicative, generous and responsible person. He was clearly the driving force behind the Beatles after Epstein had died, and without his committment they would have split already in 1968 or so. For experts the book may not reveal many new facts but it provides a good overview.
3.53pm
4 February 2011
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Barry Miles – Many years from Now. Though he does dedicate too much to the Indica scene.
2.53am
15 February 2011
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deboraht said:
Barry Miles – Many years from Now. Though he does dedicate too much to the Indica scene.
I agree, it's very good book, but focuses way too much on the avent garde Paul.
8.50pm
28 May 2011
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Miles' book was quite good and Paul seems to be quite honest through it.
8.40pm
1 December 2009
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Choking Smoker said
OK, I have now read the Howard Sounes Fab book: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney.
Found this on sale for 8 bucks and am reading it now. Scanned through a few bits and found some remarks fairly critical of Paul, which I choose to take as encouraging for the book as a whole (although I may be proven to be wrong, of course!)
9.27am
3 May 2012
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I'm reading Many Years From Now at the moment and so far, so good although the author has made two mistakes regarding a birthday and family origins.
9.58am
5 November 2011
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My favorite is Many Years From Now. Fab really drags on for much of the book. I thought it should have gone more into Wings, and his solo career, but it seemed like they had a bigger focus on Heather and the divorce then that. I read A Life too, but I don't remember anything about it other than that I liked the book.
8.10pm
1 December 2009
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Really enjoying "Fab", and I gotta say it's making me enthusiastic to want to check out Paul's late work, "Flaming Pie" and beyond, which the author has a much higher opinion of than most of the 70s-80s stuff, of which he could be quite critical. (Me, I definitely liked "Venus and Mars" and "McCartney" and especially "Ram" a lot more than he did, but he surprised me with kind words for "McCartney II" which I like a lot and which usually is dissed.)
4.11pm
3 October 2012
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'Many Years From Now', McCartney's collaboration with Barry Miles is the best, as it comes from the horse's mouth and is quite extensive in scope, and the Guilliano book 'Blackbird Singing' is the worst, a hatchet job with no cooperation from McCartney or any 'Beatles people' except for a strange little intro by Denny Laine that appears to have been cut and pasted from somewhere else…Olivia Harrison wrote a scathing letter to a UK newspaper about Guilliano after he wrote 'Dark Horse', a supposed biography about George, calling him a 'scavenging dog'.
You can read them all here…http://www.wingspan.ru/
5.25pm
29 November 2012
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Many Years From Now is the authorized Paul bio, right?
12.54pm
14 October 2012
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Many Years From Now is the authorized Paul bio, right
Yes- its, "based on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews [with Paul] undertaken over a period of five years,". It was published in 1997, so its a bit out of date now if you're looking for info on Heather, Nancy, George's death etc….but the Beatles story is all there.
Barry Miles – Many years from Now. Though he does dedicate too much to the Indica scene.
I agree, it's very good book, but focuses way too much on the avent garde Paul
I agree, there's too much on Avante-Garde and Swinging London, but I really like the parts when Paul explains the Lennon-McCartney songs and who wrote what.
I like that FAB isn't afraid to portray the obnoxious, manipulative side of the "cute" Beatle (and all those illegitimate children!) and its extensively researched, but sometimes I feel that its a bit negative.
"I don't think we were actually swimming, as it were, with shirts on, 'cos we always wear overcoats when we're swimming,"-
George Harrison, Australia, June 1964
4.54pm
8 November 2012
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WeCanWorkItOut said
deboraht said:Barry Miles – Many years from Now. Though he does dedicate too much to the Indica scene.
I agree, it's very good book, but focuses way too much on the avent garde Paul.
I'm reading MYFN right now. I know the first quote is old, but I have to disagree, as the avant garde section is the Paul phase I'm most interested in, and I read that section before going back to the beginning. I thought it was fascinating, made me feel like I was there. 
parlance
7.54pm
31 March 2008
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If you like that, try to get hold of Miles' memoir In The Sixties. It's very good, but I think it's out of print now. Plenty on the Indica/UFO Club/Swinging London stuff, and lots of McCartney/Beatles info I've not seen anywhere else.
8.51pm
8 November 2012
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Joe said
If you like that, try to get hold of Miles' memoir In The Sixties. It's very good, but I think it's out of print now. Plenty on the Indica/UFO Club/Swinging London stuff, and lots of McCartney/Beatles info I've not seen anywhere else.
Oh, thank you! I'll put it on my wishlist. And so far I've had great luck finding every book I want at the library.
parlance
9.42pm
14 April 2010
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I received Many Years From Now for Christmas and can't wait to start it – need to finish Can't Buy Me Love first.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, Let it roll for all its worth.
2295 6972
2.29pm
29 November 2012
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I received Many Years From Now for Christmas and can't wait to start it – need to finish Can't Buy Me Love first.
Let me know how it is…that's next on my list to get and read!
6.05pm
14 April 2010
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DrBeatle said
I received Many Years From Now for Christmas and can't wait to start it – need to finish Can't Buy Me Love first.
Let me know how it is…that's next on my list to get and read!
Are you referring to Can't Buy Me Love or Many Years From Now? I'd be happy to tell you about either one once I have finished.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, Let it roll for all its worth.
2295 6972
10.30pm
6 January 2013
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Hi,
"Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now" by Miles should be on the doorstep, any minute now, I ordered it before Christmas. I will let you know what I think of it and would be happy to participate in a discussion of the book with other members currently reading! 
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