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Beatles books you own
27 June 2013
4.41am
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parlance
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I borrowed the book from the library and couldn’t get through it all. I’ll have another go eventually, but it’s very low on my list. I’ve written elsewhere – I think the best Beatles book thread – that he often embellishes events for which he wasn’t present. I don’t think it’s just the McCartneys’ reaction that’s sullied the book’s reputation; over the years, far less sensational memoirs from insiders have been published, making Brown’s book seem all the more tawdry in retrospect.

parlance

Beware of sadness. It can hit you. It can hurt you. Make you sore and what is more, that is not what you are here for. - George

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27 June 2013
11.39am
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DrBeatle
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Yeah, Peter Brown’s book is total shit. I read it in the early 90s when my uncle lent me his copy and I thought that it was great, but as I got older and learned what was true and what was bullshit, I saw it for what it was. A book full of lies by a guy who wasn’t even present for half of what he wrote about. 

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27 June 2013
7.14pm
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Ron Nasty
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I think it’s getting a bit of a bad rap here. It’s not the best book about them, or the most flattering by an “insider” (though one has to wonder if other insiders have pulled their punches after seeing the response from Paul and Linda to this early “insider” account). Being one of Brian’s closest associates makes it important, even if much is gossipy. And as MMM points out in the thread dedicated to the book, George Martin mentioned this book when discussing what was wrong with Goldman’s Lennon biography. George says “[Peter] Brown did his own hatchet job, which was very nasty. He didn’t actually write any lies, but he presented all the steamy bits as if there was nothing else“.

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28 June 2013
1.27am
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Little Piggy Dragonguy
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I thought Peter Brown’s book was interesting. I never finished it, though, because I don’t use bookmarks, and I kept starting off at wrong places. I don’t really like re-reading things, and trying to find where I should have been was frustrating, so I just gave up. Eventually I’d like to go back and read the book, though, because what I did read I enjoyed. 

All living things must abide by the laws of the shape they inhabit 

28 June 2013
2.31am
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DrBeatle
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Peter Brown reported “firsthand” accounts of stuff he was obviously not at…not only because people who WERE there say he wasn’t, but there are some incidences (I don’t remember exactly which because it’s been so long since I’ve read it) where it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt via photos, documentation, time/date stamps, etc that he wasn’t even in the same country sometimes when things he reports as having witnessed actually happened.

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30 June 2013
7.06pm
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Linde
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Hmm I’ve started reading it and I like the way it’s written. It’s just that what everyone just told me on here bothers me, and that he describessome events completely different from how other people describe them, like when Cynthia walked in on John and Yoko. He describes it completely different than the way she does.

Also, he certainly has a preference for John. I’m currently reading their individual mini bio bits and I’m now at Paul’s part, which comes after John’s part. John’s part is like 15 pages long and Paul’s part about 4, and even then half of it is about how he met John.

I’ll continue reading, but I already like it less because of what I’ve read about it on the interwebz.

1 July 2013
8.49am
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Von Bontee
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Brown did embellish quite a bit – “transcribing” dialogue for scenes at which he wasn’t present, as if he could even recall people’s exact words so many years later even if he WAS there – but that’s not really the same as inventing incidents that never happened at all. As it is, I can’t really remember what parts of the book are proven out-and-out vicious lies, but it’s been at least 25 years since I read it. Of the stuff that I’ve never read anywhere else (and may or may not be true), all I really recall are a few odd wtf? moments, like Paul treating a case of the crabs with sheep dip.

I guess I can’t help having a soft spot for this book – it was the first Beatles bio I read, and I learned so much (Hamburg, Dylan, White Album fighting)

Paul: Yeah well… first of all, we’re bringing out a ‘Stamp Out Detroit’ campaign.

         

1 July 2013
1.08pm
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DrBeatle
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I believe he states very matter of factly that John *did* sleep with Brian in Spain, which pissed Paul off to no end after the book came out. Way to “report” on the dead when they can’t refute the rumors, Peter. :roll: Also, his account of Paul spending a weekend with two hookers in LA in ’68 (I believe)…that book is the only place I’ve *ever* read that story so I immediately discount it. Something as salacious as that (if you don’t know what I mean, read the book) would surely be reported elsewhere were it true? I’m not saying it’s out of the realm of possibility (we all know how Paul was with flings before he was with Linda) but since it’s never even been hinted it, I consider it suspect. And it’s a pretty sleazy thing to do…he was witness at Paul and Linda’s wedding and then nearly 15 years later he comes out with that? Nice one again, Peter.

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1 July 2013
4.56pm
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parlance
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DrBeatle said
Also, his account of Paul spending a weekend with two hookers in LA in ’68 (I believe)…that book is the only place I’ve *ever* read that story so I immediately discount it. Something as salacious as that (if you don’t know what I mean, read the book) would surely be reported elsewhere were it true?

Not to defend Brown, but I have read that story elsewhere – it’s the weekend at the Beverly Hills Hotel that was later dubbed “The Dirty Weekend” (by Linda, perhaps). If you google Paul and that phrase, you’ll find other references, and even Paul’s official bio by Barry Miles mentions it.

I think the only detail that might be wrong is the claim that both women were hookers. The white woman he was with was reportedly a call girl, but the other was an African American actress named Winona Williams (the weekend was referenced rather disgustingly by a friend of Paul’s as “The Paul McCartney Black and White Minstrel Show”). This was the weekend Paul kind of went insane with his libido, trying to juggle those two women in addition to inviting Peggy Lipton over *and* having Linda fly out from New York. 

On a less salacious note, this is where those cool photos of Paul sitting in a chair with a red velvet jacket come from, such as the  one where he covers all of his face except his eyes. Oh… here are some photos.

Again, not defending Brown. I just happen to favor photos of Paul from ’67 and ’68, so I’m more familiar with that period than any other in Beatle history. And I don’t think Brown was actually there.

parlance

Beware of sadness. It can hit you. It can hurt you. Make you sore and what is more, that is not what you are here for. - George

Check out my fan video for Paul's song "Appreciate" at Vimeo or YouTube.

1 July 2013
5.14pm
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DrBeatle
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^ah, thanks for clearing that up for me, I stand corrected!

And Brown also used the “minstrel show” name for it in his book, *THAT* I remember 100%

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1 July 2013
5.21pm
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parlance
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DrBeatle said
^ah, thanks for clearing that up for me, I stand corrected!

And Brown also used the “minstrel show” name for it in his book, *THAT* I remember 100%

Okay, that’s where that phrase originated. *shudder*

parlance

Beware of sadness. It can hit you. It can hurt you. Make you sore and what is more, that is not what you are here for. - George

Check out my fan video for Paul's song "Appreciate" at Vimeo or YouTube.

1 July 2013
6.36pm
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Linde
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Oh wow..ew. Never heard that story before. Again, ew.

15 July 2013
1.18pm
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DrBeatle
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Just dug out of my garage a little hardcover that contains both of John’s books, I bought this a few years back:

 

BPGbO-eCEAItddC.jpg:largeImage Enlarger

 

I haven’t read these in probably 15 years, looking forward to it again.

"I know you, you know me; one thing I can tell you is you got to be free!"

 

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15 July 2013
5.25pm
mccartneyalarm
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Highly and strongly recommend May Pang book. She did two. One is her photos of the “lost weekend” That is interesting. But, you won’t be able to put down her second book, her own account of the “lost weekend”…I’m pretty sure it’s called “Loving John.” Excellent. Also highly recommend controversial Fred Seaman book. Again, I could not put that down.

"And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make."

15 July 2013
5.58pm
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DrBeatle
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The May Pang book (not the photo one, Instamatic Karma, but the Loving John one) has been out of print for a while, though, hasn’t it? Or is there a new edition?

"I know you, you know me; one thing I can tell you is you got to be free!"

 

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15 July 2013
8.03pm
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parlance
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May’s book is out of print but she has said she’s working on a new edition.

parlance

Beware of sadness. It can hit you. It can hurt you. Make you sore and what is more, that is not what you are here for. - George

Check out my fan video for Paul's song "Appreciate" at Vimeo or YouTube.

16 July 2013
11.58am
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fabfouremily
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DrBeatle said
Just dug out of my garage a little hardcover that contains both of John’s books, I bought this a few years back:

 

BPGbO-eCEAItddC.jpg:largeImage Enlarger

 

I haven’t read these in probably 15 years, looking forward to it again.

I have this book and I keep it in the top of my drawer so that I can get it in times of need of inspiration or cheering up. I love it, he was so funny.

 

 

Moving along in our God given ways, safety is sat by the fire/Sanctuary from these feverish smiles, left with a mark on the door.

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20 July 2013
6.24pm
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Hi everyone, these are most my books. I have read some more, but these I own.

Anthology -The Beatles 
Here, There And Everywhere -Geoff Emmerick 
Beatles For Sale  
You Never Give Me Your Money -Peter Doggett 
Magical Mystery Tours -Tony Bramwell 
The Beatles -Hunter Davies 
Lennon Letters -Hunter Davies 
Many years from now -Barry Miles 
Revolution in the head -Ian MacDonald 
A hard days write -Steve Turner 
A rough guide to the Beatles -Chris Ingham 
The love you make -Peter Brown 
The Beatles way 
Read the Beatles 
Beatles FAQ -R. Rodriguez 
Beatles FAQ 2.0 -R. Rodriguez 
Revolver -Robert Rodriguez 
The Beatles Off the Record -Keith Badman 
Beatles After the Breakup -Keith Badman 
The Longest Cocktail Party -Richard DiLello 
Beatles Lost Photograps -Bob Bonis 
In my life -Pete Shotton 
Those were the days -Stefan Granados 
With the Beatles -Alistair Taylor 
I Me Mine George Harrison  
The Beatles London Mark Lewisohn, Piet Schreuders 
All we are saying -David Sheff 
Lennon Remembers -Jann Wenner 
As time goes by -Derek Taylor 
It was 20 years ago today -Derek Taylor 
What if the Beatles never broke up -Jeff Walker 
Wonderful today -Patty Boyd 
John -Cynthia Lennon 
Loving John -May Pang 

"I don't know why nobody told you how to unfold your love"

23 July 2013
9.32am
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Joe
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You’ve got a good library there.

Can buy me love! Please consider supporting the Beatles Bible on Amazon
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23 July 2013
4.29pm
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Linde
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That person owns pretty much every Beatles related book I still want to read. Except for the Lewisohn ones.

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