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The Beatles: All These Years by Mark Lewisohn. Tune In - What do you think? (Spoilers alert!)
17 June 2018
6.16pm
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Ahhh Girl
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^ Interesting. Thanks, @Richard.

Maybe Brian didn’t have to wait as long for the Beatles to show up as I had feared.

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24 June 2018
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Ahhh Girl
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p. 1017

As John remembers the situation.

John: Right, mates, Brian Epstein brian-epstein is going to manage us.
Paul: Uh, hold on a minute there, John. I’m not sure about him. a-hard-days-night-paul-7
John: a-hard-days-night-john-7 Get over it, Paul. It’s a thing now.

——————————-

Fast forward 8 years.

John: Right, mates, Allen Klein is going to our manager.
Paul: Uh, hold on a minute there, John. I’m not sure about him. a-hard-days-night-paul-7
John: a-hard-days-night-john-7 Get over it, Paul. It’s a thing now.

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Richard, Leppo, forn
12 July 2018
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It took me over two years to read this book.  I’m not much of a reader, biographies and nonfiction really, very few books I’ve read have kept me captive.  Being a huge Beatles fan from all the way back has compelled me to read a few books about this amazing story.  Mark Lewisohn has written the Beatles biography to end all Beatles biographies (except volume 2 and 3) because the amount of detail and research shouldn’t ever be exceeded.  I wish volume two was out, because I can’t imagine going through volume one again.  

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Timothy, Leppo
12 September 2018
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Tony Japanese
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I’ve still never been brave enough to purchase the extended version of this book, but one day I might find a spare £150 in my wallet.

 

Anyway, this isn’t really why I’m here. Apologies if this has been asked elsewhere, but there are two questions relating to Mark Lewisohn I’m sure you could answer.

 

1. Can anyone confirm what time period Volume 2 of his biography will cover?

2. And this is something which occured to me today. Before Lewisohn released The Complete Beatles Record Sessions, what were his credentials as a writer? It seems strange to me that EMI allowed a relative unknown to listen to the most important music recorded in the latter half of the 20th century. 

12 September 2018
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@Tony Japanese ML has long been regarded as one of the foremost experts on them. I first heard of him in ’81/’82, when he was interviewed on (I think) Capitol Radio in London, and introduced as “The Beatle Brain of Britain”. In 1986 he published The Beatles Live!, which was an astounding piece of research and became an essential reference book about their career as a live band from The Quarrymen on. It was that book which probably got him invited to do a similar job on their recording sessions, with both books (and more) later combined into his The Complete Beatles Chronicle in 1992.

The Extended is definitely worth getting.

As to Volume 2, 2020 is the expected date (last I heard), but dates do slip as he discovers another archive he needs to examine to check it doesn’t contain anything he’s missed or changes his understanding of certain events.

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The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966

12 September 2018
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Ron Nasty said
@Tony Japanese ML has long been regarded as one of the foremost experts on them. I first heard of him in ’81/’82, when he was interviewed on (I think) Capitol Radio in London, and introduced as “The Beatle Brain of Britain”. In 1986 he published The Beatles Live!, which was an astounding piece of research and became an essential reference book about their career as a live band from The Quarrymen on. It was that book which probably got him invited to do a similar job on their recording sessions, with both books (and more) later combined into his The Complete Beatles Chronicle in 1992.

The Extended is definitely worth getting.

As to Volume 2, 2020 is the expected date (last I heard), but dates do slip as he discovers another archive he needs to examine to check it doesn’t contain anything he’s missed or changes his understanding of certain events.  

Thanks for the information about Lewisohn. I knew he’d had The Beatles Live! published beforehand, but I didn’t realise he’d already begun doing the rounds in the early 80s as the go-to Beatles expert. I wonder why EMI didn’t invite a writer with a (at the time) better CV though.

I’m not sure you’ve answered my question about volume 2 of the book though. I meant does anyone know what period of the Beatles history the book will cover? Obviously it will start with the beginnings of Beatlemania in the UK, but where will it end?

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Choking Smoker
12 September 2018
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Ron Nasty
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Oops! Brain drifting off to publication date by mistake, @Tony Japanese.

ML hasn’t been specific on where he will end the next book, though it covering 1963-1966 seems likely, maybe ending in a similar way to V1 in ending with Candlestick Park, as V1 ended with the Star Club. The other alternative I’d suggest would be Brian’s death.

I had to check something on ML that I thought I was right on, and added to his credentials. Now checked.

When the ’60s The Beatles Book monthly magazines were reprinted in the UK, beginning in 1976, with a wraparound section of new material (first 8 pages, later 16 pages), he was an early editor of the wraparound and did much that was groundbreaking in terms of Beatles research in those pages. For instance, in 1980, when he was 22, he was the first person to put together an index of their BBC recordings and appearances.

His time editing, and writing for, the wraparound more than proved he could write, and was a stickler for getting the details right.

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The Beatles Bible 2020 non-Canon Poll Part One: 1958-1963 and Part Two: 1964-August 1966

6 July 2019
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Ahhh Girl
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At the Cavern sometimes…

20190706_184100.jpgImage Enlarger

And later John did the Sugar Plum Fairy count-in for A Day In The Life

21 July 2019
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Tony Japanese said
I’ve still never been brave enough to purchase the extended version of this book, but one day I might find a spare £150 in my wallet. 

 

@Tony Japanese  The extended version is in two parts on Amazon as a Kindle version at £16.99 each part. I’m on part one now. I already read the standard version.

Pivotal Moments in Beatles History No.118:  Yoko helps herself to one of George's digestives. 

14 October 2019
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I’ve been reading the Standard edition of this, but on my Kindle in recent weeks – it’s fabulously detailed and really enjoying it. The boys are just about to move clubs in Hamburg so not sure how far I am through it. The Kindle says I am at x%, but there are a huge anmlount of footnotes and references I’m not sure how long I have left in the book pages wise!

 

I’m starting to regret not reading the extended edition when i read all the comments about it on here, I’ve gone too far into this one to start again now, but maybe int he lead up to part 2 coming out (any date on that yet??) I will read the full edition to warm me back up!

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15 October 2019
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HereThereAndEverywhere_1 said
I’ve been reading the Standard edition of this, but on my Kindle in recent weeks – it’s fabulously detailed and really enjoying it. The boys are just about to move clubs in Hamburg so not sure how far I am through it. The Kindle says I am at x%, but there are a huge anmlount of footnotes and references I’m not sure how long I have left in the book pages wise!

 

I’m starting to regret not reading the extended edition when i read all the comments about it on here, I’ve gone too far into this one to start again now, but maybe int he lead up to part 2 coming out (any date on that yet??) I will read the full edition to warm me back up!

  

I completed part 1 of the extended version and it finished at 52% so 48% was notes, pics etc a total of 1728 pages but I’m really loving it and already into part 2. You probably have enough time to go back and read the extended version after you’ve finished the standard version @HereThereAndEverywhere_1 as I’m sure we still have a long wait for the next instalment. I’m just up to the second trip to Hamburg. One of my favourite lines …about The Top 10 Club: “The Top 10 was a cut above what they’d had before. There were still fights, just not quite as many, though the waiters would start one when things got too calm”. paul-mccartney

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Pivotal Moments in Beatles History No.118:  Yoko helps herself to one of George's digestives. 

31 October 2019
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HereThereAndEverywhere_1 said
I’ve been reading the Standard edition of this, but on my Kindle in recent weeks – it’s fabulously detailed and really enjoying it. The boys are just about to move clubs in Hamburg so not sure how far I am through it. The Kindle says I am at x%, but there are a huge anmlount of footnotes and references I’m not sure how long I have left in the book pages wise!

 

I’m starting to regret not reading the extended edition when i read all the comments about it on here, I’ve gone too far into this one to start again now, but maybe int he lead up to part 2 coming out (any date on that yet??) I will read the full edition to warm me back up!

  

I wouldn’t regret it. After you have finished this book, get the extended version and read the whole ‘shebang’ again, it will still surprise you and you will enjoy it a lot. Good books, with great stories and being well-written (language, grammar, words, story-line, creating tension, and triggering curiosity and empathy) are worth another read every couple of years… Mark Lewisohn achieved this. Even though some criticism is possible… The Beatles Review of History – At last a serious critique of Mark Lewisohn’s ‘Tune In’?  

Rob Geurtsen

 

I’m a hunter of footnotes. If I’m interested in a particular topic, I can disappear down a rathole of sources.
The Beatles Review of History

18 January 2020
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trcanberra said

mja6758 said

It does disappoint me when, with all this work, all the checking that must have gone on with this, I find my first typo on page 20! Hope it’s not a sign of things to come!

I was thinking the same about the editing; and that from page xiii – the sentence which begins “Unless quoting documents that had it differently …” is repeated twice within three paragraphs with only a minor variation and exactly the same meaning.  And I haven’t even started reading it yet.

I was a newspaper sub-editor in a former life and am just horrified by the typos and errors which manifest themselves in books and newspapers these days since we moved from manual to electronic typesetting; which has reduced the number of people involved – many of those people used to spot errors that made it past the formal checking.

 

  

I would disagree with this (and the rule) a bit. 

It’s true that by the rules of grammar, one should have “a” and not “an” in front of a word or acronym that starts with a consonant. 

But, think about the purpose of this rule, and how some consonants are pronounced. 

The purpose of the rule (I believe) was to make things easier to say and pronounce. 

So, you would say “he had an alacrity of spirit.” The “an” is used because you need a consonant in front of “alacrity,” to make it pronounceable. “a” is of course a vowel. 

But think about these types of consonants: “m” “f” and yes even “r”. Think about what your mouth and tongue does when you pronounce those letters. 

“m” is like “em” ; “r” is like “arrrr”; “f” is like “eff”. So you are in fact placing a vowel in front of those letters, and words that start with those letters. 

Thus, I have no problem at all with “an RC church.” I don’t view it as an error. At least, it’s debatable. (Unlike, for example, if I said “Those shoes compliment that coat”–that would clearly be a grammatical error.)

That said, you see a lot of news anchors and reporters say and write “an historic event” — and that drives me batty. Admittedly, this is a tough one. “H” is a consonant; but you say “h” like “aich” or “ache.” But you use “h” in still a different way if you say “historic” “honorific” “horrible” etc.

Anyway, I have read 90% of the book at this point, and rank it very highly. I did not see an *obvious* typo or grammatical error in it; and the level of detail is astonishing and the quality of the writing is superb. 

Of course, you have to be something of Beatles fanatic to read it — but, then, we are fanatics, aren’t we? 🙂 

Apologies for my grammatical pedantry. 🙂 Love the site! 

18 January 2020
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Ahhh Girl said
I guess I am surprised they would give up that much control over their business dealings to someone else having been so vocal and involved once they became popular in Liverpool. I have to spend more time studying the Brian dynamic.

How cheesed off were they at Brian when they found out he didn’t always get them the best deal (for example, with Beatles merchandise)?

  

From the book, IIRC, the Beatles had come to the point where they realized that they needed a good manager. In fact, the author pretty much states that the Beatles had come to the point where they realized that, if they didn’t get a good manager, they might fizzle/stall out and break apart. 

The Beatles might not have had this mindset, prior to Brian. 

As for the merchandise, that’s an oft-repeated charge or criticism of Brian. Undoubteldy, it had some level of merit. But I would say two things to this: a) I think the Beatles liked Brian, in no small part, because he was learning with them, and was not a seasoned/jaded/perhaps crooked manager/promoter. IOW, they liked him, in no small part, because he was “green” (new to the job). 

Secondly, b) by the time of Hard Days Night (maybe even before), Beatlemania had reached such a fever pitch that there was no way that anyone that wasn’t a huge corporation with tons of lawyers could control it. You couldn’t stop everybody that wanted to sell a “Beatle wig,” or sell “Beatles figurines.” There were way too many people making them; there was no way to police that, unless you were an Exxon/IBM/Disney-level corporation. 

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Ahhh Girl
13 February 2020
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Don’t know if anyone has posted this in the thread (I could well have already posted it here, mind like a sieve) but for those who haven’t seen it, Conan O’Brien’s interview with Lewisohn from 2016.

 

Now I’m a big Conan fan, like one of those freaky ones. I have a USB with a load of his Late Night shows from the ’90’s that I have spent years adding “new” episodes onto it, with the upcoming release (whenever that’ll actually happen though) of his restored shows, that USB will now be redundant. 

 

He’s a big Beatles fan, he’s interviewed both Paul and Ringo in his career which is pretty cool and met George during his time writing for SNL. 

However, he keeps pronouncing ‘Epstein’ wrong and the worst thing ever- on his podcast he said the Fabs got OBEs, any Beatles fan worth their salt would know they got MBEs, not OBEs, Conan /hahaIfoundanerror.

 

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15 March 2020
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Finishing it before I die is on my bucket list.ahdn_john_08_gifahdn_george_08ahdn_ringo_09a-hard-days-night-paul-5

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What is happening? And tell me how you've been.

7 August 2020
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Have Paul and Ringo said anything about this book?

18 April 2021
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Hi, new member here. Love this book and can’t wait for volume 2. 

Mark goes into great detail and although I’ve been a fan since 1982, there was a lot I didn’t know in there. 

Can’t recommend this book highly enough.

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18 April 2021
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I’m waiting for the first person to come on here and say “Lewisohn didn’t include anything that I didn’t already know, just another derivative Beatles bio” Its either a troll or a pathological liar. 

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Ahhh Girl

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19 April 2021
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Lewisohn didn’t include anything that I didn’t already know, just another derivative Beatles bio.

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INTROVERTS UNITE! Separately....in your own homes!

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