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THURSDAY. MARCH 11.2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 9A
Books & Writers
Greatest book on
The Beatles ever written?
Perhaps the most exhaustive book ever written about
one of history’s greatest bands, check out this latest book
on the lads from Liverpool.
By David R. Altman
Did you know that two of
the Beatles most popular
songs—John Lennon’s A
Day in The Life and Paul Mc
Cartney’s She’s Leaving
Home —were inspired by sto
ries they read in the newspa
per?
And, that John Lennon
wrote Lucy in the Sky’ with
Diamonds (often thought of
as being about the drug LSD,
due to the song’s initials) but
was actually written about
the death of a little girl
named Lucy who was his son
Julian’s friend.
Or, did you know that it
was Ed Sullivan himself who
noticed the throngs of
teenagers waiting for the
band at London’s airport
when they were returning
from playing in Hamburg,
Germany in 1963? He then
booked the band for their
(now) historic appearance in
February 1964.
The interesting facts in
this book All the Songs: The
Story Behind Every Beatles
Release just keep coming.
When Paul introduced
“the one and only Billy
Shears” in his song Sgt. Pep
per’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band he was actually refer
ring to drummer Ringo Starr,
whom Paul and John wanted
to help promote.
These stories are but a few
of those in perhaps the most
exhaustive book ever written
about history’s greatest band.
It’s a fascinating look at
the genesis of every Beatles
song, ranging from the num
ber of takes it took to record
each song to the inspiration
behind each lyric. Beyond
that, it’s full of behind-the-
scenes drama that made the
Beatles far more than just
history’s greatest selling
band.
The book was written by
two musicians and artists in
their own right: Philippe
Margotin, who has written
biographies of U2, Radio
head and the Rolling Stones
and Jean-Michel Guesdon, a
musician, composer and
sound engineer. In addition,
Rock & Roll Hall of Famer
and author Patti Smith wrote
a memorable preface for the
book. These distinguished in
dividuals, who also have an
encyclopedic knowledge of
the Beatles, have blended the
music, production and per
sonalities of the Fab Four
into a book that Beatles fans
will forever be referencing.
You will learn the cutting-
edge sophistication that the
Beatles brought to the record
ing studio. Despite the Beat-
lemania frenzy they created
on tour, it was their ground
breaking studio albums, start
ing with the sounds created
for the 1967 Album, Sgt.
Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club
Band, that created some of
the group’s most memorable
arrangements.
The authors said as
ground-breaking as “Sgt.
Peppers” was, it “...bore
within itself the promise of
the end of the group: Paul as
sumed ascendency over John,
whose bossiness and work
ethic irritated his colleagues.
Nothing would ever be the
same again.”
The book doesn’t shy
away from the controversy.
You will read how the group,
particularly after giving up
concerts and recording the
Sgt. Peppers album, slowly
began to lose the original
closeness they had back in
Liverpool, England in the
late 1950s.
You will also read how
Yoko Ono’s presence was
clearly a disruptive one for
the group, although she in
spired John to write Imagine,
which he recorded apart from
the Beatles, and which ar
guably became his most fa
mous composition.
For those of you who are
production-savvy, you will
find detailed notes on how
each song was produced,
what instruments were used,
how the tracks were mixed
and who played what instru
ment. Too much informa
tion? Only if you are a Stones
fan (and, yes, there are simi
lar anthologies about the
Stones and about Bob Dylan,
the latter of which I’ve al
ready ordered).
The Beatles book dis
cusses the “devastating” im
pact the death of their
beloved manager Brian Ep
stein had on the group. Ep
stein, a business executive
who first signed the Beatles
back in 1962, died of a “fatal
cocktail” five years later, a
drug and alcohol overdose
that was nded accidental.
While Epstein was the
marketing genius behind the
Beatles (he told them to get
rid of their “scruffy” look and
wear nice suits and similar
haircuts), the other major fig
ure in their success was the
brilliant engineer and pro
ducer George Martin, who
was credited for creating the
Beatles unique “sound” and
for many of their brilliant stu
dio production techniques.
Martin was often thought
of as the “fifth Beatle,” as he
wrote the orchestration for
most of their songs. Perhaps
Martin was best known for
the extraordinary recording
of A Day in The Life where a
40-piece orchestra was
brought in and asked to play
one section of the song “...
randomly during 24 beats
reaching to their highest
level” which was then
boosted to create the sound of
160 players. The unforget
table final note to that song,
which is credited to Paul, had
the Beatles play the exact
same chord on four individ
ual pianos.
It’s hard to believe that the
Beatles, who released their
first single Love Me Do in
1962 (written by Paul at the
age of 16) to the group’s final
song The End in their final
recording session in 1969,
were active for less than 10
years, but still sold 183 mil
lion albums, more than Led
Zeppelin and the Rolling
Stones combined.
For the last song on the
last album the group would
ever record, Paul wrote the
now famous final line: “And
in the end/The love you
take/Is equal to the love you
make.”
[David R. Altman writes
about books and writers. He
is a former Jasper resident
and is a member of the Na
tional Book Critics Circle
and the American Academy
of Poets.]
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