There's probably no one on the planet who knows more about the Beatles than
MarkLewisohn. He knows every bit of information - songs, dates, locations, and it's all here in this daily chronicle that follows the band from their earliest pre-Beatles days through their breakup in 1970.
The book follows the band as they record, film movies, make television appearances, tour, and everything in-between. Here's a sample listing from June 15, 1965.
Studio Two, EMI Studios, London
The second of three mid-June recording sessions at Abbey Road, completing the non-soundtrack side of the forthcoming
Help! album. On this day, working a 2:30-6:15 afternoon session, the Beatles began and completed (in six takes) John's mainly acoustic ballad 'It's Only Love.'
This is a perfect example of what Lewisohn gets right and what he gets wrong. The dates and takes are accurate, but 'It's Only Love' is not a 'mainly acoustic ballad.' There is an acoustic rhythm part in the song, but George Harrison provides an electric rhythm track as well as an electric lead guitar.
The author's interpretation of the facts he
has gathered lead him off the path. He calls "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"
as a Dylan-influenced song when it's simply Lennon expanding his songwriting palette.
He sees Paul McCartney's "I've Just Seen a Face" as a folk song, but Paul - like John
- is reaching out to different areas in his writing.
if you can look past the writer's sometimes erroneous observations and just take this in as a digest of facts and dates and where were they on a certain day and what cities they toured on their first American visit, you'll learn everything there is to know about the Fab Four.