The Beatles Anthology by The Beatles
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Book Reviews of The Beatles Anthology
Book Review: The Ultimate Beatle Artifact !!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Anthology" is THE ultimate Beatle artifact. Anyone who loves the Beatles will be blown away by this 368 page monster packed with hundreds of rare photos and the real story behind the music as told by John, Paul, George and Ringo. True, thousands of books have been written about the Beatles but, "Anthology" is the first to be written BY the Beatles. That's what makes this book so refreshing and unique.Everything--and I mean EVERYTHING -- from their Liverpool upbringing through their bitter 1970 breakup is discussed and debated. Ironically, the Beatles often disagree on the details of their historic career. For instance John always claimed that the Beatles smoked pot at Buckingham Palace while being awarded the MBE by the Queen in 1965. George, however, says it never happened. John claims to have written the classic "In My Life" all by himself, while Paul swears it was a collaboration! Such tid-bits -- and there are many of them -- are what makes "Anthology" so much fun to read.
The book is adorned with hundreds of beautiful, glossy photos -- many of which have never been seen by the public. Most impressive are rare color shots from the Canary Islands in '63, Miami, New York and Tahiti in '64 and India in '66 and '68.
"Anthology" is truly breathtaking in terms of content and scope. I suspect it will take many months to fully disect and digest the wealth of information contained within its pages. This is a truly remarkable piece of work that I would highly recommend to anyone whose life was changed by the Beatles and their fabulous music. Five stars are not enough.
Book Review: THE Best Book - How could you not like it???
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, I would like to say that I was not a huge Beatles Fan before I read this book. I mean, I liked the Beatles and I had a couple CD's, but the thing was I didn't really know enough about them to like them. This book changed all that.I actually purchased this book for a speech that I had to do in school on "The Musical Journey of the Beatles." I started out using it like a refrence book. You know, look in the index, then go the page and read about the subject you want to put in your speech. I soon found, however, that this was impossible. It was so interesting that I just kept on reading after I had found the topic I was looking for. And reading and reading and reading and.... well, you get the idea.
There are so many little factoids here that you can't find anywhere else. Like, where Sgt. Pepper came from. "The orginal idea for Sgt. Pepper came from Paul. While on a trip to the West Coast, he encountered a trend of long group names. 'People were no longer The Beatles or The Crickets, they were suddenly Fred and his incredible shrinking greatful airplanes' as John explains in THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY" That's a line from my speech, and there are tons more like that.
So, it doesn't matter if you are or if you are not a Beatles Fan. If you have even gotten to this page, you have some intrest in them, so go ahead, spend that $36.OO (it's a 40% discount!!), and invest in the single most useful tool to prevent Beatles ignorance.
(By the way, just in case you cared, I got an A on my speech!)
Book Review: Timeless, a treasure behind every page
Summary: 5 Stars
Having being born after The Beatles broke up my discovery of the band's work occurred progressively in my high school years, as I got exposed to the bulk of their work and exploded when I got to College and first listened to the last leg of their recordings (after Sgt. Pepper). This alone would suffice for anyone to have enough respect for their music, however the Anthology book opened up a whole new dimension that was unfamiliar to me.Going chronologically from their beginnings, the book is structured year by year, intercalating comments by each of them (George Martin, the fifth Beatle included, as well as several other people involved with them), flowing in a way that feels as if you were sitting with them in your living room, sipping a cup of tea (or coffee, if you prefer) while listening to the fab four talk about their lives while they were together. This effect is so impeccable that it's what I love most about the book.
Now, that's obviously not all. The 368 pages of the book (yes, it has 368, and the last one is a very Lennon-like "handwritten" statement saying "By hook or by crook I'll be last in this book -John Lennon") are beautifully packaged along with tons of pictures, copies of letters, posters, etc. that complement magnificently the already outstanding document that the "chat" between them represents.
Three years after its release it remains an awesome gift and an endless source of information. I am sure it will remain that way for a very long time.
Book Review: Everything you ever wanted to know... and more
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is the ultimate guide on the Beatles entire career, the obvious reason for this being that it was written by the Beatles themselves. This thick volume is a must have for any Beatle fan.I am a huge fan, but when I saw this book in the store and slipped open a page, it looked like it was just a transcript for the Beatles TV program. How wrong I was!
Sure, every once in awhile, you will read words that are in the Anthology TV documentary (like when Ringo talks about the police guard in Montreal) but it is a rare occasion. This is mostly all new material.
This book really gives a lot of information. The part that was most interesting was when they talked about their days in Hamburg. This was great to read about because it really showed me where the beatles came from. This time period is rarely discussed in other Beatles books.
But, my favorite thing about this book is how they so expertly weaved John's words in with the other 3 Beatles. It was almost as if he was there helping them write it. His thoughts were sometimes haunting, sometimes funny and always a pleasure to read. You can tell that he is sorely missed by Paul, George and Ringo.
Please get this book! It has an amazing collection of pictures and collages, details about the creation of such albums as Rubber Soul and The White Album, thoughts on the beginning (and the end) and a chance to see what the Beatles themselves made of the 60's.
A splendid time is guarateed for all!
Book Review: Not Just Another Beatles Book
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read at least two dozen biographies of the Beatles over the last four or five years, and I thought I knew it all. Until I got this book for Christmas, that is. It contains a wealth of fresh, entertaining anecdotes all written by the Beatles themselves. Don't think it's a repeat of all the information you saw on the Anthology videos or the CDs- this is new and is worth your money.I was especially impressed by the section on Ringo Starr's early life: most books seem to gloss over his childhood and ignore him until he joins the group. Who knew that he was in training to be an engineer and become a skilled worker (unlike anyone else in his family) until he decided to just drop it and play the drums instead? Or that he was the Liverpool equivalent to a James Dean-style greaser? Or that Rory Storm (of the Hurricanes, Ringo's original band) committed suicide after the Beatles became famous?
Another stand-out story was one by George Harrison in which he relates his experience with trying to build a guitar (when he was about 12 or 13 years old). He had varnished the wood, attached the neck, and was putting on the strings after hours and hours of labor when suddenly the entire thing snapped and broke into bits. In his words, "I threw it in the shed and never spoke to it again."
Anyway, I've been reading the Beatles Anthology book for hours and hours and I'm only on page seventy-five...it's keeping me occupied, but never bored. ALL HAIL THE BEATLES!