7.15am
13 May 2013
Hey everyone, sorry that my first post is a request, but the Contact Us page suggested a visit to the forums. I enjoy The Beatles but never really tried to know a lot about their story, just the outlines. But I’m writing a paper now and I’m trying to find more about the relationship between the Beatles and the press, their public image, their career moves and all that, to include it as a substantial part of my work. Is there any book you’d particularly recommend for that? As you can see, I’m not interested (for now) in the stories behind the songs, for example, so I’m trying to find a good read that doesn’t have too much “useless” material, since I’m getting short on time. From what I read in the forums, “You Never Give Me Your Money ” might be a good option, but what about the “Epstein era”? I’ve found these titles:
Ray Coleman – “Brian Epstein: The Man Who Made The Beatles”
Deborah Geller – “The Brian Epstein Story”
Brian Epstein – “A Cellarful of Noise”
Richard Courtney – “Come Together : The Business Wisdom of the Beatles”
Would you recommend any of those? Can I find an ebook/pdf version anywhere?
Thanks in advance
I tend to recommend Can’t Buy Me Love by Jonathan Gould, a very good all-round biog, perhaps the best at this stage. For first-person reportage from the early tours try Love Me Do by Michael Braun. For the US tours Larry Kane’s Ticket To Ride is a good fly-on-the-wall which discusses the public personae vs behind-the-scenes existence on tour. But if the press is your main focus you should probably get Tony Barrow’s John, Paul George, Ringo And Me (he was their press officer in the early days).
HTH. Thanks for asking in the forum rather than mailing me directly, btw.
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12.44pm
13 May 2013
Hey Joe, thank you for your answer. Can’t Buy Me Love seems like quite a big work, it’s a shame I’m not doing this is 2014 – more time for the research and the chance to read Lewisohn’s upcoming book as well.
Also, thanks for mentioning the authors, since there are so many books with the same title. I found it a bit weird that so many titles are out of print, and that most of them don’t have an ebook edition, but I suppose the market is so full of books about the Beatles that many copyright holders decided new editions wouldn’t be profitable.
You’re right, there are loads of out-of-print books that really shouldn’t be. I tend to buy second-hand from Amazon or Abebooks quite cheaply, though the condition can vary.
Can buy me love! Please consider supporting the Beatles Bible on Amazon
Or buy my paperback/ebook! Riding So High – The Beatles and Drugs
Don't miss The Bowie Bible – now live!
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