Alan Aldridge (1) (1938–2017)

This is my favourite book of all time. My parents originally read it to my brother and me while we did the dishes, and to this day I can hear my father's voice crooning, "Maaaaster, oh my Maaaaaaster..." It is beautifully written, intensely moving, frequently funny, and I still ache for a sequel I know will never come. This is the book I am allowed to buy whenever I see it, because my spare copies get given away to people who have lived heretofore Gnoleless lives.

The Beatles continue to be my go to answer when asked what my favourite band is, and I will continue to adore their music, but some of their offshoot projects are a bit off kilter. This little book which alleges to be an illustrated collection of Beatles lyrics doesn't quite live up to its claims or its flashy cover design. Not only does it not actually contain some of the Beatles songs (excuse me, but I want 100% of the catalogue, thank you!), but the illustrations are rather scattered and show more the arrangement leaves much to be desired. The Beatles are a band with wide ranging style in terms of their music, so it would make absolute sense to have an equally wide range of illustrators, but I honestly had a hard time connecting many of the pictures to their respective songs and without an arrangement by album the whole collection lacked any sort of narrative cohesion. Granted, the book does contain some of the 20th century’s best artists (Ralph Steadman! Jeanloup Sieff!) and some unique interpretations of the songs, but it was hard to read and enjoy something that was quite this random. I’m going to keep it in my collection, nonetheless, because it is worthwhile to be able to jump into some illustrated lyrics, and some are quite lovely on their own, but I will continue to be disappointed that the collection didn’t live up to my expectations as a whole. show less

This is a much better book than I think people give it credit. Phantasia Is almost ignored and forgotten. Alan Aldridge presents his meteoric rise from a down-and-out on the streets of London in the early sixties 'sitting alongside the meths drinkers of Commercial Road around their blazing fruit-box bonfires', begging for booze, shop-lifting tins of fish from Tesco just to survive; till one day spotting a tiny poster in Bunnies Coffee Shop calling out for something called 'Graphic Artists' show more and offering 'free coffee' and tuition.
Aldridge quickly rose to become the darling of the psychedelic scene in London and Visual Consultant to their exalted majesties The Beatles. Rubbing shoulders with the Rolling Stones, Andy Warhol, Elton John, and forming a long friendship with John Lennon.
The book contains over 80 illustrations (many of them full or even double page spreads, including one fold out poster). It is packed with great stories and anecdotes from these amazing times.
Aldridge provides a frank and honest tale of how by pure luck and encouragement he rose from the naive psychedelic style which made him popular to being one of the first to spot the potential of the airbrush gaining him and his art team massive popularity and opening doors and providing the opportunities to indulge himself in his own creative flights of fancy which sparked huge successes such as The Butterfly Ball.
A fascinating read, and a worthy addition to anyone's art studio bookshelf. show less

For me, the Beatles were the musical group of my older siblings. In fact, if it wasn't for McCartney, I would have been clueless about his old band ("Wait...Paul was in another band?"). My friends and I marvelled as we listened to a band that was almost as cool as the Police and Prince. Then as each year progressed, the Beatles became the Sinatra of rock and roll, the elder tribesmen, so to speak.

Quite frankly, I don't know what they were smoking when they wrote these lyrics, but it worked. show more [a:Alan Aldridge|20139|Alan Aldridge|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1231087730p2/20139.jpg] has edited some very Sixties-ish designs from various artists, with an emphasis on nipples. Psychedelic baby. The colours are deafening, rather like the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics. Still, it all comes together somehow and works as a nice collage of a long-gone era.

"For the benefit of Mr. Kite, there will be a show tonight on trampoline..."

"...Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye"

Que??

Book Season = Year Round (just don't share with [a:Danny Boyle|2741619|Danny Boyle|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]) show less