Robert Rodriguez (3)

This was another freebie I picked up a while ago for my kindle (looks like no longer available), & I was so excited when I downloaded it that I immediately put it in my "to be read next" collection - and then promptly forgot about the book for a good six months or so.

Being born in the 70's, I of course missed the Beatles craze. I remember once seeing on television fans going crazy & screaming whenever they saw the Beatles & I asked my mom if that really happened, because it just seemed so show more crazy.

I really enjoyed reading the book, I've picked up lots of Beatles history over the years, but never really had had a cohesive picture. I knew of course about the "other, early Beatles", knew the basics about their breakup but didn't know about the court battles or all the complexities of life after being a Beatle. And, I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but I had no idea how or why John Lennon was murdered, though at least I knew he had been murdered!

As with all biographies that I read, I often find myself wishing certain parts had more meat to the them, and other parts had a little less meat - I would have enjoyed hearing more about their personal lives, especially with their families, instead of all too brief section that was in this book, but all in all, I greatly enjoyed the book & recommend it to others who don't quite know the full Beatles story. show less

This was...okay. Not terrible, not fantastic.

My biggest issue is with the books of this style, purportedly written to examine a single album's influence on the greater musical industry, then proceeds to give a history of the Beatles' output prior to that (as though, with the millions of books written on the Beatles, their history, and their influence, that's even a requirement).

After the history, we get a bit of an overview of where their heads were at, which is good. Then we're taken on a show more mostly workmanlike overview of the making of each song, which is fine, but I was hoping for a touch more insight.

Then there's an overview of its initial reception, which is expected and should be there, and how it seemed to influence the other artists and bands' output afterward, which I thought was a big part of the point of this examination.

But then we get a quicker overview of the buildup and making of Sgt. Pepper and the reception, just so the author can basically rip into it for not being as groundbreaking as Revolver.

Overall, felt like much ado about nothing, to be honest. show less

Fifty fabulous years indeed! I would recommend this to any Beatles fan.