Baby You're a Rich Man: Suing the Beatles for Fun and Profit

If you’re a still blaming Yoko for breaking up the Beatles, you need to read this book. It traces the major legal battles the group fought from the beginning of their meteoric rise to their post-Beatles solo careers. It’s not a pretty tale. If you’re a Beatles fan I’d imagine you’d rather read a book about their music over one about the band’s legal misadventures. Well,congratulations, Beatles fan!--By opening this book you can now get the authentic Beatle experience of not being able to focus on the music over the the myriad of lawsuits lobbed your way from friends, associates and strangers hoping to make a buck off you. Or those legal actions you have to lob back towards friends, associates, and strangers still hoping to show more make a buck off you.

The dark side of fame in 224 pages. And as a fan, I have to say: John, George & Ringo: You should have gone with Eastman.

4 & ½ stars (Taking a ½ star off for legal and financial weed-wading I couldn’t quite follow) show less

Who knew that The Beatles spent so much of their time post the breakup of the band, in court? But that's because although they weren't playing music together they were still all partners in Apple Corps. Who knew that sharks like Allan Klien and Morris Levy attached themselves to the band, trying to make hundreds of thousands of dollars from the naive Beatles, babies in the world of corporate law. Who knew that Brian Epstein was such an innocent that he allowed his US merchandisers to take 90% of merchandising rights? This is an interesting book that points out the traps that people who just want to make music easily fall prey to. And its frequently very funny

According to the contents of this book, being a member of the “Fab Four” was often less than fabulous. Rephrasing the title of their hit song, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “I Want to Take Your Money” gives the reader an idea of the sorry saga told within these pages. Payola, back room deals, dummy corporations, and the eventual splintering of the mop-top quartet famously known as The Beatles is carefully outlined in this well researched and fully documented work. What may surprise the reader is how much political pressure and governmental meddling here in the United States added to the emotional and financial woes of John Lennon, Paul McCarthy, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The ugly relationships involving artists, show more record companies, managers, and hangers-on provides a cautionary tale for would-be entertainers. One can forgive the foursome of bitterness as serial lawsuits, tax collectors, and immigration officials stripped away copyrights, civil liberties, and basic common courtesies. Long story short, just as where there’s smoke there’s fire, so to where there’s great wealth, there’s naked greed. show less

As a huge Beatles fan, I already new about some of the seedier stories surrounding the band. But Stan Soocher's Baby, You're a Rich Man goes into all the gritty details surrounding the lawsuits that John, Paul, George, and Ringo were pulled into - I learned something new with each case. This book is meticulously researched with footnotes and references galore, going way beyond the usual gossip or slander that some books on the Beatles rely on. A great read! Recommended for any Beatles or classic rock fan, but also for anyone interested in strange - almost unbelievably - legal battles.

This book zooms in on aspects of Beatles history that I've only really seen before in single chapters of more comprehensive books, and ably relates the many legal issues surrounding the band and its members. From marketing of early Beatles merchandise, to the creation and dissolution of Apple Corps, to the many devious maneuverings of Allen Klein, to John & Yoko's troubles with the FBI and INS, to song-stealing accusations, this book really has it all. It may sound like it would all be rather dry, and I can't entirely dispute that, but it moved rather quickly for me despite a fair amount of legal-ese and strings of dollar amounts. While I didn't exactly skim any of these sections, I definitely let myself gloss over some of the details show more in getting through faster than I might normally read, but I certainly paid enough attention to appreciate the stories.

Not a must-read except for the absolute Beatles completists, but well worth the time to see a side of the behind-the-scenes goings on that is greatly condensed by your average Beatles bio or history.

[disclosure: free review copy received from librarything.com] show less

Not exactly what I expected, but I liked it. I liked it a lot.

Something I found particularly fascinating was how connection with the timing of the release of certain Beatles' songs was coupled with some of the lawsuits. For me, when I hear any song – if it had been something which I first heard and enjoyed years ago -- that song will stir memories in me of where I was at that time, and what I was doing, thinking, even how I may have been behaving or misbehaving. What an effective way to place the reader right smack dab in the time period of when some of these legal issues were going on.

Well researched and quite engaging. I really enjoyed it, and learned far more than I ever expected.

Baby You're a Rich Man by Stan Soocher is a very interesting read. This volume ties together the various legal and financial battles which surrounded the Beatles as soon as they began to make money. My only issue is something that is difficult to completely avoid when writing about these issues, a certain amount of dryness creeps in periodically. That said, Soocher keeps that to a minimum and never loses sight of the artistic aspect of the group.

Definitely recommended for any Beatles fan as well as those interested in the business side of the music business. This would also serve as a nice cautionary tale for any aspiring artists out there.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing.