I sincerely apologize for not posting this review last week. In all my heart, I truly believed I was going to read this 437 page book in one weekend! Stupid me. Time got away from me and try as I might, I just couldn’t get it read for a review last weekend….so here it is.
But enough of the crap…let’s get on with the review…
Peter Brown started out as salesman at NEMS when
Brian Epstein recruited him from another store across the street. When the Beatles came along, he took over managing NEMS in Brian’s absence, but was soon to follow Brian in working for the Fab Four. This is his story…
For all my fellow Beatles freaks, you may find a lot of the information in this book as ‘old news’ though there are quite a few instances of Peter saying, “…told for the first time here”. Obviously, after 34 years, his new stories have become common knowledge or have been debunked. There are also the usually tall tales like that of John Lennon being born during an air raid when all official government reports from Liverpool say that there was no air raid on October 9, 1940.
I was informed by a friend that Peter Brown caught a lot of flack for some of the stories he told in this book and that there was a sizable backlash. He tells the story of Brian and John’s holiday trip to Spain after the birth of John’s son Julian with details that I’ve never heard before reading this book. He talks of their sexual encounter that is different from the story told by John’s childhood friend Pete Shotton in his book. In fact, this book tells a great deal of many of the Beatles carnal activities all the way back to their pre-Hamburg days. There are also the stories of John and Yoko’s heroin addiction and the usual praising of Derek Taylor‘s drug and alcohol fueled work at Apple. Paul’s extracurricular activities while living with Jane Asher are also discussed.
The stories go on and on…I can’t even make a dent in them in this review. You’ll just have to read it for yourself. And for that reason…
I rate this book, 3 out of 4 Beetles!
Beatles-Freak's Reviews 
Only three out of four? Why?
Hi Rob,
It was a tough call…I almost gave it 4 Beetles. The deciding factor was because of it’s age and that some of the stories that have since been debunked. If a person who was just getting into the Beatles read this book, they would be highly misled. Otherwise, it’s a beautifully written book.
/J
But highly depressing. The four lads come off as miserable bastards in this book. While I don’t doubt the authenticity of most of the stories, he might have tried to find a few positive things to write about the band that made him able to get famous enough to write this book in the first place. Just sayin….
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I seriously wonder if Yoko commissioned this book. There is absolutely nothing about the other three post-Beatles and what he does say is a absolutely flattering about yoko, more than any other version I have read