I really should learn to be more disciplined in my reading. It really doesn’t set me up to write good reviews when I have to spend an entire Saturday reading the second half of a book. It’s usually not the author’s fault. Nothing wrong with the book itself. I just have a bad habit of procrastinating. But I digress…
I pre-orderedI Am Brian Wilson: A Memoirmonths ago when I heard about it’s release. After all my other various reviews of Beach Boys books, movies, documentaries and concerts over the past year, this was a must read for me.
I must start out by saying that having seen the movie ‘Love and Mercy‘ really set this book up for me. I think the movie and this book go hand in hand in explaining the life and mind of founding Beach Boys member, Brian Wilson. In fact, the book is going to fill in a lot of the blanks that the movie left out, including Brian’s first wife, Marilyn, and their two daughters Wendy and Carnie.
One interesting factor in the book is the infamous plane flight to Houston. The movie Love & Mercy opens with the scene of the Beach Boys getting on that flight and Brian having a full blown panic attack almost immediately after take off. This obviously painful memory is brought up over and over throughout the book. It was the turning point in Brian’s life that led to his depression, use of drugs and unfortunate ten years of being held mentally and physically hostage by Dr. Landry. The plane flight would shape Brian’s entire future.
Brian, in his child-like manner, does his best to explain his difficult and tumultuous relationship with his abusive father, but I’m not sure that he ever really gets to the bottom of it. He explains early on in his writing that to talk about his dad, he has to revisit a very painful time in his life. A situation that he really doesn’t want to think about or analyze anymore. He does his best when he does bring up his father, Murry Wilson, to be fair in his assessment.
And for the Beatles connection: Brian gives major props to George Martin and does hope to someday write a song with Paul McCartney.
To truly understand this book, be sure to see Love & Mercy. It’ll explain the child-like way that this book is written. It’s not deep…but one has to believe it was cathartic for Brian to write. And for that reason…
Or should I call you Baarrrruce, like your Italian grandfather (and mine) would have said?
I’m well into your autobiography now, a week after it was released and well, I thought I’d sit down and write you a letter. Writing to rock stars isn’t something I do, but I’m going to make this an exception to my rule of trying avoiding celebrities at all costs.
First things first, I need to thank you for talking about the first time you saw and heard the Beatles when they invaded America via The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. How appropriate that you would bring it up in Chapter 9 (#9, #9, #9) of your book. Your love and admiration for the Fab Four open the door to my being able to write this letter to you in my blog.
You see, Bruce, I too lived in Freehold. Unfortunately, when I was walking in, you were walking out. We moved to 62 Derby Drive in early 70’s when there was a housing boom going on outside of town. I was just 5 years old and my Italian father and Scot-Irish mother moved us down from the tough town of Rahway. Those were the days in Freehold when we could ride our bikes the one mile to the Burger King or 7-Eleven at the intersection of Route 9 and Schanck Road to buy ourselves a 25 cent candy bar.
Backyard of 62 Derby Drive (1973)
It didn’t take much for you to draw me into your story. You had me at “Nescafe“. The smell of the coffee in the air (especially on foggy mornings), was one of those ‘ya had to been there’ moments that we Freeholders will never forget. You opened your back door in the morning, closed your eyes and took a deep breath. I can still smell the coffee to this day if I try hard enough. And the Jersey Freeze…oh, you were lucky. In the 6 years we lived in Freehold, I think my parents may have taken my two brothers and me there just once. I just remember looking on in wonder at the giant cone on the sign out front as we drove around the Freehold Racetrack circle. My dad took me to the racetrack more times that he took us out for ice cream!
My brother and I both took piano lessons at Caiazzo’s Music when it was on South Street. That didn’t last long for either of us, but I did end up taking gymnastic lessons in a studio’s basement when I was 10. Who’d a thunk that you would make that little shop famous and I’d have the bragging rights to “I took piano lessons where The Boss bought his guitar!” And yeah, that does impress people. Just saying I grew up in Freehold seems to have impress various friends and people over the years even though I only lived there until I was 11.
Still, your life and mine have continued to cross paths time and time again. One of my older brothers went on to be a millionaire after returning from Vietnam (1968-1970). He got his masters degree, bought himself a car dealership, turned it into the biggest Oldsmobile dealership in the country (Regency Oldsmobile, Lakewood, NJ) and bought himself a house in Rumson, NJ in 1985. I remember when I visited his house for the first time and I asked, “Where does Bruce live?” He laughingly replied, “On the other side of the tracks.”
Well Bruce, I’ve spent the past 40 years living in Chester County, PA. You’re familiar with the area…we’re right up the road from where The Main Point was and just a stones throw from The Devon Horse Show grounds where your daughter has competed for the past 3 years.
But the Jersey girl in me has never left and I still have dreams of being on Derby or Ascot Drives, driving down Stonehurst Blvd., and wandering around the shopping center at South Street and Route 9 across from the Burger King. Today, I have several Currier & Ives prints hanging in my house that originally hung in the American Hotel to remind me of Freehold (my parents bought them when they auction off the contents of the hotel in 1987).
And I can still smell the coffee….
I need to go back to reading your book now, because the record company, Brucie, just gave you a big advance!
I thought I would take my time writing my review about Eight Days A Week since I know all the Beatles fans will be scurrying out to see the film themselves and every Beatles media person will be in a hurry to post their own review about it. But just when I thought I could take my time, everyone else’s reviews started popping up on my social media timelines. I won’t read other’s reviews before writing my own. I want mine to be fresh. Even in this case, I’ve asked guest review and friend David Thomas to also write a review for the film (it’ll appear after mine on this same post), and I’m not reading his until after I’m done.
So where to begin…
Was it a great movies? Yes, it was awesome! I know people who are already planning to see it multiple times. My thought was that I can’t wait for it to come out on DVD/Blue Ray. It’s absolutely a film you’re going to want to see again and again. Ron Howard did an excellent job of choosing the right footage and cast of characters. He interviewed both Sigourney Weaver and Whoopi Goldberg to talk about what it was like to be a fan in the early years and about their own experiences of seeing the Beatles live in concert as teenagers, two ladies I would never have guessed would have attended. I think my only complaint might be that we never hear Whoopi’s reaction to the actual concert at Shea Stadium.
Beatles fans need to give Ron Howard a lot of credit for not beating the obvious points and trivia into our heads…like the Jesus vs. The Beatles comment from John Lennon. It’s in there, but he keeps it in the flow of the documentary…same as the riot in the Philippines. Mr. Howard brings up early footage of the wives and families with quick glimpses of Ringo, Maureen and Zack, and John, Cynthia and Julian, (where were George and Patty Boyd though?) and then moves on. No Beatles family members were interviewed on camera for this…and that ain’t so bad! It’s keep as documentary about the Fab Four and not the opinions of their feuding family members.
I think my readers get the point without me continuing to ramble on. It’s a great film, wonderful footage and of course, Ron Howard is already talking about doing a second Beatles documentary! Go see the movie or pre-order the DVD.
I rate this movie, 4 out of 4 Beetles!
Now…what does David Thomas think? Here is his review:
Ron Howard’s “Eight Days a Week” – A fan’s perspective
I titled this review “a fan’s perspective” as somewhat of a disclaimer. It is often difficult to know what would be of interest to anyone who has not been as steeped in the history of The Beatles as I have been over the last 50 years. Not that I claim to have seen it all, or that I know it all (far from it); but I also cannot assume that everyone has read all the books and heard all the music that I have over that period of time.
I will say at the start, I think that Ron Howard and the others involved in this film have put together a solid documentary telling the story of The Beatles “touring years”. What many forget (because their music is ubiquitous, and we are still writing, talking, and making movies about them 50 years later) is that they were together in the “John, Paul, George and Ringo” incarnation for only eight years, and performed “live” for only 4 of those. Although the focus of the film is on “touring”, it does give you a good sense of how busy the boys were during those first four years, besides playing live. The stills and film footage have been collected from a multitude of sources around the world, and they vary widely in quality. There are only a couple of “complete” live performances in the movie (i.e., continuous, complete songs), and producer Nigel Sinclair has said that this was because they found it interrupted the flow of the movie. I happen to agree with him, but it doesn’t matter; this is not intended to be a Beatles concert movie. *
What the film does best, is give the viewer a clear picture of the mania that surrounded The Beatles during their career. This movie brings it home in a way that no fan has experienced before.Although I have been a Beatle fan since their first performance on Ed Sullivan’s show in 1964 (the quality of which was strangely poor on the big screen – I thought that would have been one of the better examples), I was too young to have actually attended one of their live concerts in person: I was only 7 when they played their final show in Candlestick Park in 1966.Even if you had the rare privilege of actually attending a Beatles concert in person, that was just one mad night that you will likely remember forever.The Beatles experienced that madness every day of their career, and most intensely during their touring years.I left the theatre wondering how it is that they were not all afflicted with some sort of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
A few pieces of footage have been colorized. Some of the concert colorization is nicely done, but the famous NY Pan Am press conference has a rather unnatural look to it. None of this lasts long enough to be a major distraction, however. In some cases audio had to be “synced” to the film from a separate source; i.e., the film may have been a silent film, but the audio was recorded separately, and then combined, or simply brought in from a better source than the one accompanying the actual film. This can get dicey, especially if done poorly. Music producer for the film was Giles Martin, son of The Beatles original producer, George Martin. Giles has worked magic with many previous Beatles projects, including the re-mixing and re-mastering of 1977’s “The Beatles at The Hollywood Bowl”, which was released in conjunction with the film. Giles was quoted in a recent interview as saying “Imagine going to a concert today, recording something on your phone, and then intending to play it in a movie theater,” Martin says. “That would be better than what I was given.” The talented Mr. Martin did a tremendous job of making the music performances not only watchable and listenable, but for the most part, truly enjoyable as well.
The theatre where I saw the film had people queuing up more than an hour before show time in order to get a good seat, and there were 3 showings scheduled that night, 2 of them sold out. I got there an hour before show time, and there were 20 people ahead of me. 20 minutes later, there was a line behind me that went on for as long as I could see. The anticipation in the theatre was visible, although one person I talked to in line had not read or seen anything about the movie prior. He said he “just saw it was The Beatles, and bought a ticket.” The power of the name “Beatles” more than 45 years after they broke up is still truly remarkable. Fans all have their own Beatle experiences, memories, and reasons for seeing a film such as this. And fans will find something to criticize, be it the fact that they have seen some of the footage before, the colorization was not to their liking, the audio was not perfect. In this digital age we take for granted near perfect sound reproduction and 4K resolution. But considering what they had to start with, none of the obvious shortcomings should be enough to keep you from enjoying this movie. To paraphrase Paul McCartney, “it’s the bloody Beatles…shut-up”.
For the non-fan (is there such a thing as a non-Beatles fan?) or even the casual fan, it should serve as a concise historical document, which informs as well as entertains; what more can one ask from a documentary?
If you are fortunate enough to see this in a theatre, it IS being followed with a full 30 minutes of footage from the famous Shea Stadium concert. We have been told that that footage will NOT be on the DVD or blu-ray release. It looks great, is a lot of fun, and even though Giles Martin toned down the screaming considerably in the mix (no small feat), I could see why they said “enough” in August of 1966.
Interesting article about a new documentary about Sam Leach, a promoter in Liverpool in the early 60’s that helped the Beatles get their start. It would seem that author/historian Mark Lewisohn has taken exception to some of the content and has new been cut from the film. Read the article here:
First and foremost, I need to apologize to one of my avid readers for the review I’m about to give on this book. She recommended it to me and told me it’s one of the best books about the Beatles/Lennon that she’s read. My other readers may want to keep her opinion in mind while reading my thoughts on this book, because everyone sees (and reads) things differently.
The Lennon Companionby Elizabeth Thomson and David Gutman was first published in 1987 and then revised in 2004. My copy is the 2004 edition that I bought used on Amazon.com for a penny. It’s a collection of articles and thoughts on both the Beatles and John Lennon from various reporters, writers, magazines and newspapers around the world starting in 1963.
Well, for the first time, dear readers, I’m going to admit that I didn’t finish a book. I take my book reviews very seriously and find it insulting to the authors and my readers to not read the book in its entirety before giving my opinion. I managed to get over halfway through the 260 pages after skipping several wordy articles that managed to say nothing as far as I was concerned. Many of the articles seemed to be written by reporters who wanted to jump on the Beatles’ bandwagon to help boost their own popularity and ratings. Page after page of nonsense was written for newspapers and then published again in this book!
This isn’t to say that all the articles were worthless. I did find one piece that was written about a playwright that was being considered to write a third movie for the Beatles. His screenplay was returned to him without ever being told why it was rejected, but it’s easy to figure out from the playwrights own thoughts on the subject. I did find it interesting to hear about the Beatles movie that was never made.
Now maybe somewhere in the second half of this book there is another gem of an article that could bring some enlightening new fact to my limited knowledge of the Fab Four. But truth be told, the book literally kept putting me to sleep. I could not keep my eyes open and napped frequently during my quest to finish the book.
Despite my review, and as I’ve already said, one of my readers considers this to be the best book she’s read. You can judge for yourself whether it’s a real page turner or a replacement for your sleeping pills by buying a used copy for yourself for $0.01 on Amazon.
Born Robert Louis Ridarelli on April 26, 1942 in Philadelphia, PA, Bobby Rydell became a household name by the time he was 17 years old. His first hit was “Kissing Time”, but he’s probably best known for his song, “Volare” which rose to #11 on the Billboard charts in 1960.
Bobby Rydell paints a picture perfect version of his life up until about 2/3 of the way through this book. That’s when he hits his readers with the downside of what was going on behind the scenes. Still, he remains positive and grateful for all that has been given him throughout his time as a teen idol, recording star and world class performer. He talks of his desire to preserve his Philly roots, the ins and outs of being a south Philly family and his friendships with the likes of Frankie Avalon and Frank Sinatra.
There are two Beatles connections to Bobby Rydell. He tells of his surprise meeting with them while HE was on tour in the U.K. with Helen Shapiro and of Paul McCartney on the Beatles’ Anthology album giving him credit for influencing their early music. And for that reason…
I rate this book, 4 out of 4 Beetles!
Bobby Rydell is on tour right now and is throwing in a couple local/Philly area book-signings along the way! Here’s where he’ll be signing books:
Last week, while I was returning my book about Franz Liszt to the local library, I spotted The Autobiography of Donovan: The Hurdy Gurdy Man (2005) by Donovan Leitch on the shelf. Having heard how much so many other Beatles freaks liked his music, I said to my husband, “I’ll give it a shot.”
Donovan Phillips Leitch was born May 10, 1946 in Scotland. He shot to fame in 1965 at the tender age of 19 and is probably best known for his hit single “Mellow Yellow”. By the time he was 24, he dropped out of the music scene all together.
After getting about halfway through this far out and psychedelic tour of Donovan’s life and his encounters with The Beatles, Rolling Stone, The Who, Dylan, Hendrix, etc., I decided it would be best if I took a new approach to writing this review as compared to my past ones. I’m going to let you, my readers, be the judge.
Here are several quotes from Donovan in this book:
Page 88: Talking about being in a suite with Alan Price (The Animals keyboardist) and Dylan – “He (Alan) comments directly to Bob on the Donovan-Dylan comparison. ‘He’s not a fake [Donovan], and he plays better than you.’ Alan was right. My guess is Bobbie would accept that.”
Page 98: Talking about other folksingers – “I was the only other big solo success apart from Dylan. His lyrics are without equal in all of popular music, but I think musically I am more creative and influential. I was dynamic, obsessed with developing pop style, creating new combinations, mantras for a questing youth.”
Page 102: On this page, Donovan blesses his readers with an entire list of every famous band/artist that has covered his songs.
Page 141: Talking of his first use of the drug mescaline – “The trip with mescaline is softer than LSD. Ever so slowly the Paradise appeared before me. I was in the Garden of Eden – no, I was the Garden.”
Page 153: When Paul McCartney paid Donovan a visit – “Another song he sang to me was a little ditty with a chorus about a yellow submarine. He was missing a verse for the tune and asked me to get one in there. So I said, give me minute, and left the room. What I came back with was not world-shattering, but he liked it. ‘Sky of blue and sea of green/in our yellow submarine… – Donovan Leitch'”
Page 153: Mickie Most was Donovan’s producer – “Mickie Most later said that the music we made in late 1965 and 1966 influenced the Beatles to experiment more adventurously on Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. This may well be. I also stirred the Celtic cauldron and encouraged Led Zeppelin to express himself with images and sounds from our Celto-European roots.”
Page 165: Talking about two women that moved into an apartment with him and his friend – “Not that we didn’t love the “little darlings.” How could we not, as they floated in and out of bedrooms and bathroom in no more than a top and panties – bath time would never be the same. Not that we didn’t like the variety of meals that were prepared for us…”
At this point in my reading I was just about halfway through the book and that’s when I started to really think to myself – is this guy for real? He’s nothing more than a misogynist with a Napoleon complex! But his incessant bragging and demeaning of women didn’t end there…I forced myself to read on and finish the book.
Page 210: While at the ashram of the Maharishi in India with the Beatles, and after teaching John Lennon a new way of finger-picking on guitar – “In this way John began to write in a whole new way, composing “Dear Prudence” and “Julia” in no time flat. John asked me for some help with the lyrics of “Julia,” a song for his lost mother and the childhood he’d never had.”
Page 213: While hanging out with Paul Horn in India – “Paul Horn went on to record an album in both the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramid of Giza. Between the two of us, we probably invented what is loosely called “New Age Music,” music that induces a meditative state.”
Page 219: Describing a recording session for his album Hurdy Gurdy Man on which Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham all played on – “Layers of guitar were added by Page and Hollsworth, and a new kind of metal folk was created. The term metal had not been coined for music yet, but perhaps Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham were inspired by this session to form Led Zeppelin.”
Page 239: In 1968 (after Beatlemania was well underway) – “As I toured I endeavored to improve sound and lights production as well as protect the fans from their own excitement, pointing the way to today’s standards.”
Now, seriously readers…is it just me or does Donovan Leitch think very highly of himself? And apparently there was a glitch in the matrix in the 60’s because at two separate concerts at the Hollywood Bowl, a cop tackled a young girl and fell into the lake drawing laughter from the audience. Twice, Donovan made love to his girlfriend Enid for the very last time.
All I can say is…thank god for Donovan Leitch! Without him, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Flower Power, metal and new age music would have never become popular! I wouldn’t be at all surprise if Donovan showed Al Gore how to invent the internet too! And for that reason,…
I rate this book, 1 out of 4 Beetles!
Almost forgot to mention…the winner of the $5 Amazon gift card from last week’s contest is: Linda Sherman!
John Lennon: In My Lifewas written by John Lennon‘s childhood friend and original Quarrymen member Pete Shotton. They met in 1946, when they were the tender age of 6 years old while John was living at his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George’s. John and Pete would remain closed friends and confidants up until John’s death in 1980. And anyone that knows anything about John Lennon, knows that long relationships of any kind were something very rare for Lennon, making this story unusual.
From the get go, the team of Shotton and Lennon (or as John would call them Shennon and Lotton) spelled mayhem wherever they went. Two young boys with very strong personalities, blood brothers, came together, both encouraging each other antics…they were to keep both their parents and teachers on their toes. Throughout their early years in Liverpool, both would be blamed for leading the other astray, all the while, pushing the limits and laughing their way through their childhood and teenage years.
I loved the honesty in this book. Pete tells all the wildest and craziest stories from his and John’s days growing up in Liverpool. Anyone that wants to know the very dirtiest of details about John, needs to own a copy. This isn’t to say that the book is without it’s problems, especially when Pete seems to take exception to John’s dad and Cynthia’s mom both being supported by John. I do believe this is what is widely known as the pot calling the kettle black and any good Beatles fans could tell you that the whole staff (which included Pete Shotton) at Apple Corps in 1968 were living the ‘high’ life off of John, Paul, George and Ringo! Then again, the team of Shennon and Lotton were never known for the respect of parents or authority figures.
Kudos to Pete for telling the world when John whacked off for the first time and for telling us what John said REALLY happened in Spain with Brian! And for that reason…
I rate this book, 3out of 4 Beatles!
You can purchase a used paperback copy of In My Life for under $10 on Amazon.
I hadn’t read Spencer Leigh’s original book about Pete Best being fired from the Beatles, so this book was completely new to me. And even though there were no new theories as to why the Fab Four tossed Pete for Ringo that I hadn’t already heard, I still found this book enjoyable. Mr. Leigh did a great job of pulling quotes from his various BBC interviews over the decades, along with research from books and new interviews to bring all the theories together to shine light on the true reason for the firing.
Along with theories, this book also contains a Postscript with all the new information that was discovered after the writing of the first book. There you’ll find, what I consider, the only new revelation and it concerns Raymond Jones, the young man that was the first person to walk into NEMS and request a copy of the Beatles singing ‘My Bonnie‘ with Tony Sheridan. There is also a chapters for the discography of Pete playing with the Beatles and another for Ringo’s discography.
Author and BBC radio show host – Spencer Leigh
The only problem I found with this well-written, quick and easy to read book was that I didn’t feel that the author ever really came to one absolutely conclusion as to why Ringo replaced Pete as the drummer for what was to become the greatest rock band the world has ever known. And for that reason…
Note: I will not be rating this book since I do know and have met the author. Happiness is Seeing the Beatles: Beatlemania in St. Louisis written by Sara Schmidt, an elementary school teacher from Alton, IL. Sara is known in Beatles circles as the owner/editor of the popular website Meet the Beatles for Real, a site dedicated to telling the stories of fans who have had up close and personal encounters with the Beatles over the years.
When I first received my copy of this book, I was surprised by it’s size. I had been expecting a traditional 6″ x 9″ paperback, so I was taken aback when a 160 page, 8.5″ x 11″ shiny paperback that was filled with not only extensive details, but also with B&W and color photos, showed up in my mailbox. Schmidt not only tells the stories behind the Beatles’ (both as a band and as solo performers) shows in and around St. Louis, she also gives the history and, when possible, the set lists of the opening acts.
Author Sara Schmidt
Sara knows and has researched her Beatles history for this book, but this going to present a ‘glass half full or glass half empty’ situation for her readers. Some are going to find all the extra details about the Beatles and their tours as a bonus, while others are going to find it straying too far off topic from the title of this book ‘Beatlemania in St. Louis’. It’s all going to depend on the reader and their preferences. But this book really does come alive in the last three chapters when the author tells the stories behind the solo Fab Four returning to St. Louis right up to Ringo’s most recent show in 2014.
FYI – I do love the concept of books being written about the Fab Four playing in individual cities through the years and I hope to read others. Or maybe Sara could write more?
You can purchase your own copy of Sara’s book at Amazon.com. Or you can buy an autographed copy through her website. You’ll also find a list of her upcoming appearances there.
I’m well into your 
I thought I would take my time writing my review about 
Was it a great movies? Yes, it was awesome! I know people who are already planning to see it multiple times. My thought was that I can’t wait for it to come out on 
. Mr. Leigh is a well known BBC radio show host and the author and co-author of over 30 books about British pop music and culture.
Note: I will not be rating this book since I do know and have met the author.
Beatles-Freak's Reviews 