Fuz Capp

The best Beatles book I've ever read. It doesn't tell the Beatles story - it shows the Beatles story. It unfolds like a Shakespearian tragedy - the hope and schoolboy joy to begin, all slowly devolving into disillusion, boredom, broken relationships, arguments, misunderstandings and diverging agendas. The Beatles are shown as the triumphant creative force they were, interwoven with the flawed, driven, sometimes petty individuals they also were. It's also a coming of age story - 4 guys start out needing a mentor (or 2) to pull it all together - but in then end, they all grew up, and wanted their independence. The beauty of this book though, is that the music and the creative process are always front and centre. The storytelling is always in that context. It's the small notations on tape boxes or in a studio diary, that give away the larger background events. It's a book every Beatlemaniac should read.