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Author | Mark Lewisohn |
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Subject | |
Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
Publication date | 19 October 2013 |
Pages | 944 (abridged) 1,728 ("Extended Special" edition) |
ISBN | 978-0-316-72960-4 |
Website | marklewisohn |
The Beatles: All These Years is an ongoing book series about the English rock band the Beatles and their cultural impact. It is being written by English historian Mark Lewisohn based on research he has continued to gather since the 1980s, having prior authored six books about the band.
Lewisohn officially began writing All These Years in the early 2000s as a response to what he deemed unacceptable standards of research and methodologies used by most of the band's biographers. [1] The first of three expected volumes, Tune In, was published in 2013.
I wasn't happy with the standard of Beatles literature out there. I felt this was a subject that deserved to be explored more comprehensively, more accurately, with greater understanding.
– Mark Lewisohn, 2013 [2]
Mark Lewisohn wrote six Beatles reference books throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions . [2] He had expressed a view that there was an oversaturation of Beatles biographies, but in the early 2000s, his feelings changed, as he began to feel that no book had approached the depth or breadth of other serious biographies, such as Robert A. Caro's The Years of Lyndon Johnson . [3]
He began formulating plans for a project of similar scope in 2003. [2] A year later, he was given a £1.2 million advance to write a "definitive" three-part Beatles biography series for the publisher Little, Brown. [4] At the time, it was expected that the books would be finished by 2017. [1]
In addition to drawing upon his previous research, Lewisohn devoted six years to researching the first volume in the book. He consulted many people who had never been interviewed before and employed methods "rooted in a psychotherapists' technique" to help them recover lost memories. [3] Other material was drawn from the raw transcripts of Brian Epstein's A Cellarful of Noise and Epstein's personal diaries, schedules and business records. [5]
The Beatles: All These Years: Volume One – Tune In was published on 19 October 2013; the abridged American edition reduced the page count from 1,728 to 944. [3] The coverage spans the 1940s to 1962. [3] Lewisohn described the book as "predominantly ... about Liverpool". [2] One of its major previously unreported accounts concerned George Martin's signing the Beatles to Parlophone Records. [3] [6] [5] The book also explores the many ways in which the band almost broke up [6] and, by detailing the evolution of their concert set lists, illuminates their transition from a covers band into a group performing their own material. [5]
In his review for the New York Times , music critic Tim Riley wrote that "Younger readers will find a profound exploration of how and why rock's aesthetic explosion of the 1960s continues to influence contemporary life in everything from recording production and fashion and celebrity journalism to social mores, gender identities and the internationalization of youth culture." [5] Independent contributor Emily Jupp reviewed that much of the book's accounts are "without precedent and despite a tone of clear, worshipful admiration for the band's music, [Lewisohn] doesn't let his affection cloud his judgement and the book doesn't shy away from exposing the less palatable and less publicised sides of their personalities, such as John Lennon hitting his girlfriends." [7] Music critic Kitty Empire wrote in The Observer that Tune In "has all the heft of the Old Testament, with greater forensic rigour." [8]
Historiographer Erin Torkelson Weber, in her book The Beatles and the Historians, praised volume 1 of All These Years for its superior historical research methods compared with prior Beatle biographies: "Documentation is one of Tune In's strengths: the work includes citations within the text and extensive endnotes, detailing the origin of hundreds of sources. ... Moral judgments are infrequent and balanced. Tune In demonstrates the objectivity essential to writing history." [9]
The second and third volumes, Turn On and Drop Out, are expected to cover the periods from 1963 to 1966 and 1967 to 1969 respectively. [10] In 2013, Lewisohn estimated that the second volume would be published in 2020 and the third in 2028. [3] In 2018, he tweeted that it was "way too early to say" when he would be able to publish Volume Two. [11] In 2019, he toured England with a stage show, Hornsey Road, that covered the making of the album Abbey Road . The show was assembled to help fund his continued writing of Volume Two. [12] In 2020, Lewisohn's website stated that Volume Two would not be published until 2023 at the earliest. [13] After 2022, his website stated: "I don't know [when the second volume will be published]. When I do, it will be announced and you won't miss it." [14]
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960, comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and the recognition of popular music as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways. The band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionized many aspects of the music industry and were often publicized as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements.
Please Please Me is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released in the UK on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963. The album is 14 songs in length, and contains a mixture of cover songs and original material written by the partnership of band members John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
With the Beatles is the second studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, eight months after the release of the band's debut album, Please Please Me. Produced by George Martin, the album features eight original compositions and six covers. The sessions also yielded the non-album single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" backed by "This Boy". The cover photograph was taken by the fashion photographer Robert Freeman and has since been mimicked by several music groups. A different cover was used for the Australian release of the album, which the Beatles were displeased with.
A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 by Parlophone, with side one containing songs from the soundtrack to their film of the same name. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing that included selections from George Martin's film score. In contrast to the Beatles' first two albums, all 13 tracks on A Hard Day's Night were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, showcasing the development of their songwriting partnership.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions is a 1988 reference book on the English rock band the Beatles written by Mark Lewisohn. It was published by Hamlyn in the UK and by Harmony Books in the US.
"My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean", or simply "My Bonnie", is a traditional Scottish folk song and Children’s song that is popular in Western culture. It is listed in Roud Folk Song Index as No. 1422. The song has been recorded by numerous artists since the beginning of the 20th century, and many parody versions also exist.
"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album The Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Following the album's release, the song was issued as a single in many countries, although not in the United Kingdom or the United States, and topped singles charts in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and West Germany. When belatedly issued as a single in the United States in 1976, it peaked at number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"In My Life" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released on their 1965 studio album, Rubber Soul. Credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership, the song is one of only a few in which there is dispute over the primary author; John Lennon wrote the lyrics, but he and Paul McCartney later disagreed over who wrote the melody. George Martin contributed the piano solo bridge.
"Don't Bother Me" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1963 UK album With the Beatles. It was the first song written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist, to appear on one of their albums. A midtempo rock and roll song, it was originally released in the United States on the 1964 album Meet the Beatles!
Allan Richard Williams was a British businessman and promoter who was the original booking agent and first manager of the Beatles. He drove the van to take the young band to Hamburg, West Germany, in 1960, where they gained the vital show business experience that led to their emergence on the world stage. Williams was also a promoter and agent of a number of other Liverpool rock acts, helping stoke the Merseybeat boom of the early 1960s.
Mark Lewisohn is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps. He has been referred to as the world's leading authority on the band. His major works include The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (1988), a history of the group's session dates, and The Beatles: All These Years (2013–present), a three-volume series intended as the group's most comprehensive biography.
In His Own Write is a 1964 nonsense book by the English musician John Lennon. Lennon's first book, it consists of poems and short stories ranging from eight lines to three pages, as well as illustrations.
A Spaniard in the Works is a nonsense book by English musician John Lennon, first published on 24 June 1965. The book consists of nonsensical stories and drawings similar to the style of his previous book, 1964's In His Own Write. The name is a pun on the expression "a spanner in the works".
"Ain't She Sweet" is a song composed by Milton Ager, with lyrics by Jack Yellen. It was published in 1927 by Ager, Yellen & Bornstein, Inc. It became popular in the first half of the 20th century and typified the Roaring Twenties. Like "Happy Days Are Here Again" (1929), it became a Tin Pan Alley standard. Both Ager and Yellen were elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The Beatles: The Biography is the name of a 2005 biography of the 1960s rock band The Beatles written by Bob Spitz. It was first published by Little, Brown and Company on November 1, 2005.
The English rock band The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, north London, on 1 January 1962. They were rejected by the label, who instead opted to sign a contract with Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. The audition was recorded, and five of the songs—"Searchin'", "Three Cool Cats", "The Sheik of Araby", "Like Dreamers Do" and "Hello Little Girl"—were officially released on the compilation Anthology 1 in 1995.
Peter Doggett is an English music journalist, author and magazine editor. He began his career in music journalism in 1980, when he joined the London-based magazine Record Collector. He subsequently served as the editor there from 1982 to 1999, after which he continued in the role of managing editor. He has also contributed regularly to magazines such as Mojo, Q and GQ.
Norman Chapman was an English drummer who played with the Beatles.
The Beatles: The Authorised Biography is a book written by British author Hunter Davies and published by Heinemann in the UK in September 1968. It was written with the full cooperation of the Beatles and chronicles the band's career up until early 1968, two years before their break-up. It was the only authorised biography of the Beatles written during their career. Davies published revised editions of the book in 1978, 1982, 1985, 2002, 2009, and 2018.
Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation is a book written by journalist Philip Norman that chronicles the history of the English rock band the Beatles. The book was published by MJF Books in 1981, and later editions have been published by Pan Macmillan and Simon & Schuster.