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Post by gripweed on Jul 16, 2009 19:46:49 GMT -5
I just finished the book and there were actually new info revealed like George's leaving the group during Let it Be sessions being precipitated by a row with John where punches were actually thrown. The common belief is that George's arguments with Paul were the primary reasons he walked out. Another tidbit was that John got very irritated with Paul AND George during the Rubber Soul recordings, but there weren't any details on that.
I really enjoyed the book and I am glad that not many pages were devoted to John's post Beatles stuff as his beginnings. My only complaint is that Norman really took it easy on Yoko to get her endorsement which he ironically didn't get from her anyway.
I'd like to know what some other fans think about the book who have read it.
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Post by John S. Damm on Jul 16, 2009 22:35:32 GMT -5
I enjoyed the book. As I have written elsewhere, Norman repeats at least twice, maybe three times, that John's closeness to George ended with the Concert For Bangladesh snub of Yoko.
I too thought that Norman was incredibly kind to Yoko but in my case, he kind of made me rethink my long held views on her.
He was very fair as to Paul too, not downplaying Paul's role or taking cheap shots at him. Paul thought that Norman was unfair to him in Shout!
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the detail into the Lennon family. Aunt Mimi all but demanded that Freddie be written out of John's life in the Davies' book. This book goes into more detail than any other about John's relationship with Freddie after John became famous and while most of it is sad, there were some very heartwarming stories too. Many will be surprised as to the contact the two did have, especially in 1967.
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Post by gripweed on Jul 17, 2009 9:39:26 GMT -5
Good points. I as well enjoyed all the detail on John's relationship with his dad. I never knew John had developed a relationship with Freddie as an adult and the part about Mimi being a virgin until 50 was pretty wild. Good stuff. I think this book also confirmed that John probably never said that Ringo wasn't the best drummer in the Beatles as Norman mentioned often how fond of him John was. Although I can see John saying that sarcastically as to comment on how much Paul wanted to dominate the group.
In regards to Paul I think Norman points out how much of the Beatles driving force to improve and go into different directions as a group was due to Paul keeping John focused and pushing the others to be better musicians. A very astute point was made that after George's early success his slide in quality releases came as a result of not being around John and Paul's influence anymore.
This was easily right at the top of the books I have read on the Beatles and John.
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