Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Has anybody read this book?

It was written by Larry Kirwan (of Black 47) and published in 2003.

It begins with the premise that in 1962 at Abbey Road, John had a quarrel with Brian Epstein over which single to release first, "Please. Please Me" or "Till there was You". Of course, he wanted "Please, Please Me." Parlophone wanted "TTWY".

So, unable to get his way, he walked out, splitting the group before they saw any lasting success.

The book takes off from there, tracing their lives in and out of music, and setting the whole thing in the 1980s in a world uninfluenced by the Beatles, which had never had a British Invasion, and an England that shouldered on without them right into a proto-Fascist government.

BTW, JL is a bitter guy on the dole. Ringo is a henpecked (by Maureen) husband who strays regularly. George is a Jesuit priest who has mystical visions, and Paul changes his name to "Paulie Montana", moves to Las Vegas and finds international success as a sort of Englebert Humperdinck/Tom Jones/Wayne Newton pastiche.

Gerry Marsden is there, as is Rory Storm, and some of the other denizens of the Liverpool scene.

In the end, they stage a reunion concert.

Funny, insightful, ridiculous and a bit poignant, too.

ISBN:1-56025-497-1

Sounds interesting...

Maybe the pop culture equivalent of Philip K. Dick's "The Man In The High Castle"...

Uh-oh...my life has interwoven with PKD since I was 15.

I believe him to be a literary equivalent of Van Gogh, at least psychobiographically speaking.

My first band was named "The Papoolas" after a robotic character in a PKD book.

I was a docent at the Ennis-Brown House, the Frank Lloyd Wright ode to Mayan temples in Los Angeles, while "Blade Runner" was being partially filmed there.

(Deckard's apartment scenes are filmed there. The door to the apartment is actually the kitchen door in Ennis-Brown. I've cooked breakfast in that kitchen and in the Hollyhock House kitchen, a few times in the past. Gus Brown has passed on, and the house is now run by a foundation.)

Was the book in the 'horror' section, Paul?

It's closer to political satire, Aitch. Sections of it are quite funny and it's well-crafted, too.

I must check out my little book store down in Balwyn. The guy there is into that sort of stuff - if he hasn't got it, he'll know where to get it. Sounds like a good read.........

A good read, a good laff, and food for thought.

Does it ever get any better?

(Ok, OK, it does, but rarely...)

I note that he's written another called 'Green Suede Shoes' - about his childhood in Ireland and move to New York.

JJ...a PKD connection? Why am I not surprised?

Got any pictures of Ennis-Brown? I can trade you some shots of the 'Sleeper' house...

Got lotsa pics of E-B, in a filing cabinet in Brasil.

The house on Genesee Mountain recently went on the market for $10 million; present owner paid $1.3 million for it.

I call that capital gains.

Thanks for the tip about the book, Paul....I had heard about it before but it had slipped my mind (imagine that!).....

Yeah, I met the current owner of the Genesee house when we were designing and building the fixtures. Nice guy...definitely got a nose for money...

As I recall he was a software millionaire.

Sounds like quite a comedy. But at the time I think John would have played Please Please Me standing on his head to make it.