'The Beatles' by Bob Spitz

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 5:59 am

I've read just about every Beatle book ever written, and I'm currently reading the recent book by Bob Spitz. I am very impressed by the book, because it seems to pull together so much information to create a very detailed picture of the Beatles' lives. It's also very well written and easy-to-read. Perhaps the highest praise I can offer is the fact that I haven't seen a single factual error or spelling mistake. That is very rare for me!

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 6:32 am

Sorry, I can't totally agree, Randy, I found quite a few errors. Stuff like George Martin recording Spike Jones, a reference to Rubber Soul being the first LP with 14 cuts on it (all of the UK albums had 14 cuts), Twist and Shout being the first EP to reach the top 10 in the UK. Cliff Richard might argue, since he had a few. There is also a photo of Harrison with Patti, and a caption saying, "...where they met on the set of 'Help'. Small stuff, and there are others.
Maybe your edition has been corrected, but the early ones weren't.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:43 am

Stan: You might be right on a couple of counts, but my first edition hardback copy has a photo of George and Patti captioned,"George, with Patti Boyd, soon after they met on the set of A Hard Day's Night". I also recall several references to George Martin's prior experience recording Spike Milligan. There are 4 pagee in the index under "Milligan, Spike". I noticed this because I was listening to a CD with several Milligan tracks on it just this weekend. I was wondered if Martin was the producer.

I'm particularly impressed by the details regarding Brian Epstein's decline. I've never seen this topic covered so well. Overall, I think Spitz has done a fantastic job. I would highly recommend this book.

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:48 am

Oh, don't get me wrong, Randy. All in all I thought it was a pretty good read. I seldom find anything these days that is totally, errorless free. Odd mine has on the photo caption, Help. A collectors edition, but for whom, I have no idea.

jt10824 · Post by **jt10824** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 8:37 am

I think most authors endeavor to correct errors promptly -- the only question is whether the publisher allows those changes to be made in a timely fashion. The initial print runs of many books tend to be relatively modest, so if there is cooperation from the publisher, you'll usually find that changes appear in copies on the bookshelf fairly quickly. I noticed, for example, that my copy of Geoff Emerick's "Here, There, and Everywhere" (which I bought back in June) was free of all the factual errors that some people complained about when it first came out.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 9:57 am

John: Is that a nice way of saying Stan's not crazy? I guess I had better watch what I say. I might be bumping into Stan at the Arlington guitar show on Saturday...

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 10:30 am

Okay, I just spotted a spelling error. In a description of Yoko, the book says, "No shrinking violent, she took right off...".

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 10:38 am

Crazy? A bit eccentric, maybe

Hope to see 'ya there, Randy. I'll be the one walking around with a pocket thesaurus.

jt10824 · Post by **jt10824** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 11:46 am

Not saying Stan's not crazy, not saying he is.

My only point is that every book has some errors -- that's inevitable, and part of being human. I've had a glance at a friend's copy of the new RTB book, and even it has some errors, despite the hype about it being a "bible." The main thing is the author's overall integrity, and willingness to make corrections as legitimate errors are found.

rick_redux · Post by **rick_redux** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:28 pm

*Okay, I just spotted a spelling error. In a description of Yoko, the book says, "No shrinking violent,*

I dunno. Looks right to me.

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:43 pm

Maybe the 'hr' in 'shrinking violet' was transposed from a 't'.

Still aren't too crazy about the RTB book, or maybe just the price, hey, John?

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 3:43 pm

I agree with Randy.....VERY good read! I read it over the summer and just couldn't put it down...

apollo11 · Post by **apollo11** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:00 pm

Stan,
Not all the British LP's had 14 songs---A Hard Day's Night had 13.

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:13 pm

True, other than AHDN, they had 14.

jt10824 · Post by **jt10824** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 4:22 pm

No, Stan, sorry to say that I'm not too crazy about the RTB book. Besides it being extremely overpriced IMHO, full-page pictures of microphones and tape machines simply don't do much for me. And the quick glance I had at the "production" section (the information that would be of interest to me, and to most non-technical Beatles fans) didn't impress me all that much -- lots of opinion masquerading as fact. To each his own, I guess. Still, my overall point was that NO book -- not Spitz's, not Emerick's, not RTB -- should be viewed as a "bible" because we humans are by our very nature imperfect.

Except me, of course.