Alan Aldridge (1)Besprekingen

Over the course of his 40-year career, Alan Aldridge has been the design guru for the Beatles; a designer of gigs and album covers for the Rolling Stones, Elton John, the Who, Cream, and Led Zeppelin; the target of police prosecution for his notorious Chelsea Girls poster; the author of the bestselling children's book The Butterfly Ball; and a graphic designer for the Hard Rock Cafe, the House of Blues, and the New York Times.
Here is the definitive visual survey of the art of Alan Aldridge, whose signature style came to define the Psychedelic Era for a generation, and for generations to come. The Man with Kaleidoscope Eyes charts Aldridge's extraordinary life with extraordinary images, giving the complete portrait of a graphic genius who fully expressed the spirit of his time.
Brimming with the very best tripped-out, pulsating illustrations and designs culled from all corners of his varied body of work, the resulting visual feat will astonish and delight fans of all ages.

This book is soooo 60s. Its still fun to look at. As the years go by I am less and less impressed by the Beatles after 1966 (Sgt. Peppers was sort of a "jump the shark" for me). I know they were revolutionary and trend setters and all that. There is just so much rock and roll energy in their early work that is missing from later stuff. All that said, I do like the White Album at least the parts that aren't filler, three sides worth maybe. I pretty much hated the late sixties altogether anyway. Oh, and I always liked Lennon songs way more than McCartney songs all the way up to the end in 1970. Lennon still knew what rock and roll was all about.

Listening to "You're Gonna Lose That Girl."

Gorgeous.

This is a much better book than I think people give it credit. Phantasia Is almost ignored and forgotten. Alan Aldridge presents his meteoric rise from a down-and-out on the streets of London in the early sixties 'sitting alongside the meths drinkers of Commercial Road around their blazing fruit-box bonfires', begging for booze, shop-lifting tins of fish from Tesco just to survive; till one day spotting a tiny poster in Bunnies Coffee Shop calling out for something called 'Graphic Artists' and offering 'free coffee' and tuition.
Aldridge quickly rose to become the darling of the psychedelic scene in London and Visual Consultant to their exalted majesties The Beatles. Rubbing shoulders with the Rolling Stones, Andy Warhol, Elton John, and forming a long friendship with John Lennon.
The book contains over 80 illustrations (many of them full or even double page spreads, including one fold out poster). It is packed with great stories and anecdotes from these amazing times.
Aldridge provides a frank and honest tale of how by pure luck and encouragement he rose from the naive psychedelic style which made him popular to being one of the first to spot the potential of the airbrush gaining him and his art team massive popularity and opening doors and providing the opportunities to indulge himself in his own creative flights of fancy which sparked huge successes such as The Butterfly Ball.
A fascinating read, and a worthy addition to anyone's art studio bookshelf.

Fab !

For me, the Beatles were the musical group of my older siblings. In fact, if it wasn't for McCartney, I would have been clueless about his old band ("Wait...Paul was in another band?"). My friends and I marvelled as we listened to a band that was almost as cool as the Police and Prince. Then as each year progressed, the Beatles became the Sinatra of rock and roll, the elder tribesmen, so to speak.

Quite frankly, I don't know what they were smoking when they wrote these lyrics, but it worked. [a:Alan Aldridge|20139|Alan Aldridge|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1231087730p2/20139.jpg] has edited some very Sixties-ish designs from various artists, with an emphasis on nipples. Psychedelic baby. The colours are deafening, rather like the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics. Still, it all comes together somehow and works as a nice collage of a long-gone era.

"For the benefit of Mr. Kite, there will be a show tonight on trampoline..."

"...Yellow matter custard dripping from a dead dog's eye"

Que??

Book Season = Year Round (just don't share with [a:Danny Boyle|2741619|Danny Boyle|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg])

Fab !

[bc:The Gnole|2319161|The Gnole|Alan Aldridge|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327788768s/2319161.jpg|2325680] The adventures of Fungle the Gnole must surely appeal to a wide audience. This creature, who demonstrates a common sense far superior to ours, the inheritor of powers and understanding far beyond our own, charms thoroughly. I actually came across the book in a charity shop and bought it simply because I needed something new to read and there was nothing else even close to appealing to me - besides, there's a passing resemblance to moles, which I love.

The book is obviously a plea for greater care of the environment but it is wrapped up in such a way that you would be hard pressed to be anything but entertained. If you're convinced by the message too - all the better!

Fungle has to brave the Human world, to attempt to recover a lost Stone, the possession of which would determine the fate of the world. Naturally, however clever and powerful he may be, things go awry and Gnole meets Humanity in unexpected ways. Aided by friends, new and old, he follows a tortuous route to the final climax of his mission. Success or failure, the outcome for Fungle looks like being anything but happy.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

There seems to be several different books (or at least editions) mixed up in this listing. The book I own is: "The Beatles Lyrics Illustrated". It lists the lyrics of the songs and has a lot of photographs in the center of the book, but NO illustrations that other reviews have mentioned. There seems to be another book "The Beatles Illustrated Lyrics" which might be a later edition of this book or a completely different book. I think that is the one with the illustrated lyrics.

This is my favourite book of all time. My parents originally read it to my brother and me while we did the dishes, and to this day I can hear my father's voice crooning, "Maaaaster, oh my Maaaaaaster..." It is beautifully written, intensely moving, frequently funny, and I still ache for a sequel I know will never come. This is the book I am allowed to buy whenever I see it, because my spare copies get given away to people who have lived heretofore Gnoleless lives.

Awesome book! All the lyrics to all the songs by the Beatles. A must have for every Beatle-nut.

Gesamtkunstwerk with beautiful illustrations

Imaginative pairing of Beatles lyrics with commissioned artwork and photos. A book I pored over in my youth.

Fungle the gnole lives in modern america, and is increasingly concerned about the intrusion into his world, and sets off on a quest, aided by friends, abetted by enemies, and impeded by humans. A well told tale but drags a bit towards the end.

Cool art book with illustrations of Beatles lyrics by various artists (both professional and fan art included). Fun for Beatles fans or art fans alike.½

Time trip through the sixties via the Beatles lyrics and fantastic vintage illustrations. If you didn't live through those times, you owe it to yourself to know. "Though she was born a long, long time ago, your mother should know, your mother should know." Imagine a time before personal computers, when people didn't steal music over the internet, instead they went to concerts: Woodstock, Beatles, Monterrey Pop, Newport. They opened beer bottles with 'church keys' and drove hand-painted, superannuated VW camper vans. Women (and men) let their hair grow as nature intended. Hash, LSD, meth were ubiquitous. It was a great time, believe me! Except, that is, if you got drafted into the army to fight the big corporation's war to keep markets open in southeast asia. Bummer! Well, hey! Listen to the Abbey Road album, break out a joint, read The One Dimentional Man, The Dharma Bums; see The Battle of Algiers or Inside North Vietnam in your local theatre. Turn on, Tune in, Drop out.

NIL