Mark Lewisohn

There are lots of books that claim to be the definitive read. There are also lots of books about The Beatles and their transformation and influence on the music scene. Tune In by Mark Lewisohn combines both. This book is exhaustive! This book is also only Volume 1!

Lewisohn looks at a wide variety of sources to create a pretty complete look at the first 5 years of The Beatles. This book is so well researched and well written that I got drawn into the story. While it doesn't read like a novel, which is the usual thing to state, it does read rather well and it isn't a dry history. If one is a Beatles fan and you wanted a more complete history, this is the book for you.

I have to be honest in stating that I am still surprised there will be more to come in the narrative from Lewisohn and I cannot wait.

I gave this one 4 stars.

*I want to thank Blogging for Books and Three Rivers Press for the review copy. I received it in exchange for an honest review.… (meer)

On the whole, a well-written biography. I was a little dubious to begin with as on page 95, the biographer describes a a moment when Benny is seduced by another man, the biographer retells the story but it is unclear if he was retold the story by the man in question. Mark ends the scenario with Benny stumbling over a doormat as he leaves the gentleman's flat. I was wary that this might be some "creative license" on the biographer's part and the book I was delving into might be littered with authorial interpretation of unknown finer details. However, this kind of writing didn't continue.

Being a Benny Hill aficionado, I was aware of most of the material within this sizeable tome but it was nice to read unabridged as can be possible with a biography. I suppose the facile nature of Alfie Hill Junior makes for delving any deeper into the man an obstacle. It certainly was as objective as possible, sometimes, I thought, too much so. But then again, Benny was a fairly objective personality. I did like how the interviews were conducted with friends, relatives and lovers. Mark must have asked quite personal questions which paid off as far as the person in question is concerned.

I once went on a television specialist quiz show with The Life and Times of Benny Hill as my specialist subject, it was enjoyable revisiting all that trivia in this book. I do have to add a personal remark, Benny's declining health must have been horrible to endure and I found the remaining months of his life difficult to read as this predicament must have surely been awful for him, and especially lonely and frightening at times. The archetype tragic comic at the very end. I would recommend this for anyone with an interest in historic comedians.… (meer)

My interest in The Beatles was reignited by Craig Brown's One Two Three Four and now I'm halfway through watching the Anthology DVDs. Mark Lewisohn's tome - and this is only volume one! - lacks the pep of the first and the personal touch of the second. Lewisohn is the chief anorak of Beatles' knowledge but this is just far too in-depth. When I got into the swing of the chapters, I quickly learned what to skim (chart timelines) and later skip (George Martin - not interested, thanks - and lengthy quotes from teenage fans called Margaret and Beryl and the like).

I will admit to primarily wanting to read about Ringo, but of course - with this volume ending in 1962 - I had to suffer through Pete Best to get there (‘We never liked you all the years we’ve known you. You were never raelly [sic] one of us you know, soft head.’) It's a testament to the 'Fab Four' that I only just realised how Ringo was joining a tight trio of friends and had to earn both their trust and his place in the band in very short order. I did feel sorry for poor Stu, though. And I think I learned more about Brian Epstein from one chapter of this book than the whole of Ray Coleman's homophobic hack job of a biography! 'I was determined to go through the horror of this world. I feel deeply, for I have always felt deeply, for the persecuted, for the Jews, the coloured people, for the old, and society’s misfits. When I made money I planned to devote and give what I could to these people.'

Recommended as a reference book, but reading from cover to cover - or 1% to 60% on KIndle (the rest being notes and the index) - is only for the truly dedicated.… (meer)