Beatles. - Still the greatest: the essential songs of the Beatles solo careers

Acknowledgments

T his book draws upon two decades of reading about the Beatles, but when I formally began its writing in July 2010, three books were especially informative: John Blaneys Lennon and McCartney: Together Alone , Peter Doggetts You Never Give Me Your Money , and Simon Lengs The Music of George Harrison: While My Guitar Gently Weeps . Also essential were the two lengthy interviews that bookended John Lennons solo career: Jann Wenners 1970 Rolling Stone interview and David Sheffs 1980 Playboy interview (both with Yoko Ono).

Had I attempted this book in an earlier era, I would not have been able to hear many of the songs without endlessly searching record stores across the country. But since Im lucky enough to live in the era of YouTube, this book has relied heavily on the countless anonymous fans who uploaded their bootlegs and out-of-print B-sides. Likewise, the book would have been much thinner without the ocean of information to be found on Wikipedia and The Beatles Bible (www.beatlesbible.com).

Priceless insights came from memoirs and biographies, including Paul McCartneys Many Years from Now (written with Barry Miles), Pattie Boyds Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me (with Penny Junor), Chris ODells Miss ODell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved (with Katherine Ketcham), Bob Spitzs The Beatles: The Biography , Peter Carlins Paul McCartney: A Life , Peter Shottons John Lennon in My Life (with Nicholas Schaffner), and Peter Browns The Love You Make: An Insiders Story of the Beatles (with Stephen Gaines). And yesloathe though many Beatlemaniacs are to speak its nameAlbert Goldmans The Lives of John Lennon .

Other very helpful tomes included Chris Inghams The Rough Guide to the Beatles , Roy Carr and Tony Tylers The Beatles: An Illustrated Record , Robert Rodriguezs Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles Solo Years, 19701980 , the Beatles own Anthology, Nicholas Schaffners The Beatles Forever , Bob Woffindens The Beatles Apart , and Tim Rileys Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary .

And I will always owe a great deal to three books that inflamed my passion for rock journalism all those years ago: Philip Normans Shout! The Beatles in Their Generation , Greil Marcuss Lipstick Traces , and Nik Cohns Awopbop-aloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock.

Journalist Erick Trickey beat me to the punch many years ago by being the first person I ever heard of to make new Beatles CDs by intercutting solo tracks by the Fabs. Hes been unfailingly supportive, enduring endless e-mails and pushing me to drill deeper. Rock journalist David Jenison read the whole book and gave me the birds-eye view when I was lost in the forest. Writer David Lloyd went far beyond the call of duty with his meticulous copyediting and marketing expertise. Rockumentarian Jeff McCarty was always ready to see who could come up with the most obscure musical reference over a drink at Colombos in Eagle Rock.

I would also like to thank the friends who generously read parts of the manuscript and gave thoughtful, much-needed feedback: Jeff Elbel, Thom Foley, Morgan Hobbs, Steve Kedrowski, Matthew Neelands, Ashley Sepanski, Foster Timms, and Michael Twigg.

Im very grateful for the contributions of Aimee Baldridge, Jay Burnley, Chris Cantergiani, Jill Hesseltine, Topher Hopkins, Fred Kluth, John Koenigsberg, Dane Lee, Ethan Maile, Mary Patton, Rebecca Spring, Jamie and Jack Wheatley, The Book Doctors Arielle Eckstut and Dave Sterry, my mother-in-law, Aurora Clements, and the Dunlop family, the Van Dyke family, my cousin Jennifer Adams and the Adams family, my aunt Trudi Lawrence, and my aunt Vella DuPuis and the DuPuis family.

I was incredibly fortunate to connect with two music aficionados extraordinaire who agreed to take on the project: literary agent Charlie Viney and Scarecrows senior acquisitions editor Bennett Graff. I am indebted to Charlie for his guidance and party mixes and to Bennett for his patience and vision. I am also extemely grateful for the immeasurable help of production editor Jessica McCleary. Thanks to artist Piper Wallis for her cover design, Amanda Kirsten for her diligent proofreading, Rowman & Littlefields Sam Caggiula, Jared Hughes, and Rayna Andrews, and The Viney Agencys Sally Fricker.

I wish my parents were here to see the book. Its true genesis was the year I was born, when they played Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road constantly while their hippie neighbor painted a psychedelic mural in their den. When my dad took my buddy and me to see A Hard Days Night at a University of Michigan revival house, the packed theaters laughter and singing ensured Dads Beatlemania was passed on to the next generation.

The book could not have been written without my wife, Barbara, the most beautiful, intelligent, insightful, artistic, strong, funny, and compassionate muse a man could hope for. Shes also the finest mother imaginable to the best little girl in the world. I sang every Beatles song to Keira as I rocked and walked her, so well see what she thinks of them when she gets a little older. So far Eight Days a Week is her favorite.

Introduction

T he magic of the Beatles was the interplay of four distinct personalities, an alchemy wherein the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. Lennons anger, McCartneys melodicism, Harrisons spirituality, Starrs joie de vivreinterspersed with each other, they provided contrast and relief.

As a lifelong Beatles fan, I have endlessly replayed their 60s songs and craved more, but unfortunately they only released twelve studio albums during their eight years recording together as a unit. But the crme de la crme of their solo work stands proudly alongside their group efforts. Creating mixes that alternate the best solo tracks by John, Paul, George, and Ringo reveals that there is a fascinating and worthy second act to the Beatles oeuvre.