Beatle BooksAs mentioned earlier, the Library contains one entire bookcase of nothing but books on the Beatles. Among the earliest books in this collection are the two at right.
THE BEATLE BOOK is a quick cash-in puff piece for insatiable teens of the day, loaded with "facts" about the lads as well as the widely seen shots of photographer Dezo Hoffman that were the basis for some of the group's antics in their first film, A HARD DAY'S NIGHT.
By contrast, THE TRUE STORY OF THE BEATLES by Billy Shepherd is surprisingly accurate as it was printed less than four months after the Beatles' invasion of America made it marketable. Oh, sure it leaves out the pills, the groupies, Brian's homosexuality and the seamier aspects of Hamburg but it has the tragic story of Stu Sutcliffe, written here perhaps for the first time as well as the firing of Pete Best, Epstein's micromanaging them to the top and other less than TIGER BEAT worthy information. On the final page of the book, the author questions what the future will bring for the Beatles but even at this early stage points out that their place in history is secure. "The era of Beatlemania'" says Shepherd, "will be remembered for a long, long time as one of those incredible phenomena that can only happen in show business."
Quite agreed.
ReplyDelete