A Hard Day's Write, 3e: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song

by Steve Turner

Book Overview

A lavishly illustrated, rollicking account of the real people and events that inspired the Beatles' lyrics.

Who was "just seventeen" and made Paul's heart go "boom"? Was there really an Eleanor Rigby? Where's Penny Lane? In A Hard Day's Write, music journalist Steve Turner shatters many well-worn myths and adds a new dimension to the Fab Four's rich legacy by investigating for the first time the ordinary people and events immortalized in...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060844094
• ISBN13: 9780060844097
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: It Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.6" x 11.1"

Customer Reviews

Chronicle Of A Legend

This book is definitely INDISPENSABLE for every fan of the Liverpool quartet; it's basically the story of each of John, Paul, George and Ringo's compositions (Yes, Ringo composed songs too!!), narrated by the Beatles themselves; the order is given chronologically and the songs were put based on the album in which they originally appeared, illustrated with excellent photos of the quartet. Also, the book includes not only the original albums, but also the three Anthologies.

Extremely Pleased

I purchased this book for my son-n-law and I almost kept it for myself! This book has a lot of really good photos and very interesting stories. I highly recommend this book!

Loved It

This was a book that I couldn't put down reading the first time. Now, when I hear a Beatles song and have a question, it serves as a great resource book.

Everything we know (to date) of every Beatles song (to date)

In the music unit my Popular Culture class we look at the songs of the Beatles, specifically those collected on their "Beatles 1" album. Students write a paper looking at the stages of the group as defined by the songs on that album and sometimes they find things on the Internet that talk about how John Lennon and Paul McCartney (and George Harrison for "Something") came to write their songs. Unfortunately that has little to do with putting these songs into distinct chronological stages, but after reading "A Hard Day's Write" you can see where they would be fascinated by some of these stories and forget to just listen to the songs and decide for themselves what they are about and what makes them work. Steve Turner provides the stories behind every one of the Beatles songs, including "Free As a Bird" and all the songs from "Anthology" and "Live at the BBC" that would not be covered by the other albums. The book is divided into 14 chapters representing 17 albums ("Magical Mystery Tour" and "Yellow Submarine" are combined, as are the three "Anthology" albums). Turner is following the British albums and including those songs that ended up on the two "Masterworks" collections with the albums that were being recorded (e.g., "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "With the Beatles," "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Field Forever" with "Sgt. Pepper"). It does not include the songs by other writers that the Beatles covered during their early years. Turner makes the point that this is not a book that is attempting to explain what the Beatles "were really trying to say," but tells us about the ideas and inspirations behind these songs, as well as dispelling some of the popular myths connected to some of these songs. You have probably heard about some of these, such as Peter Fonda telling John Lennon "I know what its like to be dead" leading to "She Said She Said," the Victorian poster about "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" and Julian Lennon's drawing of his friend "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." But know you can also learn about the real location of not only "Penny Lane" but also "Blue Jay Way," who was the real "Polythene Pam," and what happened when the Beatles mentioned Denis O'Dell in "You Know My Name." Nor does Turner present this book as the definitive one on the subject, since that cannot be written until everything the Beatles have to say about their songs is made public. However, he did track down and interview the real-life subjects of these songs as well as going through public records and newspaper archives, and speaking in depth to some of the people who were closest to the Beatles back in the sixties. Turner also provides a brief introduction to each album that talks about where the Beatles were in their careers at that point, such as how "Revolver" represented a significant development in the Beatles' sound since their music was now being created in the studio with no thought for how it could be played in concert (the album came out d

Thoughtful, well-researched, and readable

Never mind the dumb punny title. The subtitle says it much better: "The stories behind every Beatles song." And never mind academic navel-gazing about the metaphors in "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" or nonsensical philosophizing about "Revolution #9." Those of us whose hearts are in the firm grip of the Beatles' rich catalog owe a debt of gratitude to ace British music journalist Steve Turner for this book. Read it for fun and for some insight into the hard work the lads put into the creation of so many deceptively simple little ditties that have deservedly become classics. Enjoy the pictures, too. This book has a couple of hundred very good photos. Books about the Beatles number many hundreds. This one deserves a place near the top of the heap for the quality of the writing and the readable, accessible journalistic format. One quibble, and I'm surprised the editors didn't catch it: there's no alphabetical, page-numbered index of the songs, not in the Table of Contents, not in the Index, either. If you want to find the story behind a specific song such as "In My Life," you have to know which album the song appeared on, and approximately which cut. But that's a minor detail-Beatles afficionados know the songs on every album.

Without a Doubt My Favorite Beatles Book!!...

I have read most of the books on the Beatles and this one is my favorite. It has great photos, is easy to read, and tells the story of the Beatles through each of their songs. I especially liked the update with "Free As a Bird" and "Real Love," from the Anthology. This is a great gift for any real Beatle fan. There is more packed into this 224 page book than you could ever imagine. This book is a true joy!!!... You got to get this one!!!