The Beatles

by Richard Buskin

John, Paul, George and Ringo remain the most influential, creative and versatile foursome in the history of recorded sound. This guide features insights into the Beatles' roots, influences, development as musicians, and music legacy. It also gives details of conventions, fan clubs and web sites.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0028621301
• ISBN13: 9780028621302
• Release Date: December 1997
• Publisher: Alpha Books
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

FUN WITH THE FAB 4

This is just a fun book that is tailored to folks becoming familiar with the Beatles, their music and their long reaching influences on the world at large.Although it does not move in a chronological sequence, it does a nice job of providing a foundation on which to build Beatle knowledge. As a Beatles' expert, there was little if any new material in this work for me, but I did enjoy it from a "teaching" perspective.This is not meant to be a scholarly or comprehensive work about the Beatles nor is it a "Dick & Jane" format of merely simplifying their works to the basic "Hear/See the Beatles Play. ...." To describe it from either extreme is to do it a grave injustice; to view it is a harmless teaching tool that also has humorous passages is indeed, I believe the more accurate approach.I enjoyed it. This book is a good resource tool for the person who is "newly" coming into the Beatles.

GREAT FOR NEWBIES, BUT LIMITED BY FORMAT

As a hippie kid, I grew up in a house where the Beatles were at the top of the musical heirarchy. I knew a lot about them as a result of being into them for so long, but this book fills in the little gaps of knowledge I'd always had. Buskin knows the Beatles history inside and out. His coverage of their career is complete, even delving into the social and historical forces that shaped the Fab Four and set the stage for their ongoing success and eventual demise. I've read few rock history books that go so far to paint such a complete picture of the people and events that shaped a rock and roll band. So why the four out of five stars? Call me picky, but I can't stand when historical authors fail to move in a chronological sequence. There's just no reason why he couldn't have taken it one year at a time with this book. But while I dislike the structure of the book (which may not have been the author's fault, it is a complete idiot's guide after all), you still come away knowing a LOT more about the Fab Four by the time you're done. So, while it's not the best format to tackle the subject, it certainly succeeds in making a novice knowledgable, which is what these books are all about.

Great For Beatles Begginers

This is a great book for beatles begginers.It takes you through their births and parents.To their school lifes.To their stints in Hamburg until they invade the U.S.A.Then it tells there slow decline of friendship between each other.Then they break up and it takes you to the anthology (1996).Great book,very up to date.

Good book for Beatles beginners

It is a good book for new Beatles fans. A good start for one to know about the Beatles' life and music. I had more than 20 books on The Beatles before I read this book, and it still gave me some insight which I didn't know before.I really like the ending bit where the author wrote about the reunion, the Anthology albums and the the two new singles. However it was a little short and I wish that it was much much longer.It's a must buy for beginners and for hard-core Beatles who like to have more books on their Beatles collection.

It's an excellent book for ALL Beatles fans

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Beatles is a gret book. I'm one of the younger beatles fans (not even in highschool yet) and ,unfortunately, didn't get to live through the excitement of Beatlemania. This book gave great details of what is was like before, during,and after the rise of the greatest rock band in history. I really loved it. Buy this book!