THE BEATLES AND ME ON TOUR by IVOR DAVIS.BACK COVER BLURB: In the summer of 1964, the Beatles took America by storm and changed rock 'n' roll forever, in this first-ever chronicling of that revolutionary tour from the inside, author Ivor Davis serves up the stories behind the stories as only an insider can.
In the rowdy and riotous recollections of The Beatles and Me On Tour, Ivor Davis, then a reporter for the London Daily Express, shares his unrestricted access to the Liverpool lads as a member of the Beatles entourage. From inside the band's hotel suites to the concert arenas to the private jets, the madness and magic plays out through Davis' personal accounts of hanging with the Beatles for thirty-four jam-packed days.
Go behind the scenes for all-night monopoly games with John Lennon, witness the Beatles' legendary living-room jam with Elvis, and be there the night Bob Dylan introduces the band to pot. Roll up for this definitive account of the iconic band at a critical moment in the history of rock n roll.
FIRST SENTENCE {Chapter 1: My Ticket To Ride}: On August 19, 1964, at six o'clock in the morning, the ringing of my telephone jarred me awake in my Beverly Hills apartment.
MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 155}: Countless young women were uncovered crouched in closets, hiding in bathrooms, behind the drapes or under beds. One time, six young women camped out in the boiler room of a hotel all night long, surviving on bananas, bottled water and hope.
SOURCE: Received for reviewed. Thanks to Liz of marketing company Comms Axis.
MY THOUGHTS: Whilst not a fan of the Beatles I've always had a fascination with the 50's/60's and the whole rock n roll thing which saw young girls literally throwing themselves at their musical heroes, these very heroes trashing hotel rooms - though (and I hope I'm not giving too much away here) for the record the worst thing Ivor Davis records is them 'ritualistically' urinating on a pile of used hotel towels and even this only after hearing rumours of one enterprising hotel employee helping himself to their sheets in order to sell them as souvenirs.
Very much a 'fly on the wall' account. The Beatles And Me On Tour recounts events of the twenty-four-city/thirty-four days 1964 tour which saw Beatlemania reach the US in a very much unembellished (dare I say almost clinical?) way - the sharp, 'straight to the point' sentences perhaps a sign of Davis' background as a journalist. A style you were either going to like or not. Alas whilst effective I'm afraid it just wasn't a style I particularly enjoyed.
A 'warts and all' account. Whilst some of what the author chronicles is common knowledge (yes, even to someone who isn't a fan) much of it was new to me and I must say came as a bit of a surprise, the Fab Four not being anywhere near as clean-cut as I had always thought them to be. However for me it wasn't so much the insight into Paul, Ringo, John and George, their meetings with celebs such as Elvis and Cassius Clay, that I found so compelling and poignant as the man behind the legend, their then manager, Brian Epstein.
Interesting not only for fans of The Beatles but I believe as a piece of 'pop history'.
Also available here at amazon.com as well as on amazon.co.uk (see book title at the top of the page), the authors website can be found here.
14 comments:
Sounds like an interesting piece kid pop culture. Glad it intrigued!
Sounds like interesting hiding spots for the ladies.
I think the hotel could recoup the cost by selling those towel. Ew, but profitable. :p
I do like the Beatles but not sure about these kinds of books. Still, at least it gave you some entertainment.
not really a fan of them myself, but the culture fascinates me
This sounds really interesting, especially as I only really started to appreciate some of their songs quite recently so I'll have to track this down! - Tasha
I've always disliked the Beatles, as far as I'm concerned they killed off Rock and Roll, and I'm a massive fan of the music that was around just before they hit the scene. It doesn't surprise me that they weren't that clean cut really, it's hard to find a band that were, apart from the Osmonds maybe. :D
I love the Beatles but they weren't my favorite group. However, personally I think it's literally absurd to worship any band member, athlete, etc., including Elvis. They are only people like us, and while they may be extremely talented, they are still ONLY people like us - nothing special about that. And, I think the amount of money bands, and especially athletes get paid is also absurdly ridiculous - especially when we have so many starving children/people in this world. Okay, off my soap box now - LOL On another note, the book sounds intriguing and another one to add to my list. Thanks for the review!:)
I was a Beatles fan and still enjoy listening to many of their songs. But... like Trac said above, they're just "people". And as far as all that money she mentioned...I also think of all cash spent on political campaigns and it makes me sick.
It's not really the kind of book I usually read, but I imagine I would find it quite interesting if I did. I enjoyed your review, especially given you're not particularly a fan.
Tracy, thanks for sharing your thoughts about this book. It sounds like a great way to learn more about The Beatles. Your review is well-written and eloquent, as usual.
This does sound interesting on both levels. I love the Beatles.
Hi Tracy, I was 16 in 1964 and madly in love with all the Beatles, although George Harrison was my favourite. I had all their records and screamed my head off every time they appeared on television usually on their way to or from somewhere – stepping on or off planes. The TV was the closest I ever got to them!
Those days and my feeling for them still reside in my heart, and I don’t want to read a warts and all story about them. They were young men at the time, probably going a bit wild in hotel rooms. Where else could they let off steam? But I don’t want to read about them urinating on towels or on anything else for that matter!
This one is not for me, but I know the next 10 or 20 you review will be – because most of your choices end up on my must-read lists.
This sounds so very interesting.
One striking thing is how today's celebrity culture was in part shaped by these events. Things have indeed changed.
My uncle and mom are huge Beatles fans. I bet they would love this. This is not my typical type of read, but it does sound interesting. Especially given how much the Beatles shaped the celebrity culture. From a historical perspective, I think that would most interest me.
I hadn't heard of this one before. I am a fan of The Beatles and so is my husband. He likes to read non-fiction (as well as newspapers and magazines)- so this might be a great gift for Christmas. :)
Thanks for sharing!
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