Abbey Road
Fair to say that this is one of the most iconic pictures in music history – The Beatles crossing Abbey Road, outside the studio where they recorded their final album. Yes, “Let It Be” was released last, but “Abbey Road” was the swansong for the greatest music group of all time. What happened when they broke up will break your heart – and their bank!
You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup – by Peter Doggett – published in 2010
The music world stopped – in shock and dismay – in 1970 when Paul McCartney announced that he was through with the Beatles. His statement not only marked the end of the band’s remarkable career, but also seemed to signal the demise of an era of unprecedented optimism in social history.
THE BATTLE FOR THE BEATLES!
Though the Beatles’ breakup was widely viewed as a cultural tragedy, one of the most fascinating phases of their story was just about to begin.
“You Never Give Me Your Money” tells the behind-the-scenes story of the personal rivalries and legal feuds that have dominated the Beatles’ lives since 1969. Journalist Peter Doggett charts the Shakespearean battles between Lennon and McCartney, the conflict in George Harrison’s life between spirituality and fame, and the struggle with alcoholism that threatened to take Richard Starkey’s life. In vivid detail, Doggett also describes the wild mismanagement of the Beatles’ fortune staked largely in Apple Corps.
See the lads in the picture above? This was The Beatles in simpler times – they were, without a doubt, one of the biggest influences in society in the 60’s – like when they stormed America and the stage of the Ed Sullivan show in 1964.
BEATLEMANIA!
“Beatlemania” was about music, a celebration of new frontiers being conquered, and iconic music being created. “She Loves You Yeah Yeah Yeah!” At one point they had the top 5 singles in the country – at the same time! It was an era when anything was possible – and for 6 years they created the greatest music ever made….
AND IN THE END…
…by the end, it was all about depositions and lawyers. Paul was blamed at the time, but as you will find out when you read this book, he was actually the one who had tried to save The Beatles…that’s one thing that makes this book so fascinating.
“You Never Give Me Your Money” is an absorbing story of the Beatles’ creative and financial empire, set up to safeguard their interests but destined to control their lives.
From chart success to courtroom battles, this meticulously researched work tells the story of how money, power and envy caused a fatal rift in the world’s greatest band – and how they all suffered as a result….this is a fantastic book!
Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends by Barney Hoskyns – published in 2006
If you want to know how the southern California sounds began in the 60’s, and the many unique musicians who were part of it, this is the book for you!
CROSBY, STILL, NASH & YOUNG!
Here is the writeup from Publishers Weekly: As musical scenes go, it would be hard to come up with a less dramatic one than that of the singer/songwriters who dominated Southern California from the mid-1960s through the mid-’70s.
Nevertheless, British music journalist Hoskyns gamely tries to make the “denim navel-gazers and cheesecloth millionaires of the Los Angeles canyons” exciting in his no-nonsense account of those musicians’ rise and fall.
JACKSON BROWNE!
The Author captures the mid-to-late 60’s in Southern California’s burgeoning music scene that drew sensitive musicians west from Greenwich Village. He articulates the differences between those who lived in Topanga and Laurel Canyon, who they wrote with, performed with, slept with….he also captures how this idyllic world was torn apart by the Manson murders, and a music scene suddenly financially lucrative – all leading up to the cash-register mentality that formed the Eagles.
THE EAGLES!
This book captures it all – from the intense Joni Mitchell and mercenary David Geffen to Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt.
The book covers their journey from West Hollywood’s Troubadour to Lear jets and cocaine. It’s a terrific look at the dawn of a musical era that still exists today…and if you like a book that covers the southern California music scene, then you will love:
Heaven and Hell: My Life in the Eagles (1974-2001) by Don Felder, with contributions by Wendy Holden – published in 2008
So, you read the “Hotel California” book and thought, “hey, that’s the title of that eagles album, right?” Did you ever wonder who wrote that iconic song? Well, guess no more!
“Heaven and Hell” is a terrific insider’s look at life inside the eagles – how they became superstars, broke up, re-formed for their “Hell Freezes Over” tour – and how Don Felder was forced out of the band he helped make stars.
DON FELDER, SECOND FROM LEFT…
When guitarist Don “Fingers” Felder was invited to join the already platinum-selling Eagles in 1974, he had no idea what sort of rock-and-roll heaven and show-business hell he was about to enter— -or how hard it would become to tell one from the other. For the next twenty-seven years, Felder found himself deeply involved in a musical career that was musically thrilling, emotionally exhausting, and surprisingly dangerous.
In Heaven and Hell, Felder shares this remarkable journey with a firsthand look at his tempestuous years with the Eagles. Even as he, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, Bernie Leadon, and, later, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit became America’s most popular and successful rock band, selling tens of millions of records, Felder reveals that greed, jealousy, and creative differences constantly threatened to tear the Eagles apart.
From one sold-out arena to the next, some members of the Eagles blazed a trail of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll that became as legendary as their music. Felder explains how the famous E3 (third encore) parties, which began as spontaneous, raucous backstage binges, evolved into highly organized orgies, with roadies recruiting gorgeous women from the audience to be chauffeured to lavish hotel suites, where nothing was off limits.
Felder also offers a rare glimpse into the creative melting pot that produced such great Eagles hits as “Life in the Fast Lane,” “Hotel California,” “Victim of Love,” and many others. The writing of these songs often involved the entire band, as well as non-band members, such as well-known Eagles collaborator J. D. Souther, Bob Seger, and others. Frequently beginning as a simple guitar lick or a vague idea, these songs took shape through a fascinating process of free association and collaboration, yet, says Felder, even these exciting moments led to friction and bickering.
TODAY’S EAGLES LINEUP: TIMOTHY B. SCHMIDT, DON HENLEY, GLENN FREY AND JOE WALSH
This is an honest, open look at one of America’s most endearing bands – and the issues that led to an ugly breakup and financial battle almost as big as the one profiled in the Beatles book.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
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