![]() Most books treat Parlophone as a virtual novelty label and Martin another person well-positioned by fate. One key new wrinkle to Beatles studies is Lewisohn’s account of the Parlophone career of George Martin. And we see times when his relationship with McCartney was, if not in the water closet, surely not as secure as it was with the doomed Stuart Sutcliffe, whom everyone in the band needled to the point of verbal abuse. The pecking order would change throughout the group’s career, but for now, Lennon is the shot-caller. A hard man with a tough wit - and a deep and loyal character - it’s his band, and Lewisohn smartly makes that plain. ![]() You picture John looking on coolly, for that is what Lennon does often in this book. In one incident, Gene Vincent, one of the wildest of rakehell rockers, “zeroed in on Paul and kept offering to knock him out cold by touching two pressure points on the back of his neck.” There’s chicanery to go around during the Hamburg stints, rock ’n’ roll tours of duty that, essentially, made the band among the most experienced in the world before they ever cut a record. ![]() ![]() The guy could flat out play, and a ragged sound got awfully tight once he took up his spot in the drummer’s chair. Garden-variety Beatles fans - that person who turns up the oldies station when “She Loves You” comes on and leaves it at that - like to slag off Ringo as the lovable loser in the right place at the right time, but Lewisohn gives him his proper due. ![]()
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