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33 reviews for:
Living the Beatles Legend: On the Road with the Fab Four - the Mal Evans Story
Kenneth Womack
3.99 AVERAGE
33 reviews for:
Living the Beatles Legend: On the Road with the Fab Four - the Mal Evans Story
Kenneth Womack
3.99 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
informative
sad
fast-paced
This is definitely a top 5 Beatles book for me. The perspective you get from Mal’s point of view is unmatched from any other Beatles book I’ve read. Even though I knew all the big pieces as the story moved, it’s the tiny details you read this book for. The level of depth in this book is probably most enjoyed by a die hard fan, but I think a casual Beatles fan might enjoy this too.
Even though I already knew how it ended going in, I was still devastated. “If the Beatles love me, please play at my funeral your own brand of rock n’ roll”
Required reading for anybody who is a Beatles fan. I had a hard time putting it down.
informative
sad
medium-paced
I picked this up smugly thinking I already know pretty much as much about the Beatles as there is to know (wrong) and more or less everything there was to know about Mal Evans from his Wikipedia page (wrong again). Womack does an excellent job, using the words of Evans himself, as well as those of others within his orbit, in providing an eye-opening glance into the life of an oversized teddy bear who happens to be a bit of a shit to his family while globetrotting with the Beatles and sundry other artists, and dipping his wick here and there with little thought to the ramifications. Oh, and alcohol and drugs. Plenty of those.
Very good read.
Very good read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
With so much written and rehashed over the decades re: the Beatles legend, and so much of it verging on repetitive and trite, Kenneth Womack has finally brought Malcolm Frederick Evans’ full story to light and it is as refreshing as I could’ve hoped. Joining the story “in medias res,” Mal’s fan/bodyguard/friend/aspiring creative point-of-view from the inner circle illuminates new facets of his decade+ at the boys’ bequest. The interpersonal relationships between the Beatles’ are highlighted, along with his own unique relationship with each lad. From mutual adoration and creative inspiration to drug abuse and financial loggerheads, he witnessed it all (and often smoothed things over). Mal’s penchant for being 50 feet from stardom led him to amass a wealth of journals and documents that is perhaps unsurpassed by anyone who wasn’t themself a Beatle. Much like Paul, who always had a thought for posterity, Mal could also see the “big picture” despite being at the eye of the hurricane. Bravo to the many folks whose efforts brought this story to final fruition. Womack keeps apace with the dizzying hit parade of the 1960s into the ex-Beatle hangover of the 1970s. He lends context to Mal’s (in my opinion) suicide-by-cop. I am so glad that the gentle giant’s story could be told with such tact. Now, who’s hiding Neil Aspinall’s personal effects???
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Alcohol
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Police brutality, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
funny
informative
sad
medium-paced
There are approximately one billion books about the years preceding, during and following the dissolution of the Beatles. I think this is one of the better ones. It puts you right in the middle of the action by grounding the Beatle's journey in the perspective of one person: Mal Evans.
It's not just a story about the band; it is first and foremost about their roadie. Mal's story is a sad but compelling one. It makes these events feel personal in a way so few tellings do. It less like a detached historical biography and more like reading someone's diary (because technically, we are).
A genuinely interesting read about a man who lived a very strange life, and one that gives us unique anecdotes and a fresh perspective on the band members. Where other biographies either try to sand down the Fab Four's rough edges or play them up for the sake of shocking the reader, Womack is instead both even-keeled and shockingly blunt about their relationship with Mal. You hear everything-- the flattering stuff that explains Mal's loyalty to them, and the not-at-all flattering stuff that shows what this much fame at an early age did to them. It's even willing to paint Mal himself in a not-so flattering light in order to tell the story.
It's not just a story about the band; it is first and foremost about their roadie. Mal's story is a sad but compelling one. It makes these events feel personal in a way so few tellings do. It less like a detached historical biography and more like reading someone's diary (because technically, we are).
A genuinely interesting read about a man who lived a very strange life, and one that gives us unique anecdotes and a fresh perspective on the band members. Where other biographies either try to sand down the Fab Four's rough edges or play them up for the sake of shocking the reader, Womack is instead both even-keeled and shockingly blunt about their relationship with Mal. You hear everything-- the flattering stuff that explains Mal's loyalty to them, and the not-at-all flattering stuff that shows what this much fame at an early age did to them. It's even willing to paint Mal himself in a not-so flattering light in order to tell the story.
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
This is not quite the treasure trove of lost information that pre-release publicity would have had us believe. In fact, the first 2/3 of this biography is simply yet another rehashing of the well-trod path of Beatles history, only this time with a few (mostly pointless) annotations from Mal’s diary. Most of it goes something like this:
(Page after page of an often repeated and well-known Beatles anecdote)
Quote from Mal’s diary: “Today was a really strange day.”
Once the breakup happens, however, then everything becomes more interesting and there is much to be learned. I didn’t know, for example how involved Mal was in the early activities of Badfinger, or that he had strong ambitions to be a songwriter and/or producer, or that he was responsible for firing Miguel Ferrer from a long-forgotten rock band.
And the tragic ending to Mal’s life is not played down, and is truly hard to read about. In the end, he was a man who was his own worst enemy, who seemed to make the worst possible decision nearly every time he was presented with a choice, and who probably deserved better than he got.
(Page after page of an often repeated and well-known Beatles anecdote)
Quote from Mal’s diary: “Today was a really strange day.”
Once the breakup happens, however, then everything becomes more interesting and there is much to be learned. I didn’t know, for example how involved Mal was in the early activities of Badfinger, or that he had strong ambitions to be a songwriter and/or producer, or that he was responsible for firing Miguel Ferrer from a long-forgotten rock band.
And the tragic ending to Mal’s life is not played down, and is truly hard to read about. In the end, he was a man who was his own worst enemy, who seemed to make the worst possible decision nearly every time he was presented with a choice, and who probably deserved better than he got.
god this took me so long to get through.
mal was such a kind soul, and gave so much of his life to those boys.
mal was such a kind soul, and gave so much of his life to those boys.