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A review by clarareads1000books
The Beatles: TheBiography by Bob Spitz
3.0
After watching the fascinating "Get Back" documentary / archival film, I felt hungry for more Beatles history. This biography was the only one available on my audiobook streaming service, so I decided to give it a go.
While I enjoyed learning more about the Beatles and their evolution at lightning speed, from humble-class Liverpool teenagers to obscenely rich and famous popstars (especially their struggling beginners with other band members, and their rather destitute times in Hamburg before anyone started paying attention to them), it was towards the end of the biography that I started to realize I shouldn't take this book as historical work at all.
Bob Spitz very obviously chooses sides between the Beatles, and colours in parts of their history by giving his own imagination free reign. He doesn't shy away from demonizing some people (To say that his views on Yoko Ono are biased would be an immense understatement), makes John Lennon look like a martyr-like, angry drug addict and Paul like a Saint, while spending much much less time on Ringo and George. It seems to me this biography very much plays into the fan theories about John, Paul and Yoko, and paints a picture that is irreconcilable with the film material finally exposed to the worldd in the Get Back documentary.
All in all, an entertaining read, but not something you can call an honest biography. This is great fuel for fan theories defending "your favourite beatle" and hating on Yoko.
While I enjoyed learning more about the Beatles and their evolution at lightning speed, from humble-class Liverpool teenagers to obscenely rich and famous popstars (especially their struggling beginners with other band members, and their rather destitute times in Hamburg before anyone started paying attention to them), it was towards the end of the biography that I started to realize I shouldn't take this book as historical work at all.
Bob Spitz very obviously chooses sides between the Beatles, and colours in parts of their history by giving his own imagination free reign. He doesn't shy away from demonizing some people (To say that his views on Yoko Ono are biased would be an immense understatement), makes John Lennon look like a martyr-like, angry drug addict and Paul like a Saint, while spending much much less time on Ringo and George. It seems to me this biography very much plays into the fan theories about John, Paul and Yoko, and paints a picture that is irreconcilable with the film material finally exposed to the worldd in the Get Back documentary.
All in all, an entertaining read, but not something you can call an honest biography. This is great fuel for fan theories defending "your favourite beatle" and hating on Yoko.