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A review by whatsthestorywishbone
Tune In by Mark Lewisohn
5.0
What made me, who seldom reads anything but kids books these days and who is only casually a Beatles fan, read a 900 page book about the Beatles pre 1963. Not sure. My mom had made me (reluctantly) watch the Get Back documentary and I realized quickly how little I knew about them…so on a whim decided to pick up an audiobook to learn more. What I found was there are A LOT to choose from and this one had 5 stars everywhere I looked (although it wasn’t on any best of Beatles biographies lists - why?!), and I kept coming back to it. I figured Get Back was near the end why not start at the beginning? I am 100% sure I made the right choice. I learned SO much from this book and found it riveting. I laughed, I cried and I paused it to play music on Spotify. It may not make you like them as people, but it won’t make you hate them either. It is long though so be prepared and there are short bits I could have done without but someone else probably loved them and hated pieces I found fascinating. That is to be expected from a complete book. Have patience, they don’t become the Beatles until a long way in, but the build up is key and the way the author weaves in cultural touch points is vital to truly understanding why they are the way they are.
Learn how they met, how Ringo got his name and learned to play drums in the hospital, how they got their Beatles haircut, how they stole guitars, got kicked out of school, took a bus across town to learn a new chord from a total stranger, all got engaged/ unengaged or married and then cheated like crazy. Learn how line ups and names changed though the years and then how they came up with THE name and THE line up. Become engrossed in Stu’s heartbreaking story, and feel bad for Pete Best while understanding 100% why that was the correct decision. Learn about the songs they liked and played. Learn how they wrote their own stuff and how Lennon/McCartney came to be. Learn how they recorded/came up with each song on their first album. I will never be able to listen to the Please Please Me album the same way again.
100% would recommend to anyone. Even a casual fan who like me, liked them as a child but probably hadn’t listened to a full album in 25 years. A winner.
Learn how they met, how Ringo got his name and learned to play drums in the hospital, how they got their Beatles haircut, how they stole guitars, got kicked out of school, took a bus across town to learn a new chord from a total stranger, all got engaged/ unengaged or married and then cheated like crazy. Learn how line ups and names changed though the years and then how they came up with THE name and THE line up. Become engrossed in Stu’s heartbreaking story, and feel bad for Pete Best while understanding 100% why that was the correct decision. Learn about the songs they liked and played. Learn how they wrote their own stuff and how Lennon/McCartney came to be. Learn how they recorded/came up with each song on their first album. I will never be able to listen to the Please Please Me album the same way again.
100% would recommend to anyone. Even a casual fan who like me, liked them as a child but probably hadn’t listened to a full album in 25 years. A winner.