Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation
by Philip Norman
List Price:
Our Price: $6.88
You Save: $10.11 (60%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.99 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Philip NormanEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-12-04
ISBN: 0743235657
Number of pages: 608
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Reviews of Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation
Book Review: A Definitive Work
Summary: 4 Stars
This book, first published in 1981 and reissued in 1993, was yet put to a third edition in 2003 to incorporate the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison and the knighting of Sir Paul McCartney along with his disastrous marriage to Heather Mills--so it feels quite up to date. Norman tells it like it is, painting our heroes with warts and all. The chapters are divided into five parts: Wishing, Getting, Having, Wasting, and Lasting. No band seemed less poised for stardom until it was thrust upon them before some of them had turned 21. They were a core group of blokes, united in their Liverpudlian northerness, who by wit and charm and pure musical genius won over a generation, a world. Paul was the most into the group until the last, generating brilliant ideas and bossing his cohorts into resentment to get it just right. John was the edgy and angry artist, rounding out Paul's sugary songs into hits and also crafting his own remonstrations that were then tempered by Paul successfully. George, by Normans's account, was a mediocre and cantankerous player, who seemed to have his best success on his own, often disdaining his years as a Beatle. Ringo, never renowned for his talent (he couldn't do a good drum roll, according to some), emerges as the emotional center of the group,--kind, lovable, and even-tempered.
But there are things in this book that you might not want to know about your heroes. How George (after a plethora of infidelities) slept with Maureen, dooming not only his marriage but Ringo's. How John's caustic personality made him yell tauntingly "Run, Cindy, run . . ." as their train pulled away from the station heading to the Maharishi without his wife as his she was trying to jump aboard. He later even had loud sex with a gal at a party, so that Yoko and everyone else in the next room could hear. Ringo and wife Barbara Bach packed away the booze. Paul became a despot over animal rights, refusing even fake fur to be present on his tours. This is after he betrayed Jane Asher with a groupie, going on to marry Linda who was the animal activist.
But some of the wives shine in this account. After George had been stabbed multiple times by an intruder, his Olivia conks the guy repeatedly with a poker and lamp base, putting him into the hospital. Linda is Paul's soulmate and Yoko is John's. Barbara saves Ringo from alcoholism, and he her. But Maureen and Jane and Cynthia and Patti should not be forgotten. In a hellish fishbowl, they all stood by their men loyally for many years before being replaced. Ringo is to credited for seeing Maureen through her terminal bout of cancer long after their divorce.
This is a cautionary tale of young men being given talent, wealth, and fame beyond normal reckoning. Whether along the way they handled it well or otherwise, this book reminds us of the priceless gift that they gave us all . . .
Music Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Music Books
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brainby Oliver Sacks
Knopf Publishing Group; Published: 2008; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.45
Listenby Joseph Kerman, Gary Tomlinson
Bedford/St. Martin's; Published: 2007-02-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.00
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Centuryby Alex Ross
Picador; Published: 2008-10-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.81
Price in other shops:
Forever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylanby Douglas R. Gilbert, Dave Marsh
Da Capo Press; Published: 2006-10-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.55
Price in other shops:
Heroes And Villains: The True Story Of The Beach Boysby Steven Gaines
Da Capo Press; Published: 1995-08-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.15
Price in other shops:
Handbook for Sound Engineers, Third Editionby Glen Ballou
Focal Press; Published: 2002-01-21; Hardcover; Book
Price in other shops:
Jazz Anecdotesby Bill Crow
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1990-05-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.18
Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williamsby Paul Hemphill
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2006-08-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
How to Train Singers/ Book and Tapeby Larra Browning Henderson
Parker; Published: 1991-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.95
Price in other shops:
I, Tina: My Life Story (icon!t)by Tina Turner, Kurt Loder
It Books; Published: 2010-06-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Beatles AnthologyCapitol Entertainment; Release date: 2003-04-01; DVD
Best price: $53.28
Price in other shops:
John Lennon: The Lifeby Philip Norman
Ecco; Published: 2009-09-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.33
Price in other shops:
Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and Americaby Jonathan Gould
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2008-11-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.74
Price in other shops:
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatlesby Geoff Emerick, Howard Massey
Alfred Publishing; Gotham; Published: 2007-02-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.06
Price in other shops:
I, Me, Mineby George Harrison
Chronicle Books; Published: 2007-03-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.58
Price in other shops:
The English Heritage Third Edition Volume II: Since 1689by Frederic A. Youngs
Forum Pr; Published: 1999-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops:
The Beatles Anthologyby Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Chronicle Books; Published: 2002-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.74
Price in other shops:
The Beatles: Paperback Writer: 40 Years of Classic WritingPlexus Publishing; Published: 2012-01-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.05
Price in other shops:
Beatlesongsby William J. Dowlding
Touchstone; Published: 1989-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.33
Price in other shops:
The Beatles (Updated Edition)by Hunter Davies
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2010-09-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.40
Price in other shops: