The Beatles Lyrics: The Stories Behind the Music, Including the Handwritten Drafts of More Than 100 Classic Beatles Songs

by Hunter Davies (Editor)

Overview

The definitive book of Beatles songs, shown as first written by their own hands and put into authoritative context, for the 50th anniversary of the Beatles coming to America.

For the Beatles, writing songs was a process that could happen anytime -- songs we all know by heart often began as a scribble on the back of an envelope or on hotel stationery. These original documents have ended up scattered across the world at museums and universities and with collectors and friends. Many have never been published before. More than 100 songs and lyrics are reproduced in THE BEATLES LYRICS, providing Hunter Davies a unique platform to tell the story of the music.

The intimacy of these reproductions -- there are sections crossed out and rewritten, and words tossed into the final recordings that were never written down -- ensures that THE BEATLES LYRICS will be a treasure for musicians, scholars, and fans everywhere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316247160
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	10/21/2014
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.70(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Hunter Davies is the author of over 40 books, including the New York Times bestseller The John Lennon Letters, and has written for The Guardian, New Statesman, and the Sunday Times. He is married to the novelist and biographer Margaret Forster, and they live in London.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Love Me Do 27

2 With the Beatles 45

3 A Hard Day's Night 61

4 Beatles for Sale 79

5 Help! 89

6 Rubber Soul 109

7 Revolver 137

8 Strawberry Fields Forever 179

9 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 189

10 Magical Mystery Tour 233

11 The White Album 261

12 Yellow Submarine 307

13 Let It Be 320

14 Abbey Road 335

Discography 357

Bibliography 363

Acknowledgements 365

Index 367

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The John Lennon Letters

"A massive deposit of freshly excavated notes, screeds, asides and howls, each lavishly reproduced and carefully annotated, 'Letters' is the most intimate book ever published about Lennon. In its revelation of the man's psychology, it far surpasses all previous accounts by wives, lovers, half-siblings, ex-aides and even the best biographers." -- James Rosen, The Washington Post

"Davies has done a sensitive and scrupulous job collecting and annotating Lennon's letters, and the book is beautifully designed." -- Bruce Handy, Vanity Fair

"An illuminating volume that shows a different, unguarded side of the man." -- David Martindale, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

From the Publisher