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Living the Beatles Legend

On the Road with the Fab Four – The Mal Evans Story

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Living the Beatles Legend

By: Kenneth Womack
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**MiCannes Award Music Book of the Year**

The first full-length biography of Mal Evans, the Beatles’ beloved roadie, assistant, confidant and friend

A towering figure in horn-rimmed glasses, Malcolm ‘Mal’ Evans was an invaluable member of the Beatles’ inner circle. Serving as their long-time roadie, personal assistant and protector, he was a sometime lyricist, occasional performer and regular fixer at the height of the group’s fame and beyond.

But Mal’s dedication to his beloved ‘boys’ and his own desire for stardom took its toll, leading to the dissolution of his marriage and his untimely death in January 1976.

Until now, Mal’s extraordinary life has remained shrouded in mystery. Drawing on hundreds of exclusive interviews and with full access to Mal’s unpublished archives – including his personal diaries, manuscripts and memorabilia – renowned Beatles scholar Kenneth Womack paints the first complete portrait of this complicated figure at the heart of the Beatles’ story.

Living the Beatles Legend is a fascinating but ultimately tragic tale about life at the edges of superstardom.

©2023 Kenneth Womack Entertainment & Celebrities Historical Music Celebrity
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Critic reviews

'Exhaustively detailed … captures Beatlemania up close' Observer
‘A meticulously researched job in not only piecing together the roadie’s viewpoint of the Beatles’ story, but also in depicting the tragedy of a man who was so in love with the group he destroyed his own life’ Daily Mail Book of the Week
‘Womack has woven a portrait full of complex threads that lead everywhere and, near the end of Evans’ life, nowhere … This book is just amazing’ Q
‘A celebration – not just of Evans, but of all the unsung supporting characters who make creative life possible … It removes the cloud of mythology that often shrouds the Beatles’ story and reminds us that their superstardom was by no means predestined’ Guardian
‘A Holy Grail for fans’ People
All stars
Most relevant
Loads of great detailed stories in the book, and more “warts and all” than other Beatles books I’ve read/listened to. Really well put together.

It should have been read by someone else though. The narration is really lifeless, with everything sounding the same.

Lots of mispronunciations of British place names are grating eg Burnmuth, Toks-teth, Gross-vener House.

Also, American terms such as “sophomore”, or referring to someone as weighing 250 pounds just wouldn’t be in anything Mal would have written.

The narration is a big part of the enjoyment of an audiobook. Mispronounced words should have been picked up, but a better narrator is the bigger issue.

Great content, but the narration is annoying

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I noticed that some readers are not happy with Ken Womack's narration but I found it fine -I even enjoy Ken's mispronunciation of English words and place names. The story of Mal is a transatlantic story, beginning in the U.SA with the western movies and the music whch would loom large in the early lives of all the Liuerpool boys who feature in this book and ending tragically in the U.S.A in 1976. This is a bittersweet story and one that all fans of the Beatles need to read, it makes you thimk about all the other people throughout human history who dedicate themselves to supporting
others. I am glad that we get to hear the voice of Gary Evans (Mal and Lil's son) at the beginning of the book and feel enriched by reading Mal's incredible story.

Thankyou Ken and Mal

Catching sparks from the sun

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Just a bit too much trivia. One anecdote amounted to his wife and son being locked out of the house and his coming home from work to let them in. Similar things have happened to almost everyone.

Great Evocation of the 50s and 60s

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Mal Evans’ story his well worth hearing. He was a key part of the Fab Four’s shadow fab 4. Womack writes well, he’s weaved a compelling narrative from Mal’s fragments.

But, if you’re British, it’s torture, he mangles just about every place name he encounters, and I find myself shouting at the place names. He’s an academic, he should understand the importance of researching these things.

It doesn’t completely devalue the book. It’s a great book. But boy it’s irritating.

Great writer - lazy reader

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I don’t know why the author chose to read the book himself - probably financial - but it ruined the book for me. The story of Mal Evan’s life and death is interesting and tragic but I wish I had read it rather than listening to the audible and suffering through a very British story told with a broad Texan accent. Norwich pronounced Nor-witch was a low point!

Interesting book wrecked by awful narration

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