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The Beatles - All These Years

Volume One: Tune In

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The Beatles - All These Years

By: Mark Lewisohn
Narrated by: Clive Mantle
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The Beatles have been at the top for fifty years, their music remains exciting, their influence is still huge, their acclaim and achievements cannot be surpassed. But who really were the Beatles, and how did they and everything else in the 1960s fuse so explosively?

Mark Lewisohn's three-part biography is the first true and accurate account of the Beatles, a contextual history built upon impeccable research and written with energy, style, objectivity and insight. This first volume covers the crucial and less-known early period - the Liverpool and Hamburg years of a hungry rock and roll band, when all the sharp characters and situations take shape.

This is the Beatles like you've never read them before. It isn't just 'another book', it's the book, from the world-acknowledged authority. Forget what you know and discover The Complete Story.©2013 Mark Lewisohn Entertainment & Celebrities Celebrity Thought-Provoking
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Critic reviews

A radical event and a joy to read - Lewisohn tells the tale with such authoritative command of the evidence and so intimate a grasp of the Beatles' daily lives that the reader emerges knowing - with a certainty denied all previous generations - that this is how it really happened.


Lewisohn's work stands as a monumental triumph, a challenge not merely to other Beatles biographers but to the discipline of biography itself. If only all important subjects had their Lewisohn
A triumph. Not only an enthralling account of the Beatles' origins, far superior to anything that has gone before, but also an essential piece of social history.

Lewisohn has set out to do the Beatles justice and write the definitive history. I think he is succeeding
Mark Lewisohn raises the biographical bar to stratospheric heights. This first volume suggests he is on the verge of achieving what was heretofore considered impossible: blowing the cobwebs off one of the late 20th century's hoariest cultural myths, scraping away decades' worth of accumulated crud and revealing detail no one previously suspected was there
An epic unprecedented in rock 'n' roll biography, and a great read ... Does far more than enrich with mind-boggling detail, there's a surprise on every page ... The detail is sharp and incisive ... It's the kind of book where want-to-know and need-to-know is wrapped into a narrative that unfolds brilliantly and, for once, justifies that 'real story of the Beatles' billing
Positively a page turner, both for excitement and anticipation - Lewisohn has enhanced the story as a beautifully flowing factual tale that reads like a classic novel. Nobody but nobody could begin to match this work of joy and detail; and reassuringly, nobody ever will. This is the best work ever produced on the subject of the Beatles. A five star review is an insult, it merits an unheard of ten (Colin Larkin)
The accomplishments of the Beatles has given rise to a near deification of them as both people and myth. Lewisohn brings that story back down into the world of real people.

Tune In clears the air of myth and legend, leaving as much reality as a biography can offer. Every single page brings the Beatles back into focus and moves them away from legend. Common myths fall apart under Mr. Lewisohn's research
Presents the Beatles story in a way it's never been seen before: truthfully and completely. The end result is a herculean effort, a fast-moving page-turner overflowing with warm humor, passion, and (of course) music. Likely to become a principle text in 20th-century studies, a sort of Complete Shakespeare with a much better soundtrack. For anyone who loves music, this book is the genuine ultimate
The saga is clearer and richer here than it's ever been. Lewisohn writes in novelistic detail and with the obvious conviction that none of the previous Beatles biographies have ever been good enough
All stars
Most relevant
I chose this book to get a clearer understanding of the band that played a huge part in shaping the British music scene.

What you get is a much more comprehensive book, not only telling the story of how each Beatle came to join the band but also the stories of those on the fringe of the band who made it all possible. Brian Epstein & George Martin etc.

The story drags in the parts about the Beatles themselves. Too much time is spent on girls / boys who followed the band in the Cavern years. Which Beatle was their favourite and why. At times it sounds like fan letters to Smash Hits!

The real gem in this book though is the story of Brian Epstein. Having no real interest in his life and past I was tempted to skip his bits but soon the complexity of his character and challenges make his story the most gripping. And for this reason alone the book is worth a listen.

Epstein is the best part of the story

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I've just finished the audiobook. 43 hours and 40 minutes of the best audiobook I've ever heard.


OK, I must declare a bias. I am a huge Beatles fan. Take that as a given.


Even so, Mark Lewisohn's book is a masterpiece of scholarship and accessible writing. It covers the minutiae of their everyday personal a professional lives up to the end of 1962. I thought I knew a lot about The Beatles, and I did, but I know a lot more now. Lewisohn provides more background to well-documented events in the band's career. There were a few surprises for me, such as the initial contractual arrangements between Epstein and John, Paul, George and Pete and how they affected Best's sacking. And while I knew about Best's inadequacies as a drummer, I wasn't fully aware of the extent of his personal distance from the other band members and their unhappiness with him.


The insights into the UK recording industry of the time are fascinating. You can feel the band's frustration as they tried to become 'recording artistes'. The segments on how Epstein forged a relationship with George Martin and Dick James and sidelined other players reveal the politics and personalities of the industry at the time. The antipathy that George Martin felt towards Norrie Paramor is another good example. George Martin's own initial (and considerable) scepticism about The Beatles is also covered.


And then there are the private lives. the upbringings, the traumas, the trails, the triumphs and the relationships, not just of The Beatles, but of the other people in their lives. There's no attempt to sugar coat anything: Neil Apsinall's affair with Mona Best, George Martin's affair with his future wife, Paul's multiple concurrent girlfriends, Cynthia's unenviable position as the hidden wife. All are covered. Warts and all.


I was eight when The Beatles broke through and, although I was aware of them and liked them, it wasn't until 1968 that I became a real fan. Consequently, I have always been more interested in the second half of their career. But this book has given me a newfound enthusiasm for their earlier music, and some of its influences. It really brought home to me what pioneers the Beatles even before they became famous. I was aware of it, but this has brought it into sharper focus.


Then there's the reading. It is uniformly brilliant. Clive Mantle creates accents for each Beatle and the people around them. They bring the characters to life without ever becoming caricatures. He brings out the humour, the sadness, the frustration and the triumph without ever becoming mawkish or over the top. The section about Stuart Sutcliffe's death and the events before and after it is particularly poignant.


I cannot recommend this book enough. It's the only audiobook that I have started again as soon as I finished it. I know that makes me a bit sad, but what the hell...

Comprehensive, entertaining and brilliantly read.

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I’m a mega Beatles fan, and I learned so much more detail about their Early years, right up to Please, Please Me. Extremely well read, with some good impersonations thrown in - it Please, Pleased Me in every way! Can’t wait for the next volume.

Every detail covered!

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Such an in depth look into the history of the greatest band in the world. Can't wait for volume 2

The most definitive history of the beatles

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loved it being on volume two comprehensive and read with knowledge and enthusiasm. Thought 43hrs would hard listening but found it easy going and insightful

Very comprehensive and enjoyable

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