Geoff Emerick's Book
I've read a ton of Beatle books. Hell, I remember back when the Hunter Davies 'The Beatles' and Epstein's 'A Cellerful of Noise' were the only ones out there!
Out of the hundreds published since, I've only read about a dozen I would revisit, and this one by Abbey Road Studios engineer Geoff Emerick, titled 'Here There and Everywhere' qualifies.
The book re-enforces some of the things we've always suspected of the individual Beatles:
John had the most talent as a singer and composer.
Paul was the most professional and hard working.
George was a weak guitarist and often flubbed his parts. Although, he made a huge leap on the Abbey Road LP both as a writer and guitarist.
Ringo's presence in the studio was pretty much that of a sideman. But even as the weakest member, he was perceived as A BEATLE not only by the EMI staff, but by his band mates as well.
But the most interesting aspect of the book is getting a real insight into the day-to-day activities of recording and being around the Beatles. One minute he's waxing poetic on their immense talent and the next he's complaining about how difficult they are to work with.
He also paints a pretty bleak picture of the Abbey Road facility itself and the 'suits' who ran it. It's amazing that the biggest act in show biz continued to work in such a old-fashioned place.
Out of the hundreds published since, I've only read about a dozen I would revisit, and this one by Abbey Road Studios engineer Geoff Emerick, titled 'Here There and Everywhere' qualifies.
The book re-enforces some of the things we've always suspected of the individual Beatles:
John had the most talent as a singer and composer.
Paul was the most professional and hard working.
George was a weak guitarist and often flubbed his parts. Although, he made a huge leap on the Abbey Road LP both as a writer and guitarist.
Ringo's presence in the studio was pretty much that of a sideman. But even as the weakest member, he was perceived as A BEATLE not only by the EMI staff, but by his band mates as well.
But the most interesting aspect of the book is getting a real insight into the day-to-day activities of recording and being around the Beatles. One minute he's waxing poetic on their immense talent and the next he's complaining about how difficult they are to work with.
He also paints a pretty bleak picture of the Abbey Road facility itself and the 'suits' who ran it. It's amazing that the biggest act in show biz continued to work in such a old-fashioned place.
posted by John Goins at 1:34 PM
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