Synopsis/blurb.......
Why was Pete Best sacked from the Beatles? In this unique book, based on extensive research and interviews with those close to the events, Spencer Leigh has gathered the clues together to try and solve the greatest Beatles mystery of all. On 16 August 1962, the Beatles drummer, Pete Best, went to see their manager, Brian Epstein, in his Liverpool office. He thought that Epstein wanted to discuss future bookings with him but instead, Epstein sacked him. Pete had not seen it coming. Why did Brian Epstein do it and not the Beatles themselves? Why did they want to be rid of him? Why did they do it so callously? Pete never spoke to any of them again. Best of the Beatles: The sacking of Pete Best tells you what really happened and is essential reading for Beatles fans.
A bit of a departure for me here with some non-fiction relating to no less than the Fab Four – The Beatles. Now while I’m well aware of their music – who isn’t – I couldn’t especially lay claim to being a fan.
Pete Best would have been sacked before I was born and the group themselves would have fractured and split long before I started showing any interest in music. In truth I’d be more interested in reading about why Johnny Rotten departed The Sex Pistols.
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| Pete and Ringo. |
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| Spencer Leigh |
Spencer Leigh knows his stuff and if he doesn’t he knows a man who might. By the end of the book whilst there is no definitive, cast-iron, absolute reason for Best’s sacking there’s a few pointers as to what it most likely, in all possibility, most feasibly may have been.
I did learn a few things I didn’t know previously, or knew and forgot, or suspected or hadn’t even thought about ………John Lennon could be cruel. Paul McCartney was possibly vain and jealous. His brother had delusions of grandeur, namely that he could have replaced Best as the drummer. George may have been the sneaky one stirring things in the background. Ringo was unapologetic and unrepentant at replacing Best as the drummer – why should he be – he was a better drummer than him, in his own opinion. Best was surprised and shocked and remarkably didn’t go on to live a life soured by bitterness. Hopefully in time, he made a few quid out of his early contribution.
Overall, interesting and entertaining and fulfilled a particular reading yen at the time, without making me want to rush out and buy everything they ever recorded.
As an aside, I do find myself reaching for the OFF button every time McCartney appears on my small screen or radio – happily an occurrence that happens less and less these days. (Surely there must be some island faraway that him and Elton and the Stones can be incarcerated on, so they don’t embarrass themselves and the British public any longer.)
Give him his due though – when I was growing up my sisters' had Wings' album – Band on the Run and it wasn’t half bad.
4 from 5
Thanks to Linda and the publishers – McNidder & Grace for my copy of this one.
This one really is a departure, Col. It sounds like an interesting read, and it is great to get a bit of behind the scenes stuff. Fascinating how the Beatles still capture the imagination.I think that in itself is quite a story.
ReplyDeleteA definite departure, Margot but an enjoyable one.
DeleteCol, I'm not much of a Beatles fan though I have listened to some of their numbers. Lennon's "Imagine" remains a favourite. I don't know anything about their public or private lives and this was an interesting glimpse into what can happen backstage.
ReplyDeleteI think I preferred the Beatles' output to anything Lennon ever did on his own.
DeleteA bit of a departure for me here
ReplyDeleteYou said it!
I think that, to enjoy the Beatles, you really have to have been there. I was never a particular fan of theirs; even so, they were a dominant part of the zeitgeist, with the result that I can still happily sing along to the Pepper album. The second of their two "Best of" compilations (I think it's the blue one) contains just about all their best stuff, and is, I'd say, a genuinely impressive collection.
Sounds like an interesting book!
John - were you there, I'd be extremely reluctant to make any assumptions for fear of being accused of ageism! They did have some decent tunes, but I'm blowed if I'll be seeking them out, once in a blue moon on the radio or TV will do me.
DeleteIt's an interesting story, and I liked the review, but it's probably more detail than I need. I was just in Liverpool for the weekend, passing close to the spot where John met Paul for the first time... and the church where CillaBlack's funeral was held last week...
ReplyDeleteYou could probably seek out and read 100 books on The Beatles if you were minded to. Does Liverpool have a Beatles tour?
DeleteLots of Beatles tours! It's a major industry these days. I used to have a flat almost opposite John Lennon's house, but in those days no-one knew or cared where he'd lived. Now there's buses and cabs and people outside there...
DeleteI might be tempted if it included an 80s update. Where the first shell-suit was sold, the hair salon where the first male curly perm was performed...
DeleteI have only heard of Pete Best recently. I like the Beatles music just fine, but their history hasn't been a concern for me. (I was in high school when they came to the US so very aware of their popularity and output at that time.) I might enjoy this type of book, but just don't care to fit it into my reading. If I read more books in a year, like you and many other bloggers... I would probably expand my repertoire.
ReplyDeleteI would like to read a bit more non-fiction myself, but never manage it. I think I just picked this one up because I fancied something a bit different at the time, it could have been anything really.
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