Beatles Biography by Mark Lewisohn (6th edition)- plus Lewisohn news. *

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by MilesSmiles, Feb 18, 2014.

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  1. bobcat

    bobcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    But it possibly means you're (!) wrong :)
     
  2. notesfrom

    notesfrom Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC USA
    Maybe he called Cynthia the same thing at some point?
     
  3. bobcat

    bobcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Royalties or maybe the creative urge?
     
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  4. DrBeatle

    DrBeatle The Rock and Roll Chemist

    Location:
    Midwest via Boston
    I *HIGHLY* doubt it. I'm sure he called her LOTS of other things (besides her name), and "Mother" almost certainly wasn't one of them.
     
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  5. elvissinatra

    elvissinatra Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan
    I agree overall that Lewisohn in general does not appear to be as interested in Paul's psyche as he does in John's, but in the case of their moms' deaths it seems to me that John's mom's death warrants deeper examination due to the unusual circumstances (killed by drunk cop) and to the sheer amount that John referenced it overtly (Rolling Stone interviews, Plastic Ono Band album, etc.)

    Remember: Lewisohn is a documentation-based writer. The more documents, the more paragraphs. There are a lot of documents about John's mom's death. Paul's mom died of fairly natural causes (cancer), resulting in not a lot of documentation.

    It's been a while since I read Tune In, but I seem to recall very little original analysis by Lewisohn. He's thoroughly reporting on the existing documentation and tying it all together chronologically and reinforcing it with interviews only when the documentation doesn't present a complete picture. This is why his book presents a unique history; previous biographers have depended far more on other people's memories, which are notoriously unreliable...as the documentation proves.
     
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  6. notesfrom

    notesfrom Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC USA
    Well, we don't know for sure.

    Julian, Paul, or some friends and relatives might remember such a detail.
     
  7. Beatlened

    Beatlened Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    Not sure. What did he say the release date for book 2 was in 2014? We just have to wait and see I suppose
     
  8. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    Are you sure it was all that 'seriously'? The couple of times I've heard him say it, it was in a hammy, Northern England way.
    For example, in 'Lennon Remembers' (the Rolling Stone interview) it looks like when he says "Thank You, Mother" it's a bit weird. But hearing the tape, he says it exactly in the Sixties TV sitcom-way I've suggested, with a chuckle in the voice, a broad Lancashire-type accent, much like Freddie Frinton to Thora Hird in the show "Meet The Wife", which we know Lennon watched, after all. He was a funny guy quite often, remember.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2018
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  9. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    He didn't have a firm release date for Vol2 but he did say "Turn On" and "Drop Out" were not going to be the titles of the 2nd and 3rd volumes.
     
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  10. DrBeatle

    DrBeatle The Rock and Roll Chemist

    Location:
    Midwest via Boston
    That's a shame, actually. They line up perfectly with the three phases of their career. Otherwise, Tune In is kind of a weak name for vol I...wonder what II and III (if they're ever released) will be called?
     
  11. Beatlened

    Beatlened Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dublin, Ireland
    I do think "Drop Out" would not make for a very attractive book title but "Turn On" really fits the period. He better come up with something good in any case.
     
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  12. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Weak name" :agree:
    The History Of The Beatles Volume 1...
    Sounds way better. Early sixties photo for book cover.
     
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  13. dave9199

    dave9199 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Durham, NC
    I looked up some English phrases that might fit for the next two sets:

    Vol 2: F*** All
    Vol 3: Cock Up
     
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  14. DrBeatle

    DrBeatle The Rock and Roll Chemist

    Location:
    Midwest via Boston
    I actually didn't like Tune In as the name from the very first time I heard it. Just seems a wee bit...lame.
     
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  15. petem1966

    petem1966 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Katy TX

    He can call them Beatles I, Beatles II and Beatles III for all I care, I just want to read them!
     
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  16. Frank

    Frank Senior Member

    Don't give him more title options - he'll take another three years researching those! :laugh:
     
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  17. notesfrom

    notesfrom Forum Resident

    Location:
    NC USA
    Beatles VI is already taken.
     
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  18. Marry a Carrot

    Marry a Carrot Interesting blues gets a convincing reading.

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    "Tune In" would need to be the second book for them to line up perfectly.

    [​IMG]
     
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  19. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Thought ...Timothy Leary's Dead.
     
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  20. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    He should have saluted another Liverpudlian group and called the 3 books;

    1. Turned Up
    2. Clocked On
    3. Laid Off

    (Lewisohn already interviewed this bands manager for Tune In so he’s probably aware of them...)
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2018
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  21. maywitch

    maywitch Forum Resident

    LOL Yes, we KNOW it's about his mother. He's talked about how he wrote it, he was feeling depressed and confused over what was going on his life, and he had a lovely comforting dream about his mother and in the dream she was very reassuring to him. He found it very comforting because it felt so real to him and he was getting to see and hear his mother for the first in so many years.

    And yes I think Let it Be is a very beautiful almost hymn-like song and it manages to sort of "universalize" Paul's mom while still being very personal. The imagery and advice are both to him specifically and yet something that can be applicable for a lot of people.
     
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  22. maywitch

    maywitch Forum Resident

    I don't think the circumstances "warrants" anything of the sort. Their mothers both died, it was very traumatic for both of them and I dare say it affected and shaped Paul as much as it did John, even if he didn't "act out" in such an obvious way.

    And there are plenty of "other people's memories" in the book, whenever Lewisohn quotes someone else talking about something related to one of them, it's other people's memories. Plus it's in the language, if you look, Lewisohn tends to use much more sympathetic language towards Lennon's circumstances, with Paul it tends to be rather clinical.

    I feel like a good biographer DOES do more than just report on what the "documents say", otherwise it's just basically a police procedural of someone's life in book form. A good biographer forms and point out connections between the facts that help you get inside the heads/hearts/characters of their subjects. Not just as someone else described it in another post "well he's just always been that way". When you have Paul's brother talking about the fairly large change in Paul's personality following his mother's death and then just basically leave that hanging...that's a big missed opportunity.
     
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  23. bobcat

    bobcat Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    In defence of Lewisohn, this work (Tune In and its eventual successors) is not really a biography, is it?
     
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  24. Zongadude

    Zongadude Music is the best

    Location:
    France
    Agreed.
    But someone told me Lewisohn already warned that the 2nd volume won't be called "Turn on".
     
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  25. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    I think it meets the definition of the word "Biography": an account of someone's life written by someone else.
     
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