Paul McCartney biography by Philip Norman due in May

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by trueblue, Mar 15, 2016.

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  1. gkmacca

    gkmacca Forum Resident

    A biographer shouldn't want a fully authorised deal, because it means he or she has to make concessions. It gets edited and censored. McCartney is being very fair by just letting people talk without any further involvement.
     
  2. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Yes, Paul personally volunteered to meet and sit down with me on numerous occasions, so as to provide accurate info for MY book. BUT in the interests of being a fair and unbiased biographer, I told Paul to "keep his polygon in his pants and take a walk"... ;)
     
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  3. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Yoko Ono also attended Sarah Lawrence College. A lot of coincidences in this Beatles story, ehh?
     
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  4. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    Yikes. If I read that back in 2003, I certainly forgot about it. That was a little more than mean spirited. And, for me, it questions just how much cooperation or approval McCartney really gave him.

    There's a dig in nearly every single paragraph.

    I can only guess that after the fact, Macca and Norman had a discussion, and Macca said something along the lines of "I wasn't myself, you are right." That doesn't sound plausible to me, though.

    This back story certainly raises the book's profile, so maybe that's what this is all about.

    I'll be interested to discover how McCartney is portrayed in it.[/QUOTE]

    The adversarial relationship between Norman and Macca began in the early seventies, when Norman described Macca thus: 'Oh, deified Scouse/with unmusical spouse...' and got worse after Shout! The 'thaw' began when Norman approached Macca for help with with Lennon biography: they had a few email exchanges, but no meetings, and seemed to get on well enough in cyberspace.
     
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  5. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    Ouch:laugh:
    After a crack like that if I were McCartney I wouldn't p-ss on Philip Norman if he was on fire...

    At least we know with this new McCartneybio Norman isn't taking the approach of a drooling fanboy...thaw or no thaw.
     
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  6. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    I know. I remember thinking 'this is incredulous' when I first read about it. Uncanny alright. Two rich hippie chicks who couldn't sing:D
    And don't start a flame war please Yoko or Linda people...I'm just sayin, just sayin, thats all.
    I'm a Maureen man myself :)
     
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  7. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    :laugh:
    The book will be all the better for it. Good decision!
     
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  8. Fivebyfive

    Fivebyfive Forum Resident

    Location:
    East coast, US
    LOL. You weren't kidding. Norman only makes it to Page 2 (!!), before he's already writing about the "bass guitarist whose delicate face and doe-like eyes were saved from girliness by the five o'clock shadow dusting his jawline." Oh for god's sake. Well at least there's more fodder for my dissertation. :cool:

    In fact the entire prologue is pretty much about Norman. Which makes me wonder: Is that why Norman wrote this Macca book? Does Norman really have something new and substantive to say here about Paul as an artist and songwriter and musician? Or, as I suspect, did Norman write this book to rescue his own sagging reputation as a Beatles chronicler and counter the now-common -- and entirely fair -- description of Shout as badly outdated and of Norman as "anti-Paul" (not to mention anti-George)? I wonder.

    I'll read this book out of curiosity but not because I'm expecting any real insights into a man Norman (judging from this prologue) seems to have had a boy crush on, and only decided to respect after Paul cooperated on the Lennon bio. I'd like to be surprised but I've read more insights into Paul here on on these forums than I've ever read in any McCartney bio.
     
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  9. Fivebyfive

    Fivebyfive Forum Resident

    Location:
    East coast, US
    I agree with pretty much everything you said here. I wasn't suggesting that biographers shouldn't interview Cox. I was trying to say that a good biographer knows the limits of Cox's views in telling the story. Cox is only of value in reflecting on those two years he worked with Linda in 87-89, and on whatever conversations he had with Paul in that two-year period. But Norman's decision to use that particular quote from Cox -- "only two people can say 'no' to Paul: George Martin and Stella" -- is questionable and sloppy because Cox has ZERO firsthand knowledge of Paul's relationship with G. Martin, and hasn't been in the McCartney home to observe Paul and Stella in more than 20 years. A good biographer doesn't let a source over-reach.

    Referring to Linda and Ringo as "Lin" and "Richie" was one of many irritating aspects of Sounes' book. I also couldn't abide his madonna-whore treatment of Jane Asher (the English rose, sweet and pure) and Linda (the gauche American "groupie" who slept around with rock stars), but then all too many British Beatles writers follow that same line. It's odd how invested Norman, Sounes, and all these British writers were in Paul & Jane as a couple. And they say the female fans were hysterical. :rolleyes:

    It doesn't sound from what we've heard so far like Jane Asher spoke with Norman. I hope she didn't. She's one of the few people in Paul's life who hasn't betrayed his trust and privacy. Heck, even Linda did that by complaining to Cox about her marriage. But Jane Asher hasn't said a word. And much as we'd all like to know Jane's side of things, it's her story to tell. Not Norman's. And I for one hope she never tells it.
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2016
  10. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Well, if the truth be told, Jane has indeed "told" her side of the story. But she did it in a secret way. Here (shown below) is her book "Jane Asher's Calendar of Cakes", and in that book you can clearly read about her relationship with Paul.

    For instance, there are recipes for the following cakes:
    Rotten-Paul Strawberry Shortcake
    Not-Such-An-Angel Cake
    Paul-Is-A-Devil Food Cake
    Wish-I-Could-Pound-Macca Cake
    Paul-Used-Me-Like-A-Sponge Cake ;)

    [​IMG]
     
  11. DrBeatle

    DrBeatle The Rock and Roll Chemist

    Location:
    Midwest via Boston
    So I've read the foreword to the book so far and in it, Norman explains how Paul was his favorite of the Beatles when he interviewed them back in the 1960s but he felt so betrayed by their split and Paul's (supposed) role in it that he spent the next few decades torching Paul (he almost seemed like a jilted lover, it was weird to read!) before realizing the error of his ways only in the last decade or so. Very strange...

    Still, bring on the rest of the book!
     
  12. Aghast of Ithaca

    Aghast of Ithaca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Angleterre
    Have you got an index? Is Hamish Stuart mentioned a lot?
     
  13. nicole21290

    nicole21290 Forum Resident

    It got better after the first line. Truly...

    O deified Scouse, with unmusical spouse
    For the clichés and cloy you unload,
    To an anodyne tune may they bury you soon
    In the middlemost midst of the road.


    What a charmer. Not near as bad as his so-called obituary for George, of course, but not a man who I expect to read much insight on Paul from, to be honest.
     
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  14. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Let's start with an easier question:

    Is Hamish Stuart mentioned at all?

    ;)
     
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  15. DrBeatle

    DrBeatle The Rock and Roll Chemist

    Location:
    Midwest via Boston
    Haven't looked yet, I will when I get home later
     
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  16. Aghast of Ithaca

    Aghast of Ithaca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Angleterre
    Let's just say that if he isn't, that will be... interesting.
     
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  17. DrBeatle

    DrBeatle The Rock and Roll Chemist

    Location:
    Midwest via Boston
    I can't imagine how he wouldn't be, he was integral to Paul's music in the late 1980s/early 1990s.
     
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  18. Fivebyfive

    Fivebyfive Forum Resident

    Location:
    East coast, US
    If you click on the following link that Buick6 provided, then click on the book cover (featuring Paul's "delicate face and d0e-like eyes") you can read the prologue of Norman's book and scroll to the end to see the index.


    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/03...rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2437869742&pf_rd_i=desktop


    From the index, it appears Hamish is mentioned 4 times -- on four different pages. So Hamish worked with Paul for more than 5 years, from roughly 1988-93, and gets mentioned on 4 pages. Francie Schwartz knew Paul for barely 3 months in 1968 and gets mentioned on 6 pages. Hmm, why am I not surprised.
     
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2016
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  19. Yorick

    Yorick Senior Member

    Location:
    the Netherlands
    I have been reading 1984-1989 so far and while the Cox material used isn't always the most flattering, I have to say Philip has been quite fair with what he used. It's not tabloid-like at all I think. What I've read so far is a nice read, though we have yet to see a book that goes into the details of these years a lot more extensively.
     
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  20. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!"

    Location:
    Canada
    :laugh::laugh::laugh:
    Yep, that little 'poem' is pretty tasteless. I'd shudder to read Norman's Harrsion obit...
     
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  21. Buick6

    Buick6 Forum Resident

    Ah you've jumped ahead I must say I was tempted too :) But I've decided to read it in order.

    Good to have your thoughts on the later chapters though
     
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  22. Aghast of Ithaca

    Aghast of Ithaca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Angleterre
    Thanks. Interesting.
     
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  23. Danby Delight

    Danby Delight Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston
    In the intro to his book, I believe Peter Doggett addresses the fact that he refers to Ringo as Richie Starkey throughout simply because that's what Ringo prefers.
     
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  24. Fivebyfive

    Fivebyfive Forum Resident

    Location:
    East coast, US
    I'm sorry I don't follow you. I just looked at Doggett's book (You Never Give Me Your Money) and throughout that book, he refers to Ringo as "Ringo." He doesn't use "Richie." It's Howard Sounes in Fab, who cheesily refers to Ringo as "Richie." That might be what Ringo prefers his friends to call him, but Howard Sounes is not a friend. So this informality of using "Lin" and "Richie" -- as if he were some sort of insider -- is grating.
     
  25. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    Does Paul greet Mr. Starkey with a rather formal, 'Good morning, Richard!' in the LIB film?
     
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