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List Price: $25.00 | | Publisher: Collins
Salesrank: 547050
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| Used Price: $17.00 |
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| Media: Paperback |
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Editorial Review:
A lavishly illustrated, rollicking account of the real people and events that inspired the Beatles' lyrics.
Who was "just seventeen" and made Paul's heart go "boom"? Was there really an Eleanor Rigby? Where's Penny Lane? In A Hard Day's Write, music journalist Steve Turner shatters many well-worn myths and adds a new dimension to the Fab Four's rich legacy by investigating for the first time the ordinary people and events immortalized in the Beatles' music and now occupying a special niche in popular culture's collective imagination.
Arranged chronologically by album, the book breaks new ground by exploring how private incidents influenced the group's writing and how their music evolved. Turner reveals that Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was really a drawing by Julian Lennon of his childhood friend; Bungalow Bill was an all-American tiger hunter; Doctor Robert was a New York 'speech doctor'; and much more. A longtime Beatles admirer, Turner tracked down and interviewed the real-life subjects of the songs, probed public records and newspaper archives, and spoke in depth to the people closet to the Beatles to unearth tales that have never before been made public. The result is a book that chronicles an untold story of the Beatles themselves.
Illustrated with over 200 photographs, A Hard Day's Write is a visually alluring and highly entertaining journey to the land stretching just beneath your conscious mind, mapped out with strawberry fields, fool-topped hills, and long and winding roads.
A Hard Day's Write, Revised Edition: The Stories Behind Every Beatles' Song Reviews:
The stories behind each song!!! 
2007-10-02 - This is a realy well made book.I have been going through it and its interesting to see where the ideas for songs came from.It makes me wonder at times how such excellent songs came together in the first place.It even has some lesser known tracks,as well as songs from the Anthology's.Ive been through it,i dont read books from cover to cover,unless its a novel, i like to go through it and get to the juicy parts.Like some of their bigger hits.Is realy amazing how many songs they did in such a short period of time.Whats even more amazing is how many of them were excellent.This has been put together in a meticulous way.Some of the stories for ideas for songs such as Mr Kite are interesting and amusing.A fascinating read.
Great, but.... 
2007-01-14 - Wonderful anecdotes. Great photos. Beautiful presentation. Easy to read.
BUT, the TOC only lists page numbers for the albums, not the songs, and the songs are not listed in the index. So if you're loooking for a particular song, you have to turn to the album and then HUNT for it. Why?
A minor problem, but an unnecessary annoyance in an otherwise wonderful book.
the roots of the lyrics ...
2005-12-17 - John Lennon regarded IN MY LIFE as one of his most important songs. A long poem about the favourite spots of his childhood had gone in front of it. The lyrics remind to the amazing poem of THE OLD FAMILIAR FACES of Charles Lamb [1775-1834], which John possibly knew via the widespread anthology PALGRAVE's TREASURY. It starts: I have had playmates, I have had companions... " sounds rhythmically like "There are places I remember / though some have changed, some forever ..." Steve Turner examines really every Beatle song back to his roots of daily experiences: Who did not know yet, now will discover, that John Lennon has meant (writing about SEXY SADIE) the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He wanted to express with this lines his annoyance over the guru's claim to leadership. Hidden behind the lyrics of the song A DAY IN LIFE is a real road accident, where the enquiry finds the photo of the squashed coupe of the hautevoleé belonging TARA BROWNE. SHE IS LEAVING HOME is based on a true story Paul had read in a newspaper. Who is that woman, who inspired John to the cynical lyrics of NORWEGIAN WOOD (and inspired the Sitar of George Harrison)? More than 200 photographies are shown: Eleanor Rigby's gravestone (that unmarried woman, only watching always other women get married) - the Victorian poster about "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" - Julian Lennon's drawing of his friend "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" - I'm sure, every Beatles-Fan will enjoy this book ...
What A Great Title
2005-11-22 - Books about the Beatles music never fail to be interesting.You get a different opinion,something everyone has
This was also the first occasion the Julian Lennon drawing which inspired "Lucy..." was published.
Incredible it survived
THE BEATLES ARE WONDERFUL SONGWRITERS!
2005-02-09 - THE BEATLES ARE WONDERFUL SONGWRITERS THEY RULE FOR EVER!
I LOVE THIS BOOK IT HAS GREAT INFORMATION ABOUT EVERY BEATLES SONGS!
FROM A BIG BEATLES FAN KIRSTEN
