Beatles Book:

Editorial Review:
DRUGS, DIVORCE and a SLIPPING IMAGE - The Complete, Unauthorized Story of The Beatles' 'Get Back' Sessions - by Doug Sulpy with Ray Schweighardt New, completely revised edition! This new volume isn t just a compilation of material from the 1994 book Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image (also later published as 'Get Back') and 'The 910's Guide To The Beatles Outtakes Part Two: The Complete Get Back Sessions' (2001). I've re-listened to the entire canon of available Get Back session tapes, come up with a bunch of new conclusions (and even a handful of new identifications!), and pretty much re-written half the book from scratch. In addition, great effort has been made to improve readability of the book. Songs have now been put into groups (generally by Nagra reel, or series of them), rather than describing each performance separately, as was done in the original. In every way, this is the book we wished we could have written in 1994.

Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image - The Complete, Unauthorized Story of The Beatles' 'Get Back' Sessions Reviews:
A Must Read for Beatles Fans!
2009-03-20 - I highly recommend this book to all people who seriously want to know the story behind the Beatles. I haven't read all 600+ books written about them, but the ones I've read contained so many contradictions and obvious errors that I didn't know which part of which book to believe. This one, I feel, is an refreshingly objective look at the hours and hours of documentary footage. I didn't always agree with the inferencea that the authors made (for instance, a rather innocuous exchange between John and Paul was described as Paul being "patronizing" to John. But then again, maybe they heard or saw something I couldn't, that gave them that impression. This is the next best thing we have to watching the footage ourselves (actually I think much of it is on Youtube).

To the people who think this book has a pro-Paul slant: well, sometimes reality is pro-Paul! Seriously, it shows the good and bad sides of them all. It debunks many of the myths that have become conventional wisdom over the years. The biggest revelation was that George did not walk out because of Paul; it was a fight with John. Those who think John and Yoko can do no wrong will probably complain about how negatively they are portrayed in this book. But John is certainly not painted one-dimensionally; sometimes he is drugged and withdrawn, but other times he's charming and creative. The overall impressions of all of them are pretty balanced, in my opinino, except for perhaps Yoko. I think it was a bit unprofessional for the authors to let their opinion of her show, but they seemed to share it with Paul, George, Ringo and even Michael-Hogg. They found her to be a distraction and an unwelcome intrusion. Not to mention her singing was awful. I was glad that the book also described the happier moments, where the guys are just playing music or hanging out with each other. It reminds you that, as bad as things were, there was an abiding bond between them. The movie "Let it Be" doesn't show much of that. It is almost unrelentingly downbeat.

Somewhat a bit off-topic, I know some people think the "Let it Be" album was a disaster, the group's worst effort. Maybe in technical terms that's true, since their work is usually so polished. But I really enjoy the rawness of the music. I think it's close to the type of music they would have made if they'd ever had a chance to reunite. I would highly recommend listening to "Let it Be...Naked" instead of the official soundtrack. That's the music before Phil Spector got his hands on it. I much prefer it.

Great book!
2008-04-08 - After hearing all the audio and then reading this book, it's a bit 'pro paul' and 'anti john and yoko' and a bit ignorant to the fact that John, George, and Ringo were dragged into a project that was Paul's idea, while he had all his song ideas ready and John didn't, and George was riding on an extensive backlog of songs. Other than trying to give alot of excuses for Paul's behavior during the sessions, this is a great book for historical documentation. I extremely enjoy it for that, I kind of ignore the theories and opinions in it though. After all, it has alot of the typical 'anti yoko' flap, but in the actual audio, she never once insults anyone, but you hear alot of yoko insults out of Michael Lindsey Hogg,the film producer, and Paul and Linda.

Latest from Doug Sulpy is a gem
2007-12-10 - The newest book from Doug Sulpy is the last word on the "Get Back Sessions", and also one of the best books available on the Beatles. If you read either of the previous versions of this book, you'll find enough new here (in commentary and conclusions) to make it well worth the purchase. If you haven't, then you're in for a treat. Sulpy delivers an in depth analysis of the "Get Back Sesion" tapes (every performance!), in a scholarly, yet highly readable manner.If you don't have this book yet, what are you waiting for?

100% Essential
2007-11-19 - Over the years, there have been far too many books written about The Beatles by far too many unqualified people. Here's a book that is one of the few new essential books for your rock bookshelf written by someone who is a true Beatles scholar.

This book details the January 1969 Get Back sessions which later turned into the Beatles "Let It Be" film and album. But the book isn't just about the sessions, its more about the breakup and the end of The Beatles.

The book starts on January 2, 1969 when the sessions begin and lets the reader travel along the roller coaster ride of ups and downs day by day as a "fly on the wall" through the end on January 31, 1969. Sulpy uses the "Nagra" reels of the session tapes to detail every performance of every song recorded during the sessions.

First published in 1994, this is a completely rewritten brand new edition of the classic original.

I've read far too many Beatles books over the years to count and the information given is indescribable. I havent seen this type of information in any previous titles, which makes this one so essential. Few Beatles books really deserve a spot on your bookshelf and certainly this is one of them. Highest of reccomendations!