Beatles Book:

		List Price: $35.95		Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. Salesrank: 203658
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		Media: Paperback

Editorial Review:
The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record contains all you need to know about the world’s greatest band in a single volume. The day-by-day diary covers their entire career from the Quarrymen days in ’57 right up to their eventual break-up in April 1970. Learn fascinating facts about the music industry and the Beatles’ private lives.

The song-by-song section tells you the story behind every song they ever made—with full recording history and session details. And the record-by-record section covers every single, EP, and album released in Britain and the United States—including their Christmas fan-club discs!

The book also contains five useful appendices covering everything from chart records and awards to tour dates. With its meticulous research and easy-to-understand approach, this is the only Beatles book that you’ll ever need.

A nearly exhaustive chronicle of the Fab Four. Ostensibly the "only Beatles book that you'll ever need,” Mercifully, however, only the first third is devoted to a diary of daily events; the remainder is an alphabetized song list and chronological discography. Cross's hip, lively narrative—"August 7, 1957: The Quarrymen's debut at the Cavern Club. Paul couldn't make it because he was away at scout camp (not very rock 'n' roll!)..." As for the beginning of the end, signs of strain began well before 1970— Yoko Ono's conquest of Lennon, McCartney's bossiness, Lennon's heroin addiction, business conflicts with manager Allen Klein—but Cross wisely refrains from passing judgment on the definitive cause of the breakup. Not the only Beatles book you'll ever need, but entertaining nonetheless.

The Beatles: Day-by-Day, Song-by-Song, Record-by-Record Reviews:
a rock 'n roll beatles history
2006-08-13 - if you are a frequent visitor to the website, then you will probably be interested to know what is included in the book and what has been left out of it, because it is not an exact copy of everything that he says on the internet.
The DAY-BY-DAY history section includes every year from 1956 to 1970. the website does include most of this, but the entire years of 1958, 1963 (the height of beatlemania), 1967 (the summer of love when the beatles released Sgt. Peppers) and 1970 (the painful year when the beatles split) are missing on the website - they are only available in the book.
i am happy to see that the useful lists of singles and albums released by other artists every month during that period are retained in the book.
the SONG-BY-SONG section includes every official song that the beatles released during their career (that is - every song released on their 13 albums, all of their singles and EPS, and including b-sides) . a lot of these songs are missing from the website. for example, some of their most major songs of their entire career: From me to you, i want to hold your hand, lucy in the sky with diamonds, nowhere man, please please me, something, strawberry fields forever, tomorrow never knows, twist and shout and youve got to hide your love away are only available in the book. but as a counterweight, the unreleased bootlegs are not here.
the RECORD-BY_RECORD section also includes the birtish and USA disocographies of EPS, which is not available on the website.
theb ook is weighty and their is a LOT to read. (500 pages +) and it is quite rock 'n roll. and by that i mean, it is not straight. as some readers have noted below, yes, he swears. and he inlcudes quotes from the band in which they swear. he also includes fruity quotes (especially from messier john lennon) about their -- how can i put this nicely -- girlfreinds and groupies, and drug usage. the beatles pulled no punches when they described some of their experiences in hamburg, and neither does he. the year 1964 is a good eye-opener. not only do they meet bob dylan and get introduced to 'mary jane', for example, (which is a most detailed passage in the book . i enjoyed their recollections of the band members and bob dylans friends who participated. they descibe the rolling of the famous joints in a most descriptive manner!) they also desribe the american tours, and everything that 'involved' in a most eye-opening way.
i frequently blushed at the some of the tales contained therein (and let me say, that i am no prude) but i also laughed double as much. most of all, i came away from this book wishing that i had lived the life of a beatle.

promises
2006-07-07 - On their website they promise 'a lot more in our book', but in fact it is a lot less. A 'no buy', go to their site and get a lot more information for free!

half of book is also on the website, and half is only in the book
2006-05-20 - i bought this book after reading the website, and it deserves 5 stars, but i have dropped it to 4 in protest that half of the material that used to be on the website seems to have disappeared.
important information like the diary for the whole of the year 1970 that used to be on the site, is now seemingly only available in theisbook.
so it is 5 star material, but i am giving it a 4 for the web-man removing some of my favourite stuff. ha!

you can read this at the website and see for yourself
2005-11-19 - If, like me, you browse the internet for stories about The Beatles then will surely know about the website that this book comes from already: www.beatles-discography.com.
It has been around for years and is massive.

This book is a book version of that site. So if you want to see what this book is like then just visit the website and see for yourself.

The words for virtually all of it are there for you to read for free.

Some people will love this book, and some will not
2005-11-09 - I can see a lot of people loving this book, and a lot of other people... not. I think some may be put off by the author's writing style - which is quite loose. It also contains some strong language - be warned.

The text is rather "conversational". But the stronger language in use has a bonus - in that the author delves quite deeply into areas such as their drug use, that other books just touch upon. The break-up is brutally well-done, for example. It is quite clear from the text that The Beatles were not getting along at this point in their careers - and this is no epilogue to deliver a happy ending.

But if you are looking for a book that your children can read, then maybe this book is not for you.
Their love life, drug habits and earthy quotes (especially some of Johns diatribes) do tend to make you blush.
I certainly wouldn't let my 10-year-old child read this book.

The first part of the book - the history section - is very stong, very detailed and very complete. But as the previous reviewer states, the song section leaves out some of their later BBC session and Anthology releases, together with any bootleg recordings, which I do believe are contained on the accompanying website.
But every song that they released during their 8-year career is present and correct. (Maybe we will one day get an updated version - like 'A Hard Day's Write' perhaps?) But even so, the book still contains every song from their studio albums, singles, EPs and B-sides - which is more than enough for most fans. After all, these are the songs that you actually listen too day in and day out.

The length of the commentary does vary, depending on the fame of the song, and whether there is actually anything to say. Lennon and McCartney have, of course, admitted to knocking out songs in a rapid fashion during the early part of their career, and I don't expect that there is very much to tell about their genesis.

So whilst ALL commentaries contain session details, some just have an accompanying paragraph. A quick perusal of the website will show you exactly what I mean in this regard.
Most songs are given half-page to a page, increasing to 3 pages for the very famous songs. Hey Jude, Strawberry Fields Forever, A Day In The Life, Love Me Do and Revolution, for example, all have 2 or 3 pages devoted to each.

I found that the essays are generally more detailed than the ones contained in 'A Hard Days Write', whilst lacking the social commentary of 'Revolution In The Head'.
But the social commentary is mainly contained in the history section, of course.

To sum up, this is a large book with a definite writing style of its own. And you may be put off the stronger language. Or you may find the conversational style a breathe of fresh air - in an area too often filled with dreary tomes.

But hooray, I say, for a book with a bit of life. Just don't give it to your children!