Stopping to say hi

Hand in Hand

Peace in Denmark

Kyoko and Yoko

The white days

The Lennon family in white

Four in the bed

The family that wears only white

Family for Peace

Going for a Winter Walk

Rockin' Around the Christmas tree

Yes, Kyoko---your new Daddy is a Beatle

Little Kyoko

Yoko and plants

Look who it is!

I love the family sitting in the background---they look a bit surprised to see John and Yoko (with Kyoko) walking by.  

The love you make -- A book review

The Next Big Thing.  That is basically the theme of Peter Brown and Steven Gaines' 1983 New York Times best-selling book, The Love you make.  The book goes on about how John Lennon was always wanting The Next Big Thing.  First, it was a rock and roll band, then it was fame, then it was drugs, then it was the Maharishi, then it was Yoko, then it was primal scream therapy, then it was the politics, then alcohol and partying, and finally Sean.  I suspect that the authors of this book in 1983 thought that their Beatles biography was "The Next Big Thing," and after being a best-selling book and having speaking engagements and interviews around the world, that The Love You Make would be something that would be referred back to for years to come.  However, like many of John Lennon's "Next Big Things" this book fizzled out after the 1980s and does not hold up well in 2016.

As I said last week in the "pre-review" this book had a lot of potential if written as Peter Brown's memoir.  Here we have a bloke from Liverpool who worked for Brian Epstein and knew the Beatles from the start of their career and traveled with them to London.   He was one of the few close friends that Brian Epstein had.  I didn't realize it, but according to this book, Brown went on tour with the Beatles in 1966 and traveled to Germany, Japan, and the dreaded Manila with them, so he saw some stuff.   He was with Brian around the time of his death and had to help with the aftermath of it.  He worked for Apple and attended two Beatles weddings (being the best man for John and Yoko) and is immortalized in a Beatles song!  The guy has stories that could have filled up a book and helped its own 33 years later.  And that was what I enjoyed the most from this book---the stories from when Peter was there and witnessed it himself.    While it was a downer, I did appreciate the in-depth look into Brian Epstein's life in this book, and I just couldn't help but wish Brian had gotten the help that had been offered to him so many times for his depression.  The funniest thing in the book for me was when talking about Allen Klein, the book states that when the Apple Scruff girls saw his car pull up to Apple, they would stick their head in the door and yell "Mafia's coming!"  Now I don't know if that is true or not---but the visual image of it made me laugh out loud. Speaking of Klein, you had to feel bad for Peter Brown for having the terrible job of firing folks like Alistair Taylor and then having Paul claim how difficult it was to let him go.  

Overall, the book has an extremely negative vibe about it. It is a depressing book! Now I know that the Beatles' story isn't filled with all happy events, but geesh—this book was full of one sad story after another! I know the Beatles had some good times together—even at the end!  

While I am sure that some of the gossip in this book was juicy in 1983, it is old hat in 2016.  I really don't care to read about Brian and John in Spain again.  Who cares anymore?  Read that tale a million and one times.   John and Yoko's heroin usage?    Why do you think he wrote "Cold Turkey?"  Old news.   What REALLY annoyed me and made this book not hold up very well is the constant use of the phrase, "The story told here for the first time...."    Okay Brown and Gaines, we get it---you are the first people to publish this scoop of something that most people already knew about.  Other things in the book that weren't really "gossip" but just laid out as facts were very strange.  Such as Stu slept in a silk coffin, the Beatles watched porn in their dressing rooms during the making of A Hard Day's Night (ummm...I have seen the schedule...they didn't have time for that!), and everything Magic Alex said had to have been outright lies.   

Then, there were things that I just knew to be wrong information.  The one that stood out the most to me was that Paul McCartney went into the studio and re-recorded Ringo's drumming on most of the Beatles songs and that Ringo noticed but never said anything.  The book's portrayal of Ringo as the bumbling lucky drummer who stumbled into the Beatles actually made me mad.  Brown and Gaines claim that when Ringo left during the White Album sessions, he went home and played with his kids and wished the Beatles would ask him back.  Well, that is a lie!   We all know he went to Sardinia, where he ended up writing "Octopus' Garden," and the other Beatles sent him postcards asking him to come back and telling him he was the world's greatest drummer.

The mistakes that were supposedly "fixed" in the 2002 edition were all still there. Pattie Boyd's name was Patti or Pattie throughout the book, the last concert on the tour was Cow Palace and Tony Barrow was the press manager during the Feb. 1964 American trip.  You would have thought those small errors could have been fixed ---

The bottom line?   This book has NOT held up over time as a great Beatles book, although I doubt any fans ever thought it would to begin with.

The link below is the affiliate link to Amazon, where you can purchase this book. (Although I am not sure if anyone would want to buy it...)  I get a small percentage of anything purchased through this link.  Money made from the Amazon Afflication is used to pay the annual fee to keep this site online.  Thank you for your support.  Sara

https://amzn.to/3TAgjG1

Ono Family Flight

The new Lennon family autograph

This photo and set of rare autographs were from when John had the car accident in Scotland with Julian and Kyoko.   Someone obtained the signatures of not just John and Yoko, but the two children as well.   This is currently available to bid from  the Tracks Auction. 

Family Holiday

Thanks to Guus at the Solo Beatles Forum for posting this great photo!  

June 23, 1969 in Tywyn, Wales.   I love Julian's grin!

Cute little Kyoko

I love this Kyoko photo!  In this photo she is about the age of the kids I teach.  Thanks Guus for sharing this one on solo Beatles photos forum!  :)