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Title: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Beatles, Beatlemania, and the Music that Changed the World
ISBN: 031611555X
Author:
Bob Spitz
Publicate Date: 2007-09-19
Publish: 2007-09-19
List Price: $18.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $10.71
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $10.61
Amazon Merchant Price: $12.91
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Beatles, Beatlemania, and the Music that Changed the World
By James Wallace-Lee
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is a simple but complete narrative of the life and music of one of the biggest bands of all time, The Beatles. Bob Spitz, a long time writer of many rock books, shares an almost entire biography of each of the four men in the legendary group. Though this book is targeted for younger people (Spitz has written an adult biography of the same band), it is very enjoyable for fans of all ages.
The book's many focuses range from the life of the boys before the band, the start of the band, where John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time after a performance from John's skiffle band, the Quarry Men, to the start of the band, all through the Beatles' performances, and finally the end of the extraordinary band. The book clearly illustrates the many stages of the group, from rock as a form of music mainly about girls and cars, to their later use of drugs as a form of art, and later on, a deep interest in religious and spiritual meaning through peace and meditation, and how their many interests shaped the music of that time.
I loved the book. It was written in so that people with less knowledge about the band and the time could understand and enjoy it, while people more familiar with the group could still learn from and love. It was unlike most biographies--it seemed to have little of the author's opinion, but the well researched book offered countless quotes and inside information. My favorite part of the book, however, would have to be the many side panels and boxes with little fun facts, ranging from definitions to stories to quotes and explanations.
The book was a lot of fun. I learned a lot, and, being an avid Beatles fan, was able to relate to a lot of things. I would recommend this book not only to all Beatles fans, but also to anyone else, as Bob Spitz has done a wonderful job of showing not only how great they were as musicians, but also as great, creative, but otherwise normal people with an innovative new way of looking at life.
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2: excellent
Extremely informative and especially entertaining. Bob Spitz is an excellent author.
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3: Good insight into pioneering band
Reviewed by Kirby Jo Franze (age 16) for Reader Views (12/07)
"Hey Jude, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better"... These are words that almost every American teenager and adult know by heart. "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" is the story of the Beatles; John, Paul, Ringo and George, quite possibly the best-selling, best song-writing, and downright most amazing group of all time. Bob Spitz's fascinating chronicle takes us through the lives of the Beatles and the people that traveled the road with the band on their journey to world-wide stardom.
We begin at the humble beginning: their early lives and childhoods, jam sessions in their hometown of Liverpool, England, where young John and other early band members put together a band called the Quarry Men, playing "skiffle"(a pre-cursor to rock `n roll). We are there when sixteen-year-old John meets fifteen-year-old Paul and while recognizing his unique talent and charisma, John still hesitates to include Paul in the band as that would mean relinquishing some control of it. Not until they formed the Beatles was their goal of perfection reached.
What followed after that was nothing short of remarkable. America and the entire world nearly swallowed them up in one large gulp as they burst into overwhelming stardom. We follow as John goes from teenaged boy to controlling adult and eventually marries his ever-loving, headstrong wife, Yoko Ono, whom he'd spend the rest of his days with. We discover that talented, ambitious Paul was the one always in it for the band, constantly working and proceeding on for the good of the group. We get to know soulful George, who made it into the band with his witty guitar playing and lovable personality. We loved him for his full heart. And of course we come to love endearing Ringo Starr, the one always for everything and up for anything, he seemed to be the peacemaking, easy-going one; friend to all.
We get to see the bad as well as the good. The group became fascinated by and embraced Eastern music and religion. They became infatuated with drugs, and it became a psychedelic experience to listen to some of their later songs considering the influence of marijuana on them.
Reading "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" gave me insight into this pioneering band that I would have never had without coming face-to-face with its members. The book shared interesting and inspiring stories of the lives of these music icons. Biographies are not often my favorite, but Mr. Spitz has really made this an exciting and intriguing read. We got to follow along as the Beatles reinvented the sound of rock n' roll for the rest of time. I enjoyed the trip!
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4: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!: The Beatles, Beatlemania, and the Music that Changed the World
Great book. My son, who is 10 years old, loved it. He's become a big Beatles fan so it was nice to find a book about them geared towards kids. Highly recommended.
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5: More Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
Bob Spitz has already written about the early days of the Beatles and I believe this is a reissue--in a nice, bigger print for Boomers, hold-in-your-hands format for gift-giving to your favourite Beatlemaniac. Not a lot of new information but a nice compendium of the early Beatles. Spitz is a good writer. Tells a nice story
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