The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

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Kwai Chang
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by Kwai Chang »

Lord Reith wrote: Mon Nov 07, 2022 10:10 am This has got to be one of the best Beatle books ever written. 1100+ pages of Tune In-style detail, but all about 1963! Joy abounds! :D :D :D
I was half expecting this book to be just more of the same rehashed stories, but am thrilled to have been proven totally wrong. This is a book for every fan to read and treasure. Read it as you play the 1963 radio broadcasts, and it's the closest thing to time travel you'll probably ever get.
I've always wondered if The Cavern was or wasn't the dampest, dankest smell of mold and mildew they'd ever endured. Was that something that was part of the memory, of the long romantic struggle to the toppermost. Did they miss it without realizing that they had left it behind. Or does that kind of humidity permeate every divot that is below grade in England's green and pleasant land? Oxygen must be a consideration as well, but I'm thinking was the Cavern at all unique in its ventilated splendor. Squeegee by Rickenbacker! That may have been behind them after 1962(?)...
KC
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Mr Bump
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by Mr Bump »

It would be wonderful to have an equivalent volume for every year but as the author spent 10 years on this one alone, that would have to come from other authors.

I haven't bought it yet but intend to. Looking at the sample pages on Amazon I am a little dubious about one of the first stories - the Beatles flew home from Hamburg in the snow, then up to Scotland in the snow with all sorts of flight disruptions and so on. The author claims John then immediately flew back to Liverpool from Aberdeen, on his own, to see Cynthia and back up to Scotland again early morning.

With all that snow and cancelled flights and tiredness etc? Seems pretty unlikely to me. He seems to base it on an entry in Cyn's diary where she says John came home today. I think she means home as in back to England from Germany as opposed to literally returning home to Liverpool?

Anyone have any views on this? Possibly the author has more research findings to back this up, but the way it's told, I just find it dubious.
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jpa
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by jpa »

I will buy today - thanks for info!
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by MrMurphMcgee »

That’s likely the digital page count. That's how I’m reading it though I plan to buy the print edition for sure. This book is a keeper.
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by zaval80 »

Mr Bump wrote: Mon Nov 07, 2022 5:28 pm Anyone have any views on this? Possibly the author has more research findings to back this up, but the way it's told, I just find it dubious.
It's quite often that authors weave their story not just from the formal documented angle, but regarding the general story flow. A lively book is so much more preferable to the publishers than a dry one which serves like a catalogue of events. Let's not forget how great many publishers refused Jerry Hopkins' factual 800-page manuscript on The Doors, and only after it was sensationalized by Danny Sugerman with the active participation of Ray Manzarek and cut in size, it became the million-seller "No One Here Gets Out Alive", known among the fans as "Nothing Here But A Bunch Of Lies". (While the said numerous publishers should've accepted anything Mr Hopkins had on offer, for he wrote a great biography of Elvis, maybe the first real one, 10 years before.)

From what I understand after collecting and reading music books in their thousands now, if the reader wants facts from a music book, he'll have to spend untold amounts of time scrutinizing every tiny bit, and having to think why the author presented any said bit in the way he had done - could it be he relied on a not-so-good source, or the memory of the witness was faulty, or if the author just went for better flow. IMO the value of any book is relative, and even the books where authors go for the better flow while disregarding or not paying attention to factology at times are not necessarily of dubious content. It's just, such a book can have both positive and negative aspects. But a reader should better be an expert to some degree in the field presented by a book. A 99.9% truthful book is such a rare occurence.
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Lord Reith
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by Lord Reith »

He got a lot of his info directly from Lewisohn's files he says. This book almost reads like a continuation from Tune In.

I just like the way it brings history to life. We all know that they toured in 63, that they wrote some songs in coaches and that it was cold a lot of the time. But this makes it feel like your there, experiencing it day by day. This is helped enormously by the candid memories of the teenagers who, by chance, WERE there.

Previous "diary" type books have always been interesting but dry as hell. They were reference books and not things you'd sit and read from cover to cover. This on the other hand is a really enjoyable read. The test of a book's quality for me is whether I skip through bits. I haven't skipped a single line in this one so far, and I'm well into March.
Women there don't treat you mean, in Abilene
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by MarkRJones1970 »

Thanks for all that! Because of what I've just read here I've just bought it! Cheers!
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by lyntone »

I'm so happy to hear of the Tune-in continuation comparison. All Beatles is Good Beatles but I so want more accurate research on the 63-66 period. Beatles history tends to focus on pre-fame, Hamburg and the endless Pete Best tropes. (I come from Chester originally, so grew up seeing B-list Mersey Beaters on Granada Reports etc). Or we get books on Pepper, Abbey Road etc because these are the "proper" albums. Everybody seems to dismiss the early phase as boy-band fluff before the Beatles became the creators of the classical rock canon, influential mystics etc. This is so wrong.

When I fantasise about being in the Beatles, it's always about being on the Royal Variety Show, Dezo Hoffman photo shoots, or the JFK press conference. It's never about the endless meetings with Klein at Apple, or snorting heroin on the plane to Toronto. Dammit, if I'm going to live vicariously I want to have fun!

Real insight and perspective into the early Fab period is sadly lacking and I'm so happy to have Mr. Rees' book to get stuck into.

Diolch am dy waith caled Dafydd

Shake it up baby now!
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Lord Reith
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by Lord Reith »

Love the story about John pouring a pint of beer over Chris Montez's head. :lol: Sounds like the guy deserved it as all anyone can remember about his act is that he kept taking his shirt off!

Just got up to the performance at Stowe School, with that great recollection of the opening moments by one of the boys. Imagine having The Beatles perform two half hour sets at your school! But I didn't realise that they cancelled the afternoon session for Side By Side to do that gig, the same day that they had taped I'll Be On My Way. We might have got a BBC version of Tip Of My Tongue!
Women there don't treat you mean, in Abilene
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MarkRJones1970
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Re: The Beatles 1963 by Dafydd Rees OUT NOW!

Post by MarkRJones1970 »

My copy came yesterday and it looks excellent, after having a cursory flick through. Can't wait to get stuck in!
Mark R. Cobley-Jones
Manchester, UK
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