A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song [Hardcover]

In the music unit my Popular Culture class we look at the songs of the Beatles, specifically those collected on their "Beatles 1" album. Students write a paper looking at the stages of the group as defined by the songs on that album and sometimes they find things on the Internet that talk about how John Lennon and Paul McCartney (and George Harrison for "Something") came to write their songs. Unfortunately that has little to do with putting these songs into distinct chronological stages, but after reading "A Hard Day's Write" you can see where they would be fascinated by some of these stories and forget to just listen to the songs and decide for themselves what they are about and what makes them work.

Steve Turner provides the stories behind every one of the Beatles songs, including "Free As a Bird" and all the songs from "Anthology" and "Live at the BBC" that would not be covered by the other albums. The book is divided into 14 chapters representing 17 albums ("Magical Mystery Tour" and "Yellow Submarine" are combined, as are the three "Anthology" albums). Turner is following the British albums and including those songs that ended up on the two "Masterworks" collections with the albums that were being recorded (e.g., "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "With the Beatles," "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Field Forever" with "Sgt. Pepper"). It does not include the songs by other writers that the Beatles covered during their early years.

Turner makes the point that this is not a book that is attempting to explain what the Beatles "were really trying to say," but tells us about the ideas and inspirations behind these songs, as well as dispelling some of the popular myths connected to some of these songs. You have probably heard about some of these, such as Peter Fonda telling John Lennon "I know what its like to be dead" leading to "She Said She Said," the Victorian poster about "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" and Julian Lennon's drawing of his friend "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." But know you can also learn about the real location of not only "Penny Lane" but also "Blue Jay Way," who was the real "Polythene Pam," and what happened when the Beatles mentioned Denis O'Dell in "You Know My Name."

Nor does Turner present this book as the definitive one on the subject, since that cannot be written until everything the Beatles have to say about their songs is made public. However, he did track down and interview the real-life subjects of these songs as well as going through public records and newspaper archives, and speaking in depth to some of the people who were closest to the Beatles back in the sixties. Turner also provides a brief introduction to each album that talks about where the Beatles were in their careers at that point, such as how "Revolver" represented a significant development in the Beatles' sound since their music was now being created in the studio with no thought for how it could be played in concert (the album came out during their final tour but none of its 14 songs were ever played on stage by the band). So Turner does pay some attention to things other than the individual songs.

The back of the book contains a chronology for the beats from the births of Ringo Starr and John Lennon in 1940 to Paul McCartney filing a suit against the Beatles and Co. to dissolve the partnership, a discography from 1962-1996, a bibliography, and index. There are also over 200 photographs, some in color, many of which are on point with regards to specific songs (e.g., you get to see the gravestone of Eleanor Rigby, the real Bungalow Bill, and the Apple Scruffs who came in through the bathroom window. No matter what level of fan you are of the Beatles you should find plenty of interest and stories you have never heard before. At the very least, you can learn something new about your favorite Beatles songs.

Steve Turner gives the background story behind every Beatles song on all their officially released albums up to Abbey Road. Other books make the same claim, but this one's the best! To me, the most fascinating entries are about John's autobiographical songs, such as 'In My Life' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever.'

The story behind 'A Day In the Life' is riveting and is partly based on a personal tragedy for Paul.

Find out what John's inspiration was for 'Tomorrow Never Knows.' Does Dr. Robert really exist? 'She's Leaving Home' is based on a true story Paul had read about in a newspaper. Which was the first Beatles song not to be about love? Learn how much of an influence Dr. Timothy O'Leary was. Who's Ocean Child ('Julia')? Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is behind a few songs, but not always the way you might think! A song based on a conversation with Peter Fonda? You bet! What's the story of the sitar in 'Norwegian Wood,' and just who is the mysterious woman in whose bathtub John slept? I could go on and on!

The text is very well researched, and includes quotes from people who were involved with the Beatles.

The photos are excellent and add to the realness of the songs. See Eleanor Rigby's gravestone, Matt Busby (from 'Dig It')and the man who 'blew his mind out in a car.'

AHDW is thorough, accurate and FUN to read. If I could, I'd give it 10 stars!

Beware, this is not a high-brow re-evaluation such as Revolution In The Head. Instead, Steve Turner has written an entertaining, humorous and well-informed lowdown on all self-penned Beatle songs. The narrative is of the sort you might find a kindly hippie-uncle giving his wet-behind-the-ears nephew when asked, "so who were those Beatle guys?' We get to hear plenty from Paul who's clear memory of how and why the songs were written sometimes clashes with what John or George had to say. These two are sometimes quite dismissive about the songs whereas Paul seems far more even about it all.
Light is thrown on the old chestnuts; Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields, Helter Skelter, Lucy etc. Charles Manson's ravings are included. Boy, he could see apocalypse on a blank page.
The book mirrors the way the guys honed their songwriting skills and matured from the lightweight fun of the early songs into depth and genuine insight from Rubber Soul on.
In conclusion, Mr Taylor has joined the pantheon of great Beatles chroniclers, Hunter Davies, Philip Norman and Ian MacDonald and produced an utterly glorious 'let me take you back...'