Saturday, September 18, 2010

Just finished reading...

...THE ROCKING CITY: THE EXPLOSIVE BIRTH OF THE BEATLES by music promoter and night club entrepreneur Sam Leach.


An interesting chronicle of the birth of not only The Beatles but of the Merseybeat sound itself, Leach's account of his involvement in this cultural turning point is ultimately a sad affair. Taken over by Brian Epstein, Sam lost out on The Beatles. Leach also lost out on many other opportunities to "make it big" by being swindled, cheated, and conned. The world of early rock n' roll in Northern England seemed to be populated with scheming, plotting figures (managers, promoters, etc.) who resembled mafioso dons, with bloody, single-minded intent to cause the downfall of any rival. Like any industry, to be sure...

The book is a glimpse into a moment of pop culture history but it's a tad littered with extraneous information. I did a fair amount of skimming...

Recommend? If you are a hard-hard-hard-core Beatles fan, you need to read this. Otherwise, you know all you need to know already.

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