I'm now about 500 pages into Mark Lewisohn's "Tune In." I wonder if the other volumes will be "Turn On," and "Drop Out." But that's probably a little too Leary...
Alterante title: "In Tune" - it seems like these guys always played in tune and on pitch, voices and guitars... amazing.
I have been driven back to my copy of the Beatles "Live at the BBC" two cd set (Volume Two is on my wish list!). It's probably the closest you can get to what it was like to hear the Beatles in the glory days of Hamburg and Liverpool - recorded for the BBC from 1962-1965. A live 4-piece r&r group without all the hysterical screaming. Perfect soundtrack for the book. Except of course, Stu Sutcliffe played bass and Pete Best played drums in the early versions of the group. On these sessions you have Paul McCartney on bass (showing that it's not an instrument for the "fat guy in the back") and Ringo Starr on drums.
So yes, "Live at the BBC" is the lineup that we all know and love. Cleaned up and lots more disciplined on stage. Lots of covers of all the music the Beatles loved. I have been listening with new ears. This is some of the best music the Beatles ever played, these were the songs where they found their own sound. They were more than an amazing covers band. They listened, absorbed, embodied and reconstituted these cover songs. They learned 100's of these songs, early rock & roll, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins, Goffin & King, the Shirelles, the Marvellettes. They loved the Tamla/Motown Girl Groups, and they weren't afraid to tackle any song that appealed to them.
There are some hokey show tunes and schmaltzy things too. You realize the Beatles really loved music and their tastes and appetites were voracious. Probably wider and greater than your own. Listen to "To Know Him is to Love Him," or "Baby It's You," and it's all there - the stunning harmonies, tight arrangements, and then there's that special, secret sauce, the "It Factor" (see previous post). Four voices. Joyous, enthusiastic. Inspired. And a source of much Mania!