ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

A compilation of previously unpublished interviews with members of the Beatles and those around them.

In the introduction, Brown notes that he and Gaines conducted these interviews for their previous book, The Love You Make—which makes them, in a sense, outtakes from that book, with comments by the authors. Most of them took place in the fall of 1980, shortly before John Lennon was murdered. (An interview with Yoko Ono occurred a few months after Lennon’s death.) Much of the material focuses on the business of the Beatles: their managers Brian Epstein and Allen Klein, Apple Records, and the pressures that led to the band’s eventual breakup. Epstein was originally a record store manager who took them on in their Liverpool days and managed them as they became the most famous band in the world. Klein came on board after Epstein’s death, apparently on the urging of Lennon and Ono; he was seen by many around the band as a negative force, mainly interested in lining his own pockets. Several of the subjects comment on the Beatles’ visit to the Indian headquarters of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which ultimately led all of them except Harrison to reject the guru’s teachings. The book contains interviews with George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, none of which are especially revealing about the band’s breakup. For the most part, they suggest that the members had outgrown what brought them together, and it was time to move on. Readers primarily interested in the group’s music, what inspired individual songs, and how the music was performed and recorded are likely to be disappointed. However, for those interested in the interplay of personalities and the ambience of the Beatles era, this is a treasure trove.

A rich collection of Beatles material, reported by those closest to the band during its heyday.