PopCult Rudy Panucci on Pop Culture

Gift Guide: The Complete Beatles Songs

beatlebook

The Complete Beatles Songs: The Stories Behind Every Track Written by the Fab Four  
41u2eHSAysLby Steve Turner
Dey Street Books
ISBN-13: 978-0062447340
$40.00

This is a lavishly illustrated, fully updated and revised version of a the Beatle’s book, “A Hard Day’s Write,” by music journalist Steve Turner. That book was plagued by typos and citation controversies, but this new volume seems to have fixed most of the problems with the earlier edition, and it’s now the only volume that contains a complete set of printed lyrics to all of the Beatles’ songs.

Arranged chronologically by album, The Complete Beatles Songs examines the inspiration behind the group’s writing and discusses every song created by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Turner has exhaustively researched the stories behind the Beatle’s songs, and manages to shoot down a few myths and uncover a few new stories.

As with any book on The Beatles, it has to go a long way to impress the die-hard fan, and in this new updated form, Turner has created a wonderful guide for a trip through the Beatles’ catalong of songs, and with the addition of lyrics, an invaluable research tool for your Bealte library.

Recommended for old-school and newbie Beatlefans alike, this book retails for $40, but can be found heavily-discounted online.