The Beatles Audiobook By Hunter Davies cover art

The Beatles

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The Beatles

By: Hunter Davies
Narrated by: Edward Lewis
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About this listen

In this behind-the-scenes look at the most famous musical group in history, Hunter Davies gives the complete story of the Beatles. First published in 1968, this second revised edition from 1996 has added information including a new introduction and three updated appendices: Beatles Places, Beatles Memorabilia, and Beatles Books. As the only authorized biographer, Davies had full access to the Fab Four, as well as their help and ecouragement. He spent 18 months with them when they were at the peak of their musical genius and at the pinnacle of their popularity, making a mark on history and popular culture that would never fade. Davies stayed on with the Beatles through their breakup and remained friends with the individual members afterward, enabling him to write the continuing story of their solo careers. His is the inside story that "does not shy away from any mean and gritty little facts" ( The New Yorker). This is a book no Beatles junkie - or any fan of rock music - should be without.©1996 by Hunter Davies (P)1998 by Blackstone Audiobooks Art & Literature Authors Entertainment & Celebrities Journalists, Editors & Publishers Music

Critic reviews

"...His hard work and the obvious trust the Beatles have in him allow us to see the young musicians for the first time as interesting, fallible, corporeal creatures, each quite different from the others, each with his own history and hang-ups and hopes." (Newsweek)

What listeners say about The Beatles

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well done, Mr. Davies

...very well done. I really appreciated The integrity Mr. Davies. Thank you , Sir. The best i've have read.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting

Narrators voice is very annoying. Text is written in many short sentences, sounds disjointed. A very hard listen. Jeff Emericks book much better.

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1 person found this helpful

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Strange Brew

The cool thing about this book is that most of it was written in the height of The Beatles’ most famous years. It was interesting to hear John and Cynthia interviewed together. Pre-Yoko Ono. Likewise, Paul and Jane Asher were an item when the majority of the interviewing for the book took place. I have read many books in The Beatles, but not many that included personal interviews given during this period of their lives.
The strange part was hearing the British slang read with an American accent. The reader read well, but it would have been more accurate to the author and the books’ subjects if the reader had had a British accent.
Overall, a highly interesting book for a Beatles fan born too late to have lived through the 60’s.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Bad narration

Edward Lewis sounds like a teenage robot. This book needs a British voice for narration.

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Would of been a million times better if

the narrator spoke with an English accent. Seriously, quotes from all The Beatles, the parents, the British fans, whoever lost something, actually lost a lot of authenticity. The British humor did not show through. Things that would have sound funny, sounded mundane, such as when Aunt Mimi chastised George's mother for encouraging their behavior of playing in a band. It really hurt the audible version on this book. Can't believe that it would be done like this. Such a big disappointment.
Only have to listen to other Beatle biographies done with a British accent to appreciate what I am talking about such as Phillip Norman's books. Would of made a good audible book absolutely fantastic.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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If monotone is your thing...

I'm still questioning whether this is a human or AI narrating. It's sterile and souless. Honestly impossible to get through more than 2 chapters.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Not bad

I really enjoyed learning more about the Beatles, and this is written very well. Two problems, though. One, the narrator's voice is annoying. Two, the book is not really what it seems. After the two very long introductions to further editions, in which you learn that the original only covers the early years and is full of mistakes because of legal issues, it is really disappointing to learn that it hasn't been revised at all! It seems foolish to republish this without improving it.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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The Beatles- from an eyewitness

This book is from Hunter Davies, a peer and columnist who spent two ters with the Beatles and told their authorized bio. Importantly there are two additions to the book written at later times that include conversation "Hunt" had with the Beatles in later years. It is a very good book and I recomment it to one and all.
The only offputting and curious choice is the Narrator. The Beatles hail from Liverpool, Hunter Davies is from London. The narrator has an American accent and at times it sounds almost robotic.
The narrator is a headwind to be endured but the book is good enough and important enough to overlook it.

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Very good

This is the second book that I’ve listened to with regards to the Beatles pretty easy read interesting thoughts overall good material good information I would recommend

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting content; irritating narration

Davies' book does a very effective job of conveying the unique aspects of each Beatle's character and the circumstances that influenced the evolution of each personality. It's a shame that legal b.s. prevented him from being totally honest. An unwhitewashed version would have been even more interesting.

The unrivalled talent and creatvity of these 4 individuals is made even more evident in Davies' retrospective view. Ultimately, the Beatles story is one of friendship. It still saddens me that those bonds were broken--whatever the real reasons were.

I would, however, recommend reading this instead of listening to it. The audio quality is poor, and the narrator is flat, bland, and irritating.

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3 people found this helpful