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Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans

Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans

  • Downloads：6823
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2023-11-01 14:21:48
  • Update Date：2025-09-08
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Kenneth Womack
  • ISBN：0063248522
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Lissa00 ，

I’m actually torn on how to review this book。。maybe I’ve just read too many Beatles books over the years but I would just rate this as okay。 Mal Evans was with the Beatles from almost the beginning， acting as a bodyguard， driver， procurer and roadie。 He went with them everywhere and considered himself both friend and fan。 He also had a wife and two children， who he left home for months at a time。 I felt this book almost tried too hard to gloss over the seedier aspects of Mal’s life with the Beat I’m actually torn on how to review this book。。maybe I’ve just read too many Beatles books over the years but I would just rate this as okay。 Mal Evans was with the Beatles from almost the beginning， acting as a bodyguard， driver， procurer and roadie。 He went with them everywhere and considered himself both friend and fan。 He also had a wife and two children， who he left home for months at a time。 I felt this book almost tried too hard to gloss over the seedier aspects of Mal’s life with the Beatles， where drugs and women （sometimes SHOCKINGLY young） were a regular occurrence。 These episodes were almost always cushioned with assurances that everyone loved Mal and he was just a big teddy bear。 I absolutely know that this lifestyle is par for the course while on a rock tour， but I think it was written with more bias than I prefer。 It was interesting to read about a person who was a side presence in all the other Beatles biography。 He definitely led and interesting existence and it was fascinating to discover how the ways in which he did （and didn’t） move on after the Beatles broke up。 There are many books to read about the Beatles and this is an interesting addition， but I had higher hopes。 I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley。 。。。more

J Earl ，

Living the Beatles Legend by Kenneth Womack offers a wonderful look at Mal Evans life and particularly his long association with The Beatles， collectively and separately。Like so many fans of the band， I heard a lot about Evans， certainly saw him in the background quite a lot。 What I really enjoyed about this biography， specifically the parts directly involving the band， was the flipping of the script。 So much of what I knew about Evans was still centered on The Beatles， with him on the periphery Living the Beatles Legend by Kenneth Womack offers a wonderful look at Mal Evans life and particularly his long association with The Beatles， collectively and separately。Like so many fans of the band， I heard a lot about Evans， certainly saw him in the background quite a lot。 What I really enjoyed about this biography， specifically the parts directly involving the band， was the flipping of the script。 So much of what I knew about Evans was still centered on The Beatles， with him on the periphery， even when the role he played was essential。 Here， while the band is still front and center， Evans is more centered， more prominent。 We forget sometimes that people around celebrities are still human beings living their own lives， though in this case Evans chose to put The Beatles pretty much at the center of his own life。I can only imagine， until the follow-up book comes out， just how much memorabilia Evans collected。 I， like many my age， have/had quite a bit of "stuff。" All of the US albums including the later collections （the first album I bought with my own money， shortly after it was released， was Revolver。 Prior to that my parents and sister had bought the albums for me）， most of the UK albums， the various figurines， posters， books， ticket stubs （from concerts I didn't go to， but a friend of my sister's would give me hers）， various items from the fan club， and the intangible of having met two of the members， though well after their time together。 Yet as much as I cherish all that， it doesn't even remotely compare in either quantity or quality to what Evans collected。 The only similarity is that we， Evans as well as all the other fans who did likewise， did it out of love and admiration。I feel confident recommending this book to everyone with an interest in The Beatles。 I know some volumes have been criticized， unjustly in my opinion， for not always having enough about the band， even when those books are about another person or aspect of Beatlemania。 This biography will satisfy even those fickle readers， largely because Evans placed the band in the center of his own life and thus prominently in his own biography。 But make no mistake， this is Mal Evans' story and it is a fun one for the most part。Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley。 。。。more

Mark Lieberman ，

This book was provided to me from Netgalley， so I can read and review it before it’s published。Before I begin my review， let me quickly say that The Beatles are my favorite band。 When I was 13 years old， I purchased The Beatles complete collections of CDs。 I eventually added a little bit of memorabilia and a lot of posters to my collections。 I even collected books because they were about The Beatles。 I only ended up reading a few of them。 As time passed， and I got married and had a kid， I gave m This book was provided to me from Netgalley， so I can read and review it before it’s published。Before I begin my review， let me quickly say that The Beatles are my favorite band。 When I was 13 years old， I purchased The Beatles complete collections of CDs。 I eventually added a little bit of memorabilia and a lot of posters to my collections。 I even collected books because they were about The Beatles。 I only ended up reading a few of them。 As time passed， and I got married and had a kid， I gave most of the posters a friend of mine and sold about 95% of the book to a used bookstore。 What remains is a small stash of posters that are in my closet， two shelfs in a bookcase with memorabilia， and a large bin also in my closet with mostly newspaper clippings from December 9， 1980， and several magazines （Life from 1964 and Playboy from 1965 – I actually have two copies of each）。 One of the posters I have was a promo for the Beatles Anthology which I got from the local ABC station。 I just happened to be working for a computer company and was doing some work there when I saw it in somebody’s office （it could’ve been the General Manager）。 We got to talking about it and when I finished the job， he gave me one！ I also have another Beatles Anthology poster that was autographed by Klauss Voormann （as he designed and drew it） and it’s also a limited edition （mine is number 306 of 555）; I call this one my baby。So， yeah， I was familiar with the namesake of Mal Evans， and was intrigued to read a lot more about him。The Foreword of the book was written by Gary Evans， Mal’s son。 Gary mentions that in addition to this book， another book will be published later that includes his dad’s personal diaries， drawings， and unpublished photographs from both his family and The Beatles。 I can’t wait for that。Mal was a part-time bouncer at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool。 On a cold day in January of 1962， Mal and his wife had just arrived at the club to see The Beatles again。 The Beatles road manager and driver， Neil Aspinall， was sick that day and he asked Mal if we could drive them to London。 That started his journey with The Beatles， and it lasted through his death in 1976。 How awesome is that？In addition to being a driver， he also helped setup， takedown， and fix all the equipment The Beatles used。 How awesome is that？When crazy fans tried to get close to The Beatles， Mal was front and center and never allowed them to get hurt。He was in most of the studio sessions for the albums and often provided food， drinks， drugs， or whatever else they needed。 He even contributed to some of the songs。When he wasn’t with the band， he was helping them as solo musicians。 After they broke up， he worked for Apple Corps as a producer （and even wrote a few songs that got recorded）。Obviously， he was fully committed to his job and making sure John， Paul， George， and Ringo were good。 It did take him away from his wife and two kids quite frequently， which was hard on him and his family。As you can probably tell， I really enjoyed this book。 It did take me a few more days than normal for me to complete it。 But it was well worth it。 。。。more