
The Beatles
The Biography
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Narrated by:
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Alfred Molina
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By:
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Bob Spitz
About this listen
The product of almost a decade of research, hundreds of unprecedented interviews, and the discovery of scores of never-before-revealed documents, Bob Spitz's The Beatles is the biography fans have been waiting for.
Never before has a biography of musicians been so immersive and textured. We are there in the McCartney living room when Paul and John learn to write songs together; backstage the night Ringo takes over on drums; in seedy German strip clubs where George lies about his age so the band can perform; and at the Ed Sullivan Show as America discovers the joy and the madness. From Shea to San Francisco, through the London night, on to India, through marmalade skies, across the universe, all the way to a rooftop concert and one last moment of laughter and music.
It is all here, the highs and the lows, the love and the rivalry, the drugs, the tears, the thrill, the magic never again to be repeated. Bob Spitz's masterpiece is, at long last, the biography the Beatles deserve.
©2005 Bob Spitz (P)2005 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Performance
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Overall
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Critic reviews
- Winner of Audio Publishers Association 2007 Audie Award, Non-Fiction, Abridged
"As with all great history writing, Spitz both captures a moment in time and humanizes his subjects. While some will blanch at the unsettling dark sides of the Beatles, most will come to appreciate the band even more for knowing the incredible personal odysseys they endured." (Publishers Weekly)
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- By: Philip Norman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 30 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Since the age of 21, Paul McCartney has lived one of the ultimate rock 'n' roll lives, played out on the most public of stages. Now Paul's story is told by rock music's foremost biographer, with McCartney's consent and access to family members and close friends who have never spoken on the record before.
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Better than average McCartney bio
- By tru britty on 05-14-16
By: Philip Norman
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The History of Rock & Roll
- Volume 1: 1920-1963
- By: Ed Ward
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Ed Ward covers the first half of the history of rock & roll in this sweeping and definitive narrative - from the 1920s, when the music of rambling medicine shows mingled with the songs of vaudeville and minstrel acts to create the very early sounds of country and rhythm and blues, to the rise of the first independent record labels post-World War II, and concluding in December 1963, just as an immense change in the airwaves took hold and the Beatles prepared for their first American tour.
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Author's blindspots mar this book
- By Mark Clark on 03-28-17
By: Ed Ward
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The Beatles from A to Zed
- An Alphabetical Mystery Tour
- By: Peter Asher
- Narrated by: Peter Asher
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Peter Asher met the Beatles in the spring of 1963, the start of a lifelong association with the band and its members. He had a front-row seat as they elevated pop music into an art form, and he was present at the creation of some of the most iconic music of our times. But Asher was also a talented musician in his own right, with a great ear for what was new and fresh. Once, when Paul McCartney wrote a song that John Lennon didn’t think was right for the Beatles, Asher asked if he could record it.
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brilliant
- By Victoria A on 11-14-19
By: Peter Asher
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George Harrison
- The Reluctant Beatle
- By: Philip Norman
- Narrated by: David Holt
- Length: 16 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Despite being hailed as one of the best guitarists of his era, George Harrison, particularly in his early decades, battled feelings of inferiority. He was often the butt of jokes from his bandmates owing to his lower-class background and, typically, was allowed to contribute only one or two songs per Beatles album out of the dozens he wrote.
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Not good
- By PEDRO on 03-12-24
By: Philip Norman
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The McCartney Legacy
- Volume 1: 1969 – 73
- By: Allan Kozinn, Adrian Sinclair
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 29 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In this first of a groundbreaking multivolume set, THE MCCARTNEY LEGACY, VOL 1: 1969-73 captures the life of Paul McCartney in the years immediately following the dissolution of the Beatles, a period in which McCartney recreated himself as both a man and a musician. Informed by hundreds of interviews, extensive ground up research, and thousands of never-before-seen documents THE MCCARTNEY LEGACY, VOL 1 is an in depth, revealing exploration of McCartney’s creative and personal lives beyond the Beatles.
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All I need is McCartney Legacy!
- By JMarti on 02-07-23
By: Allan Kozinn, and others
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Hammer of the Gods
- The Led Zeppelin Saga
- By: Stephen Davis
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The members of Led Zeppelin are major deities in the pantheon of rock gods. The first and heaviest of the heavy metal monsters, they violently shook the foundations of rock music and took no prisoners on the road. Their tours were legendary, their lives were exalted, and their music transcendent. No band ever flew as high as Led Zeppelin or suffered so disastrous a fall. And only some of them lived to tell the tale. Originally published in 1985, and last updated in 2008, Hammer of the Gods is considered the ultimate word on Led Zeppelin.
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Saga Is the Right Word!
- By Christina Dalcher on 11-30-24
By: Stephen Davis
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You Never Give Me Your Money
- The Beatles After the Breakup
- By: Peter Doggett
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Acclaimed journalist Peter Doggett recounts the previously untold story of the dramatic final chapter in the lives, loves, and legal battles of John, Paul, George, and Ringo - a.k.a. The Beatles - from their breakup in 1969 to the present day. Called "refreshingly straightforward and highly readable" by the Daily Telegraph (London), You Never Give Me Your Money is the dramatic and intimate story of the breakup and aftermath of The Fab Four as it's never been told before.
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Four human beings
- By Tad Davis on 10-02-20
By: Peter Doggett
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John & Paul
- A Love Story in Songs
- By: Ian Leslie
- Narrated by: Chris Addison
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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The Beatles shook the world to its core in the 1960’s and, to this day, new generations continue to fall in love with their songs and their story. At the heart of this phenomenon lies the dynamic between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Few other musical partnerships have been rooted in such a deep, intense and complicated personal relationship.
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Stunned
- By BellevueMike on 04-16-25
By: Ian Leslie
What listeners say about The Beatles
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- Akida
- 03-03-09
O-bla-dee;O-bla-dah... Life goes on...
This audio was very well done. This audible tells a version of the Beatles' story which explains the genesis, the genius and the genocide of the group and the interpersonal dynamics. If you idolized John as your favorite Beatle, this account may have you reconsider. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and highly recommend it.
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14 people found this helpful
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- indy5000
- 09-19-15
insightful
Book was fact filled and provided a good amount of insight on what made these guys click add a group.
also showed how they were manipulated and taken advantage by the sharks of the music business.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Barry McLoughlin
- 08-01-22
An insightful account of the greatest band in rock & roll history
Bob Spitz takes us on a journey that we thought we knew. Filled with anecdotes that show the Beatles’ humanity as well as their human failings, we are on board their remarkable journey from its beginnings until its end. But of course there is no end as the Beatles’ music lives forever.
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- WGNYC
- 11-06-21
Good but not quite enough
Good overall survey. A few more details along the way would be nice. Just not quite enough.
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- C. Bellanti
- 04-09-25
My
Loved it all. Great retrospective of a great band. The legend lives on. Long live the Beatles.
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- Thomas Meyers
- 11-23-20
Fabulous - but abridged
I loved hearing this story deeply — but was frustrated halfway through to find that it was abridged. I ended up buying the book in order to read all the juicy details dropped from this recording.
Audible, why do you hide this rather critical detail?
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4 people found this helpful
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- M. C. Nemeth
- 08-28-19
A personal account of gifted musicians
Engaging from the start, new stories abound almost every few mins. I had to pause to digest the info more than once.
This is must-have. And I think, must listen.
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- David M. Sarfaty
- 05-19-22
Learned a lot -Loved it
I have listened to other Beatles books. I really enjoyed this book because it starts from the beginning to the end.
I will listen to it again and again to learn new things about my fav band!
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- KC
- 08-11-19
History of the Beatles
There is a lot of info on the beginning and the breakdown of the group. It goes into details of how they became so successful. There are a lot of facts here to process. The sad thing is Yoko Ono single handedly broke this amazing group up.
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- Brian
- 02-16-16
Great Bio Of The Greatest Band Ever!
Going into it I was just a fan without knowing much of their back story. Was really informative and can appreciate their music more knowing the back story to some of the best songs ever created.
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