Later this month my book I Was There - The Beatles Live will be published, featuring more than 350 fan memories from the 1960s of encounters with the Fab Four. The stories, many of which have never been told before, cover the earliest days of The Beatles, including pre fame encounters with John, George, Paul and Ringo.
This is the second book I have written (hence the title of this piece) which tries to capture a slice of social history in the words and memories of music fans, and follows on from You Had To Be There: The Rolling Stones Live 1962 - 69.
In compiling these books, I have been struck by the passion and fondness with which people remember the 1960s. Sometimes the love of the group and its music has turned into a lifelong obsession with the group, or a group member. With The Beatles, it is Paul McCartney. With the Rolling Stones, it is Brian Jones, despite his having died in 1969.
But often the fondness is for a life well lived and a youthful memory of good times and good friends. These books are not full of Albert Goldman like revelations about The Beatles and the Stones. They are wistful and witty memories of fifty and more years ago, when life was simpler and the world was full of possibilities.
What I have particularly enjoyed in putting these books together is hearing the words 'the memories came flooding back.' If you pick up one of my books, I hope you'll get the same warm feeling once you start reading it as you would if you heard Ringo's drums or Keith's guitar. My books are a slice of the Sixties, and as a fifty something who can barely remember that decade I'd say that's no bad thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment