Honest & literate memoir
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Look...to all the naysayer reviewers here and ones who wanted a gossipy account or rehash of the "conquest of America," you can find that in plenty of other books (Brown's/Gaines' "Love You Make" or Norman's "Shout!" et. al). Here, you're getting a memoir, of a life lived as a famous pop star during a tumultuous decade - - the 1960s. So you're mostly going to get what McCartney was most moved by, and influenced by, personal coverage of things those other books don't provide. His childhood influences, musical influences, artistic influences, his most important personal relationships, etc. So it is not a surprise he lets us in on things you never knew about, that most "scholars" ignore about McCartney. And so of course, the Avante Garde London scene in mid-1960's will get a lot of prominence. McCartney does so to clear up matters about everyone's perception of himself and John Lennon, and to point out how the scene influenced him in creating his songs on the Rubber Soul, Revolver and (especially) Sgt. Pepper's albums. Also, the influence of the Asher family upon his musical and artistic direction and maturation is finally explored for the first time candidly and in depth here. And I don't care if certain other reviewers here find this boring - - I found it interesting! It's quite a different take than what we usually get from the banal industry of Beatles books. He gives much weight to the creation of these albums, the songs, Apple, the breakup (Klein's negative impact implied) and early solo period (with Linda prominent). These are the most important matters of the man's life during the most important period of his overall career. Again, as honest as he can possibly be. So, in a memoir, of course that is what will be emphasized. And, yes, he does touch on other aspects (64' ed sullivan, Hamburg, Brian Epstein, etc.), but they don't take precedence over the more important matters, for McCartney's purposes. As such, though partly ghosted by Miles, "Many Years From Now" cleverly evokes good, important memories, and as a biography/social history of the era is quite good. As for Beatles fans, I say its excellent and highly recommend it!
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Excellent
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How nice to read a book about Paul McCartney by someone who actually knows him and, what's more, actually likes him!!! So often in books about the Beatles, Paul is criticised in a way which just wouldn't have happened had John not so sadly been killed and saintified in a way which would undoubtedly have horrified him had he known about it. This presents a far more balanced picture of Paul's 'Beatle' days. The Beatles would never have been as great as they were without Paul McCartney. His songwriting abilities, his musicianship, his artistry, his enthusiasm and, let's be honest, his ambition, made them the success they became. If you are interested in this book, you will also like Miles "In The Sixties", which is a great read and which also has lots of Paul content. Thank you Miles from a very happy Macca maniac!!!
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Fascinating and candid
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I loved this book. Paul can be quite proper and guarded in interview with people he doesn't know and trust, so the fact that the interviewer for this book was Miles, an old and trusted friend, really opened up Paul's comments in my opinion. The verbatim quotes from Paul - particularly with reference to his early years and his method of songwriting - shows him at his best: relaxed, open, and disarmingly candid about parts of his life and personality that others might be hesitant to let people know about for fear of looking silly or uncool. And that's what makes the man the height of cool in my opinion. I loved the detail about the London scene in the book, which brought seemingly innocuous London landmarks to life for me, a Londoner. For example, I found myself reading this very book in a building on Southampton Row, which the book informed me used to house Miles' Indica Bookshop. That may not mean much to Joe Bloggs from Glasgow, but for me it was a total thrill. Also, if you like that sort of thing, as I do, I must recommend the book "Days in the Life: Voices from the English Underground" by Jonathon Green, which Paul and Miles both contributed to and really fleshes out the exciting stuff that was going on in London at that time. Overall, I feel like Paul was speaking openly to Barry Miles in this book, and that it was an honest account of his personality and experiences. I'd really recommend it.
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Compelling for McCartney's verbatim comments
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Like other reviewers have noted, the author self-indulgently adds pages of detail about the avante-garde 60s art movement , when he was a gallery and bookshop owner at the time , since McCartney touched this area in his travels through the superficial London Pop culture of the late 60s. Most people will skip right through this - take it out and re-print the book! The most compelling parts were McCartney's verbatim comments about song-writing , the legal breakups , John Lennon , but one feels that with so much access to McCartney that more should have been revealed about the internal relationships of the band. He seems at pains to dispel the long held view that McCartney was the cute , sentimental one , and Lennon was the revolutionary with the acerbic wit. So , actually he was the real lad about town while Lennon sat at home watching TV in the stockbroker belt ... Somehow , as a life-long Beatles fan, it doesn't sound right as he dismisses many of their great songs as 'album-fillers' which they knocked out in a few hours. Good to read , but finally disappointing , so much more could have gone into this book.
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Strange
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This is a rather odd biography which tends to over concentrate on both the author's and Pauls interests rather than really telling us what we want to know. For instance the Beatle's breakthrough in America is dealt with over just a couple of pages but we get page after page on the Ashers family life and even worse, a whole long chapter on avant garde art The history behind much of the great music is well described and this perhaps is the real treat of the book. Also the early and childhood years are suprisingly interesting. Less revealing are the relationships which tend to be skimmed over. However, better for the music is the superb Revolution in the head and for a decent Beatles history, Shout by Philip Norman
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