The Beatles Are Here!

December 9, 2013
As a teenager, journalist Rowlands greeted the Beatles 50 years ago by holding a sign begging “Beatles Please Stay Here” with five fellow screaming Beatles fans outside the CBS studios where the group was performing on the Ed Sullivan Show. In this compulsively readable personal history, Rowlands gathers the recollections of fans, writers, musicians, and artists about the deep ways that the Beatles and their music affected them. For Joe Queenan, “She Loves You” is “the greatest song ever written… it is and always will be the song that changed the world.” “Cousin Brucie” Morrow reflects on the power of the Beatles’ music to bring change to the American music industry. Writer Verlyn Klinkenborg recalls upon listening to “Ticket to Ride” and “Help” that the songs “contain… a feeling I can’t name or describe, the language of regret, the urgency of despair. But above all they contain the love of music.” Finally, fan Linda Belfi Bartel (one of the women in the book’s cover photo) concludes that, “The era of the Beatles is so special…their music talked to you.”

December 15, 2013
Journalist and critic Rowlands (Paris Was Ours, 2011, etc.) delivers a collection of light-as-a-feather remembrances of the Beatles' British invasion. This latest round of idol worship is mostly harmless to the rose-colored memories of Beatles fans. The author cribs an out-of-context quote by John Lennon about a "scrapbook of madness" to describe it. However, this collection is vexing in its seesawing arc among screaming tweens who remain steadfast Paul-worshipping Beatlemaniacs at 64 and beyond, all-too-clever New York intelligentsia defending careers built on iconoclasm, and the occasional superfluous blurb from the likes of Cyndi Lauper or Billy Joel (these latter bits are so bland they would be completely at home in any tribute issue of Rolling Stone). The book takes its roots from a 1964 Gay Talese article in the New York Times, "Beatles and Fans Meet Social Set." The accompanying photograph finds a screaming Rowlands at the center of the madness, flanked by identical fans, clutching a sign that reads "BEATLES PLEASE STAY HERE 4-EVER." In other entries, the author tracks down the photographer and even the other girls in the photo, but it's hard to say why these are important developments. Others are beyond superfluous. An email from the novelist Phillip Lopate simply reads, "Thanks for the offer, I'm flattered, but honestly, the Beatles had no impact on me at the time." It's telling when a book that is meant to be a nostalgic look back at a different time in America is punctuated by an acidic anecdote from the novelist Fran Lebowitz during which she recalls being at a party where Sir Paul was playing the piano. Her reaction? "Hey, I'm trying to talk here." Other contributors include Joe Queenan, Greil Marcus, Peter Ames Carlin, Pico Iyer and Barbara Ehrenreich. A bonbon for fans but a legacy better served by more substantive journalism.

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December 1, 2013

Rowlands (Paris Was Ours: 32 Writers Reflect On the City of Light) gained fame as one of a group of teenage girls photographed outside New York's Delmonico Hotel in 1964, holding up a handmade sign entreating the Beatles to "please stay here 4-ever." Fifty years later, she has compiled essays from authors, journalists, critics, and musicians (Billy Joel and Janis Ian are among the more well-known contributors), as well as several other women depicted in the iconic image, reflecting on the group. Clearly a labor of love, this work is an examination of the strong emotions the band engendered, and a streak of uninhibited girlish glee runs through many of the pieces. From these endearing personal accounts, a portrait also emerges of the often staid world of 1960s suburbia, providing a richer sense of just why young people were so receptive to Beatlemania. Some writers bring a more sophisticated perspective (for instance, playwright Judy Juanita discusses the group within the context of race), but generally this winsome book is overwhelmingly infused with affection both for the Beatles and for the opportunity to revisit childhood and adolescent memories. VERDICT While this title isn't for those looking for serious sociocultural or music criticism, readers seeking a nostalgia-tinged picture of the Beatles are in for a treat.--Mahnaz Dar, Library Journal

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