by Peter Brown
First published 2024
Peter Brown opens his vault of previously unpublished interviews conducted with The Beatles and their inner circle during 1980-1981. Brown and co-author Steven Gaines originally gathered this material while researching their bestselling biography The Love You Make, but only used a fraction of the transcripts. Now Brown presents the complete conversations with Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, alongside candid discussions with ex-wives Cynthia Lennon, Pattie Harrison Clapton, and Maureen Starkey. The book also features interviews with key business associates and social figures from the band's inner circle. These conversations capture the Beatles at a crucial moment, just as John Lennon's murder would forever close the door on such intimate access. The interviews address the central question that has fascinated fans for decades: why did the world's biggest band fall apart? Through direct quotes and personal revelations, Brown assembles the most complete oral record of the Beatles' story, told by the people who lived it.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, music, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: behind-the-scenes, oral-history
Period: 1980-1981
339 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press