The Beatles from a to Zed

September 23, 2019
In conversational prose, record producer Asher, who met the Beatles in 1963 and became the first head of A&R for Apple records, romps through the Beatles’ song catalogue with glee and an insider’s knowledge about the music and its times. Each section includes popular Beatles songs as well as other topics associated with a particular letter that come to Asher’s mind. The T section opens, for example, with reflections on “Ticket to Ride” and “Taxman,” written by George Harrison, who was lamenting the outrageous tax rates in Britain at the time; Asher then meditates on time signatures, using “Happiness Is a Warm Gun” to demonstrate ways in which the Beatles changed signatures within the same song. Under D, Asher considers drums and Ringo Starr’s drumming—in which the fills were quite specific, with each beat placed in the right spot—as he reflects on “A Day in the Life.” He recalls hearing Paul and John playing piano in his basement one day and being asked his thoughts on a song they had just written—“I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Asher’s inviting prose and knack for storytelling provide an entertaining tour of the Beatles’ music.

September 15, 2019
A lively firsthand recollection of the Fab Four. British singer, musician, record producer, and host of SiriusXM's radio program From Me to You, Asher makes his book debut with a bright, rambling memoir about his long association with the Beatles, which began in 1963 when Paul McCartney, who was dating Asher's sister, moved into his house. At the time, Asher was half of the duo Peter & Gordon, performing in pubs, clubs, and coffeehouses, and soon under contract with the prestigious EMI Records. Asher eventually quit performing to become head of A&R for Apple Records, where he managed such artists as James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Cher, and Diana Ross. The author's self-described "personal and at times idiosyncratic" take on Beatles music, which follows their playlist alphabetically, is bursting with anecdotes about each song's composition and the circumstances of recording it. He opines on the songs' structure, content, effect, and quality, and he digresses about anyone and everyone associated with the Beatles--collectively and individually--as well as performers connected to his career as a record producer. Reading this memoir is like listening to an entertaining, though nonstop, monologue from someone reprising a golden time, blithely jumping from one memory to another as new thoughts and stories pop into his mind. Halfway through his "alphabetically inspired yet meandering pace," Asher arrives at the letter L, which gives him a chance to comment on "Love Me Do," the Beatles' first single, and also on Sean Lennon and Julian Lennon, whose musicianship Asher much admires. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," writes the author, was inspired by Julian's childhood drawing of his friend Lucy, "against a sparkly sky"--and not, as some have speculated, about LSD. The letter Q gives Asher pause: He writes about "Queenie Eye," a solo McCartney song, and expounds on the Quarrymen, string quartets, and what he deems is the quietest Beatles song ("Blackbird"). A gift for Beatles fan.

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November 1, 2019
Half of the 1960s duo Peter and Gordon, Asher became a legendary record producer and the first head of A&R for the Beatles' Apple Records. Here he offers an idiosyncratic and very personal tour through Beatles history. Using an associational technique and the cues of the alphabet, Asher pegs to each letter discussions of Beatles songs and/or anecdotes, including his own personal experiences and insights. Each entry's connection to the Beatles, however tangential, is illuminating, from a focus on All My Loving to songs that the Beatles covered (Carl Perkin's Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby, for example) to artists who influenced the Beatles' sound. Asher even manages to find entries for the difficult letters of the alphabet ( There is only one Beatles-related song that begins with Q," he notes). Much here will undoubtedly be familiar to Beatles admirers, but Asher also includes plenty of stories that only he knows and that, in turn, personalizes his alphabetical romp. A fun, lighthearted book from one Beatles fan to many others.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)