Beatles Put It In A Book
Around the world Thursday, The Beatles Anthology book went on sale to the delight of fans of the Fab Four.
Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr came together to compile the 367-page picture-packed autobiography, priced at $50. John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, also contributed. The book (which weighs 6 1/2 pounds) chronicles the band's journey from their 1960 debut in Hamburg, Germany, to their breakup in 1970 and all the madness in between.
It answers the question: Did Yoko Ono break up the Beatles? They're sticking by what they've always said: No. In the book, Starr says it wasn't Ono's fault, or Linda McCartney's, or anybody's wife.
Ever wonder why they decided to grow mustaches during the Sgt. Pepper days? It wasn't by accident, but it was because of an accident. McCartney writes he smashed up a moped right before they started recording that album. He says he gave his face "a good old smack" and he split his lip. That's why he grew a mustache, to cover up his stitches. He says if one of them did something that the others liked, pretty soon they all did it, so they all grew mustaches.
In New York City, the book went on sale at the trendy Bloomingdale's department store and the book is also available in Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Norway, Japan, and Spain.
The book is being published by San Francisco-based Chronicle Books and Thursday is Beatles Day in San Francisco, the city where the Fab Four had their last concert tour appearance in 1966.
"The Beatles created such excitement about rock music in the early 60s that it sort of spawned the pop culture that came to characterize that decade -- and, of course, by the middle of that decade San Francisco was THE capital of the pop culture world," San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said.
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