Book review: "HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE"

dennisg
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Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:19 pm

From the first tentative notes of "Love me do" to the final decaying chord of "The end," Geoff Emerick sat in the control booth during Beatles recording sessions -- first as a 15-year-old assistant engineer and then (starting with the Revolver album) the lead engineer. Emerick's book "Here, there and everywhere" is a book for people who might be fascinated to know exactly what it was like to record Beatles albums, and it apparently wasn't all fun and games.

Of the four Beatles, he had the closest relationship with Paul whose tendency to want to record take after take absolutely maddened the other Beatles, but resulted in mind-bendingly good recordings. Paul, he found, was able to work with his recording engineers and viewed them as necessary -- but not critical -- to the shaping of the sounds he was after. So close did Emerick's relationship with Paul become that the Beatle stood up as his best man at the engineer's wedding.

John was something of a chameleon and an enigma. A stupefyingly talented writer and avant-garde poet, he was surprisingly inarticulate when it came to providing input to the recording process. More than once Emerick recounts events where Lennon asked him to "make my voice sound like I'm on the moon" or "make my guitar not sound like a guitar," orders, we can all agree, that are difficult to execute. Lennon could also be singularly cruel to the people who worked around him and to the other Beatles. And, starting with Sgt. Pepper, he became curiously more detached from the recording process, often not showing up at all for key moments, leaving the others to fill in for him. I was interested to learn that Paul had intended for John to sing "Oh, Darling," but sang it himself when John failed to show up at the studio that day.

The big surprise to me was Emerick's view of George Harrison as a tentative, nervous, and particularly un-creative guitar player who often drove the other Beatles to the brink of insanity with his mistakes and clumsiness. It's also clear that George despised Paul who would often direct George on how to play a guitar lick, and when George failed to get it, would end up playing it himself. Turns out that a startling number of prominent licks were done by Paul ... and not by George, much to George's dismay and resentment. Emerick was happy to discover that George had gained a lot of skill and confidence by the time of the Abbey Road sessions. He also brought with him two blockbuster songs ("Something" and "Here comes the sun") that were the equal of anything McCartney and Lennon had done up to that point.

Readers will learn that the Ringo in real life was nothing like the cheery, carefree lad we saw during press conferences. In the studio he was sullen, unhappy, and completely detached from the process until called upon to interrupt his chess game do contribute something. He also had his gripes with Paul when the latter would demonstrate the sound he was looking for on the drums. Paul, it seems, could play every instrument in the band better than the people whose job it was to actually play them.

As someone with this kind of shared intimacy with the most famous rock band in history, Emerick walks a fine line between crediting himself for creating the Beatles sound, and giving credit where it's due -- to the musicians. And for the most part, I think Emerick does a great job. He also could have made this book a technical manual on recording equipment and such, but thankfully he tells us just enough about the process to provide the necessary flavor. And he easily could have spent more time on his own life apart from the band. But, thankfully, he knows that his reading public is interested in only one thing: the Beatles. And that's where this book's bread is buttered.

Even for those of us who grew up with the Beatles and could answer any Beatles-related question in a game of Trivial Pursuit, there is an ocean of tidbits that I found absolutely fascinating. Consider that John Lennon was hooked on heroin during the making of Abbey Road. Or that he had a bed brought in to the recording studio so that Yoko could rest in bed wearing flimsy nightgowns and a tiara. Or that Paul wanted to bring a natural sound to his recording of "Blackbird," so Emerick had him sit outside the studio to record it, and that some of the wildlife noises are ambient birds that happened to be there. Or that the Beatles strongly considered naming the Abbey Road album "Four in the bar," or "All good children go to heaven," or "Everest." It was this last name that particularly intrigued them, both for the visual imagery as well as the metaphorical. Ultimately, though, Ringo protested that he didn't want to travel to Everest because his digestive problems prevented him from eating the local food. A frustrated Paul said to him, "Well, if you're not going to name it 'Everest' and pose for the cover in Tibet, where are we going to go?" "Fuck it," Ringo said, "let's just step outside the studio and name it "Abbey Road."

There are hundreds of little nuggets like that sprinkled throughout the book, and Emerick brings them to light in clear detail. And, really, that's what's so compelling about this book: learning about an aspect of the Beatles we've never really had access to -- from someone who was actually there.

If you're hoping that your view of the Beatles as chirpy Liverpudlian moptops will be reinforced, this isn't the book for you. But if you'd like to know how their albums came to be -- who contributed what, how they changed as people and musicians over the years -- you will find "Here, there and everywhere" to be absolutely riveting.


Craig
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Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:32 pm

Thanks Dennis. Great review. Sounds very interesting. I love this kind of behind the scenes stuff regarding the Beatles!
Craig


Chasplaya
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Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:36 pm

Thanks Dennis, This sounds like a must have, I'll be checking it out soon.


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neverfoundthetime
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Thu Jan 20, 2011 5:38 pm

Thanks for the review and the heads up Dennis.


michelew
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Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:05 pm

I doubt I'll read the book, but I loved reading your review.

Thanks.

M.


cosmicmechanic
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Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:26 pm

Yessss !! More Beatles candy !! And look, no cavities !


Lavallee
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Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:45 pm

Very interesting review, Dennis , definetely a book that I will find interesting to read.

Marc


lueders
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Thu Jan 20, 2011 11:31 pm

Very, illuminating. That was a great review...you should write for Rolling Stone.
(No not "Rolling Stone," too corporate and snarky...but you are a darn good writer.)

I found the bits about about Lennon very interesting. (I'm too surprised at the temperamental, prima donna billing
there, though.)Rightly or wrongly I always thought John should receive some kind of worst father of the year
award with Julian.

Paul's prowess and musicality was undoutedly, way more integral to the band's enduring success than I ever
imagined. The only thing I wonder about, is that with a tell-all book like this I suspect at least a small degree
of bias might have existed between Emmerick and Paul. (I dunno, maybe I'm wrong.)

It is also really cool to hear where each Beatle was technically & artistically(and at what chronological point)
through out the band's vast catalog.

thanks Dennis.


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