Tim Hill & Marie Clayton (eds) - The Beatles: Unseen Archives (2010)
Music/Pictorial – 390 pages – my copy (hardback; 2010) a present at Xmas 2010
- 2 nods out of 5 -
Another book on The Beatles? I hear the groans already, of critics and bookcases the world over. After near on half a century of flogging the guts out of the Fab Four, many are asking: is there anything left to expose or sell? All of which makes this recent addition to the catalogue – boasting of ‘Unseen Archives’ – a suspicious and anti-climatic book, indeed.
The book is a simple chronology, from the early years (Ticket to Ride) to the end days (You Never Give Me Your Money). A calendar of events kicks off each of these chapters, with a simple and uninspiring write-up of the goings on of John, Paul, Ringo and er…the other one (only joking George). We read of their humble beginnings, Beatle-Mania, and the innovative later albums: standard fare for the usual churn out for the large Beatles fan-base.
But what saves this book from the doom of the 1 nodder motley crew is its fantastic array of photographs from the 1960 to the 1970s and beyond. We see the Fab Four backstage lighting cigars, the dodgy moustaches of the Sgt Pepper era, the trip to India, as well as a vast array of embarrassing snaps of McCartney’s 1980s mullet.
Unseen Archives is a book fit for any coffee table, yet without any real substance and weight. But its purpose was never meant to inform, yet rather simply entertain. It is perfect fodder for the Christmas stocking, and despite its obvious flaws, every Beatles fan would be delighted to receive it as a present.
