Comments | selenak: Three Memoirs, Three Reviews

selenak

Three Memoirs, Three Reviews

Jul 14, 2011 19:03

More leftover from my Brückenau days: book reviews. One of the books in question I’d browsed through before but hadn’t read it properly, the other two were new to me. What the three have in common is, aren’t you surprised, a Beatles connection; otherwise they’re widely different, though each struggling with the opening sentence ofDavid ( Read more... )

harrison, pattie boyd, book review, warum spielst du, klaus voormann, horst fascher, wonderful tonight, beatles, let the good times roll

Comments 81

jwllover July 20 2011, 05:14:23 UTC

great review Selena, as always. I found Klaus' passages very touching.

selenak July 20 2011, 08:32:32 UTC

So did I. You'd also like a passage where he says the whole Hamburg period might sound romantic from a distance and like a teenage ideal (all that sex, playing music, no parents), but looking back and being aware how young the Beatles were (which isn't something you think of if you're young yourself), he thinks they were in many ways still children, and it was incredibly exploitative in terms of working conditions etc; it's not something he'd wish on his own children, no matter how much he enjoyed that time himself.

I don't know whether you're familiar with the painting he did of John falling asleep mid breakfast, head on the table and cigarette in hand; it captures that vulnerability and just how wearing the time was really well.

jwllover July 20 2011, 21:40:35 UTC

Yes, I saw that drawing and read his discription of it. Apparently John had a propensity to fall asleep at the oddest of moments; guess that was one example.

(The comment has been removed)

selenak July 22 2011, 10:51:21 UTC

It's immensely moving, and I was glad to share!

abromeds July 22 2011, 23:23:35 UTC

Thanks for a new installment of excellent book reviews!

I can see why Klaus' was your favorite; such lovely observations he writes. Love the bit about Paul's legs still being bow-legged. Aw.

Though I must say, I do wish someone, ANYONE, (John, Yoko, George, Klaus, friggin' SPEKTOR, ANYONE) who was involved in HDYS? would have just had the guts to put a simple 'Yeah, we were wrong to do that' out there in the public arena.

selenak July 23 2011, 13:51:57 UTC

I hear you. Mind you, I don't think most of them thought (or think) they were wrong. Yoko in the Imagine film uses John's "Paul started it!" rationale, which, well, is true if you take RAM as the start (rather than, say, the Lennon Remembers interview or Let It Be or anything else...); Paul definitely started that series of musical hostilities. Phil Spector still considers himself unfairly treated and slandered by Paul because Paul loathes his version of The Long and Winding Road so openly, so definitely no regret there. George in retrospect might have a twitch of regret or two (perhaps during times when John saw it fit not to appear at Bangladesh and then tell the papers George was narrow-minded) but then probably thought about all the times Paul told him how to play guitar and thought, ah well. As for Klaus, I'm completely speculating because he really does not utter a word about HDYS? in his book (or about the break-up, at all; as I said, writing about the entire Plastic Ono Band phase without mentioning that is an art form, but he ( ... )

larainefan July 23 2011, 14:01:37 UTC

I hope it's not too late to respond to this. Thank you so much for taking the trouble to quote (and in some cases, translate) all those passages! I agree someone should translate the German books into English, that would be a goldmine for someone. With all the interest in the Beatles, and considering how vital Hamburg was to them, I'm surprised publishers aren't taking advantage of the connections. I love reading Klaus' observations, and seeing his drawings. Someone on a George site quoted at length some beautiful observations about George from Klaus, after George's death ( ... )

larainefan July 23 2011, 14:18:26 UTC

Sorry, I got interrupted. Anyway ( ... )

selenak July 24 2011, 05:31:57 UTC

I hope it's not too late to respond to this.

Not at all!

I do read many accounts of George's infidelities. I've also read accounts of him trying very hard to please Pattie and remain faithful to her, while she was messing around with Ronnie Woods. It's indicated that George thought, "Well, if she wants an open marriage, she'll HAVE an open marriage..." and then began to pursue every female in sight, which sounds exactly like passive-aggressive George behaviour to me.Yes, but I don't think the Ronnie Wood affair predates George's own infidelities. If nothing else, he did the rockstar/groupie thing while on tour. I do believe that pre-India, he was careful not to let Pattie know about that. Another reason why I'm inclined to believe Pattie that she didn't cheat on George before he (openly) cheated on her is that, well, George wasn't faithfull to Olivia, either, and his marriage to Olivia was certainly strong, nor did Olivia flirt with anyone. But be that as it may, far more serious than the question as to who cheated on whom first is ( ... )

larainefan July 24 2011, 12:31:30 UTC

Thanks for the response, I'm always trying to deepen my understanding of George. I do agree with you that unfortunately George did cheat with groupies etc even before problems in the marriage, and yes, that was unfair. Like all the Beatles, and I guess most men of that time/locale, the rules apparently were thought to be different for men. I mean, it's not as if the Beatles minded women being promiscuous on tours, etc, indeed they even welcomed that. But completely different behaviour expected from women they thought they "owned", and yes I do think they thought they owned their wives and girlfriends, their behaviour bears that out. I do echo what one poster said above, about what the hell happened in India, lol ( ... )

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