Stuart Maconie – broadcaster, prolific author – has a brilliant and original new perspective on the Beatles. His latest book With A Little Help From Their Friends identifies the 100 people who had the greatest impact on their story, from the inner circle to bit-part players – schoolfriends, girlfriends, managers, muses, support acts, advisors and exploiters. It’s immensely entertaining – and revealing, even for obsessives like us. Look out for these in particular …

… memories of his Mum taking him to see the Beatles in Wigan when he was three.

… the Shakespearian supporting cast – “we know the Othellos and King Lears but there are a lot of Rosencrantz and Guildensterns” such as Marsha Albert, Melanie Coe, Pablo Fanque, Mr Mustard and the night with the poet Royston Ellis that inspired Polythene Pam.

… villains of the piece who might have been misunderstood like the Maharishi and Allen Klein.

… what Derek Taylor shouted at Peter Blake at the Q Awards.

… the full extent of the Beatles’ American merchandise catastrophe.

… the “moving and spooky” sensation of standing on the spot in Woolton where John and Paul first met - and its repercussions.

… the Sliding Doors moments and why no other band merits this kind of depth and detail.

… the hoary redundant old saw about John v Paul – “guerilla genius v slick vaudevillian” and how Peter Jackson’s Get Back made us all fall in love with them even harder and deeper than before.

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… the regrettable question he asked McCartney about Gerry & the Pacemakers.

… the tragedy of Jimmie Nicol – “being a member of the Beatles, even briefly, was the nearest equivalent to going to the Moon”.

… the impact of Paul’s life with the Ashers on the band’s intersections with art, theatre and poetry.

… how the ‘Oldies But Goldies’ album broke the band beyond the Iron Curtain.

.. why Penny Lane is like a Play for Today.

… and the greatest song the Beatles recorded.

Order With A Little Help From Our Friends here: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/with-a-little-help-from-their-friends-the-beatles-changed-the-world-but-who-changed-theirs-stuart-maconie?variant=54870051815803

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