The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 5: Let It Be through Abbey Road (1969 - 1970)

I got this for my father, who is in the audio industry, and he enjoyed reading the book, and learning more about the behind the scenes. This would make a great gift for any Beatles fan. The session were well documented, and the pictures at pretty interesting.

It is truly amazing how "little" has been written about the most famous group in the world from a technical level. The Beatles in 1969 were "it." They were not a "we'll maybe remember them" proposition. They were the pinnacle of music and the music business. So people were filming and more importantly - writing - everything they did. So a young teen like myself, should be able to say "I wish to sound like The Beatles when they played 'Help'", and find everything I need. Such is not the case. Fast forward twenty or so years, better paying job and that neat thing called the internet and "surely, someone will publish it." Sadly, no one has. Until now. Being famous, we know that they were able to do whatever they wanted from every level. So its hilarious to assume that John, Paul and George went into a shop, bought an amp, brought it back to the studio and played it with no modifications whatsoever. Of course, they had their gear modified! And of course someone wrote down what they did. Until this book, that information has been missing. As a guitarist, I can count no magazine that has covered the information in detail. Oh they all say "John played a Fender Twin" (duh - we see it in the rooftop footage), but did it have any modifications to it? These questions are paramount when you have money in your pocket and wish to purchase Beatle-sounding equipment.Too nit picky? Hardly. Consider that Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and others were all using the same amps in 1969, yet, sound completely different. So prior to spending hard earned money on an amp "so I can sound like John Lennon," I would hope that the product I'm buying will do what its supposed to do. This book answers every question that a musical gear-head could have. What model of Fender Twin, what speakers were installed, etc. If you aren't musically inclined, its amazing to read this book and see how each song was broken down with the specific parts and which day they were recorded on. If you are like me and feel that you know everything that there is to know about The Beatles, this books' daily run-down of track bounces, equipment used and who used it, is just stunning. Any Beatles fan would be over the moon with this book.900 STARS!

Fab!

Want to know about a piece of equipment used by The Beatles? Get Andy Babiuk's book Beatles Gear. Want info about specific Beatles recording sessions? Try Mark Lewisohn's seminal 1988 book Complete Beatles Recording Sessions. Want to know how specific songs were recorded? Look for Recording the Beatles by Kevin Ryan & Brian Kehew. Want to save some money and enjoy the highlights of all three of these classics? Buy Jerry Hammack's The Beatles Recording Reference Manual (in this case, Volume 5).This is an outstanding book! (As are the other four volumes in the series.) It's divided roughly into four sections: [1] song narratives that discuss the development and participants (studio personnel, guest musicians, etc.) for each song; [2] detailed song diagrams that break down the individual instruments used on each track and for each session; [3] individual session info including dates and times with details about instruments played, studio equipment used, superimpositions added, and specific session notes; and [4] appendices that list technical recording equipment, details about each studio used by The Beatles, and lists of all instruments and amplifiers they used. To write, organize, and cross-reference this data is a phenomenal achievement.In response to some criticisms the author has received for his work:1. Hammack merely reorganizes and re-presents (some might say plagiarizes) info from other authors' work: With the literally thousands of books written about The Beatles, it would be rare indeed to find and present previously unknown information. While there are new findings in Tune In, the first volume of Lewisohn's epic Beatles biography, there is also a ton of repetition from previous biographies. Moreover, Hammack in his Introduction generously cites the work of Ryan/Kehew, Lewisohn, and Babiuk as integral to his books. What is new about Hammack is combining the best of these heavyweights into one easily accessible source, in addition to adding a lot of original scholarship not found in their works.2. Hammack's books are overpriced for what they offer: I respectfully disagree. Try to buy new copies of Lewisohn, Babiuk, and Ryan/Kehew; you will most definitely shell out hundreds of dollars. The Ryan/Kehew book, especially, commands monumental prices. (The last new copy I saw on Amazon was selling for nearly $1,000!) At it's going price for a brand-new copy, Hammack's book is a bargain.3. The author is overly repetitious and monotonous: In the Introduction of this book, Hammack actually agrees with this assessment but says he deliberately chose repetition to keep the reader from having to skip through numerous pages and sections merely because the same info pertains to more than one song. This approach is not everyone's cup of tea, but reading something for one song that is presented practically verbatim for another song is OK with me if I don't have to riffle through the book to read that something.4. Hammack's work has typographical and factual errors: Yes, I've found errors in the other volumes and I've brought them to the author's attention. Hammack has always replied and been courteous and respectful in his answers. What's most impressed me is his willingness to acknowledge such issues by publishing edition updates as necessary to correct factual errors, add new information, address grammar and typographical issues, and improve internal consistency among the book's sections (and with other volumes). His four previous volumes have all received at least one new updated edition; I suspect if Volume 5 is found to need one, he will readily do so. Compare this process to Lewisohn (no revisions since 1988), Ryan/Kehew (no revisions since 2006), and Babiuk (one revision since2001). Having devoured this Volume 5 cover to cover, I'm fairly confident this edition will last awhile!All five volumes of this series are treasured parts of my Beatles library. I'd strongly recommend they be part of anyone's. As a closing comment, I'll be following Hammack's approach and essentially repeating what I've written here in my reviews of the other four volumes. They're all equally good. (The books, that is!)

Excellent, well written series of books on the recording techniques employed by The Beatles in the studio. I highly recommend getting all five volumes.

Diese Serie bietet sehr detailierte Infos zu sämtlichen Recordings, verwendetem Equipment und beteiligten Personen.

Excellent volume by Jerry on the Beatles recording of Let It Be and Abbey Road. A lot of the information has been available before, but Jerry pulls it all together into this volume which is one of five volumes on all of their recordings. Well worth the money!!

Libro fortemente raccomandato ad ogni serio appassiona. Ideale complemento a “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” di Mark Lewishon

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