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With the Beatles
Alistair Taylor, personal assistant to the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, recalls his time with the band in this autobiography.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 18, 2024
I probably read this book almost twenty years ago when I bought a physical copy. As an avid Beatles fan, the fact that a core member of The Beatles team wrote it added to its authenticity. Alistair Taylor was known as "Mr. Fixit". He was at The Beatles beck and call and would be asked to do the impossible for them at any moment. He was hired by The Beatles' original manager from Liverpool, Brian Epstein. After Brian Epstein's death and when The Beatles Apple entertainment entity was crumbling financially, The Beatles new manager Allen Klein fired many stalwart employees- Alistair being one of them. And after all they had done together, with Paul McCartney literally crying on Alistair's shoulder after fiancee Jane Asher left him- none of The Beatles had the guts to take his call.
I bought this book on kindle years ago even though I owned the physical copy- I prefer reading on kindle now. If certain books are special I like to reread them at some point, and I've done that most of all with vintage Beatles books I own. When you read a lot of Beatles books you remember certain special kernels of information about them that add to the big picture. That moment here is Alistair's critical assessment of Paul's future wife Linda Eastman. Alistair was with The Beatles for years, so he was a big fan of Paul's former fiancee Jane Asher. Jane was a beautiful actress from a high class family and was responsible for exposing Paul to the finer things in life like art and culture. When Paul was caught cheating on Jane with Apple employee Francie Schwartz, Jane abruptly left him. He was devastated and repeatedly tried to get her back. After all, no one said "NO!" to Paul McCartney! But Jane stayed firm and the engagement was over, and Paul was broken inside. According to Alistair Taylor, this hardened Paul. Alistair described Linda as not liking people around who knew Paul before she came on the scene. On two occasions Linda accused Alistair of skimming money off bills after he did the impossible like having Paul's home 7 Cavendish Avenue (it's right around the corner from EMI/Apple Studios in St. John's Wood, London- Paul still lives there to this day) redecorated in 5 days to her specifications. Linda wanted all Jane's decorating to be eradicated and replaced with her design choices, and for this to be accomplished in 5 days while she and Paul took a little holiday vacation. This renovation should have taken five months and not five days, yet when presented with the excellent completed work and the bill instead of Linda saying "Thank you", she scrutinized the bill, cryptically smiled at him and asked what was in it for him. It happened again when Paul asked for his sports car to be repainted and polished up like new. It sparked the fury of shame and betrayal inside Alistair because he gave his all to The Beatles and would never cheat them. He was so run down from doing the impossible for them that he was suffering glandular fever. Alistair Taylor was also the one called upon to go to Brian Epstein's home the day he was found dead. He had literally just returned from a trip and was still in his holiday shorts. So this is another quality book from one of The Beatles loyal fixers with a lot of interesting stories to tell.
I bought this book on kindle years ago even though I owned the physical copy- I prefer reading on kindle now. If certain books are special I like to reread them at some point, and I've done that most of all with vintage Beatles books I own. When you read a lot of Beatles books you remember certain special kernels of information about them that add to the big picture. That moment here is Alistair's critical assessment of Paul's future wife Linda Eastman. Alistair was with The Beatles for years, so he was a big fan of Paul's former fiancee Jane Asher. Jane was a beautiful actress from a high class family and was responsible for exposing Paul to the finer things in life like art and culture. When Paul was caught cheating on Jane with Apple employee Francie Schwartz, Jane abruptly left him. He was devastated and repeatedly tried to get her back. After all, no one said "NO!" to Paul McCartney! But Jane stayed firm and the engagement was over, and Paul was broken inside. According to Alistair Taylor, this hardened Paul. Alistair described Linda as not liking people around who knew Paul before she came on the scene. On two occasions Linda accused Alistair of skimming money off bills after he did the impossible like having Paul's home 7 Cavendish Avenue (it's right around the corner from EMI/Apple Studios in St. John's Wood, London- Paul still lives there to this day) redecorated in 5 days to her specifications. Linda wanted all Jane's decorating to be eradicated and replaced with her design choices, and for this to be accomplished in 5 days while she and Paul took a little holiday vacation. This renovation should have taken five months and not five days, yet when presented with the excellent completed work and the bill instead of Linda saying "Thank you", she scrutinized the bill, cryptically smiled at him and asked what was in it for him. It happened again when Paul asked for his sports car to be repainted and polished up like new. It sparked the fury of shame and betrayal inside Alistair because he gave his all to The Beatles and would never cheat them. He was so run down from doing the impossible for them that he was suffering glandular fever. Alistair Taylor was also the one called upon to go to Brian Epstein's home the day he was found dead. He had literally just returned from a trip and was still in his holiday shorts. So this is another quality book from one of The Beatles loyal fixers with a lot of interesting stories to tell.
December 22, 2015
As a lifelong Beatles fan, I had heard about Alistair Taylor, but not really much about him. I knew he worked closely with Brian Epstein and was around from day one.
This book goes into detail about Alistair's 8 &1/2 years spent with the Beatles and being their "FixIt Man" for everything they wanted.
He originally worked for Brian before the Beatles appeared on the scene, and then on to Brian discovering them, and Brian's involvement with them as friend and manager. Alistair became the all around person who took care of most everything for Brian and the Beatles, including everything Brian wanted, to buying homes and islands for the Beatles, arranging flights, redecorating their homes, paying off paternity cases, being 24/7 counselor when one was feeling down and most anything and everything else they desired at the time.
This book also included 24 pages of photographs, some not well known, as well as the stories behind several of them.
Alistair was Mr Straight-Laced who didn't get into the drug scene or get involved with other women, though he did drink and party with the boys, but was always around to babysit everyone else..He did have a few strong opinions of some of the women the Beatles were involved with.Linda was certainly not one he cared for in comparison to Jane Asher. Because he stopped with his story shortly after Linda & Paul got together, the reader has no way to know his opinions or feelings about anything that happened with the Beatles after that.
He did set the story straight on a few things that had been gossiped about over the years, as often he was actually there, such as Brian's death, discovering the Beatles for the first time at the Cavern Club with Brian, Brian & John's well discussed trip to Spain after Julian was born and so on.
The only thing I didn't like about this book, was I wish he had gone into more detail about different things; as several things he wrote about were really interesting but would have been even more entertaining if there had been more detail.
I feel rather sad and sorry for how life turned out for Alistair especially after all the years of hard work he spent literally dedicating his life to Brian and the Beatles and then getting shoved out the door once Allen Klein took over and not a word from any of the Beatles in his defense. I hope he was able to supplement his income from sales of this book..maybe a larger edition with much more detail and more stories would have done well, as he wrote 2 or 3 versions of this story, only under different titles.Unfortunately he passed away in 2004.
This book goes into detail about Alistair's 8 &1/2 years spent with the Beatles and being their "FixIt Man" for everything they wanted.
He originally worked for Brian before the Beatles appeared on the scene, and then on to Brian discovering them, and Brian's involvement with them as friend and manager. Alistair became the all around person who took care of most everything for Brian and the Beatles, including everything Brian wanted, to buying homes and islands for the Beatles, arranging flights, redecorating their homes, paying off paternity cases, being 24/7 counselor when one was feeling down and most anything and everything else they desired at the time.
This book also included 24 pages of photographs, some not well known, as well as the stories behind several of them.
Alistair was Mr Straight-Laced who didn't get into the drug scene or get involved with other women, though he did drink and party with the boys, but was always around to babysit everyone else..He did have a few strong opinions of some of the women the Beatles were involved with.Linda was certainly not one he cared for in comparison to Jane Asher. Because he stopped with his story shortly after Linda & Paul got together, the reader has no way to know his opinions or feelings about anything that happened with the Beatles after that.
He did set the story straight on a few things that had been gossiped about over the years, as often he was actually there, such as Brian's death, discovering the Beatles for the first time at the Cavern Club with Brian, Brian & John's well discussed trip to Spain after Julian was born and so on.
The only thing I didn't like about this book, was I wish he had gone into more detail about different things; as several things he wrote about were really interesting but would have been even more entertaining if there had been more detail.
I feel rather sad and sorry for how life turned out for Alistair especially after all the years of hard work he spent literally dedicating his life to Brian and the Beatles and then getting shoved out the door once Allen Klein took over and not a word from any of the Beatles in his defense. I hope he was able to supplement his income from sales of this book..maybe a larger edition with much more detail and more stories would have done well, as he wrote 2 or 3 versions of this story, only under different titles.Unfortunately he passed away in 2004.
April 13, 2024
1st hand account Of the beginning and end of the Beatles
I believe I would recommend this book to any Beatle fan. I found this book to be quite engaging And believeable Being that not the source Was a man that was there from the beginning He was part of the team. He was the right hand of Brian Epstein The loyal friend of his till the end... The book in tales His role in making the Beatles The most successful band The world had scene.
I believe I would recommend this book to any Beatle fan. I found this book to be quite engaging And believeable Being that not the source Was a man that was there from the beginning He was part of the team. He was the right hand of Brian Epstein The loyal friend of his till the end... The book in tales His role in making the Beatles The most successful band The world had scene.
July 27, 2023
Oh no the Beatles were actually mean, out of touch, cheating white men??? This is brand new information!!
Love the borderline homoerotism throughout the book, these men weren’t gay okay they just shared beds and private holidays leaving their wives behind every once in a while
Love the borderline homoerotism throughout the book, these men weren’t gay okay they just shared beds and private holidays leaving their wives behind every once in a while
July 19, 2017
Přečteno v českém jazyce: http://www.databazeknih.cz/knihy/the-...
December 5, 2025
Always good to read a real insider's take on the boys. Boy he did not really like Linda it seems though haha and doesn't portray her well.
September 28, 2012
I think this book was very informative and I have learned a great deal about the Beatles. What always fascinated me about the Beatles was that they went from four Liverpudlian schoolboys to the biggest sensation the world has ever seen. This book really made me feel like I was with them every step of the way. This book is so detailed that it made me feel like I was walking down Abbey Road with John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I really love this book and I do think it is unfair that Alistair was fired and that he is not remembered as fondly by the public as Brian Epstein but he was there from the very beginning and I will remember him for that even if people say he was just another employee at apple corps.
January 4, 2013
Basically Alistair Taylor's autobiography of his time working with the Beatles. It was an interesting perspective and there is always different information and observations based on the source. I wish he hadn't gotten so whiny in the final chapter after he is fired. Losing a job is rarely a good experience, and it is his story, but I felt is ruined the tone. He should have just ended the book with the firing, after all it is called "With the Beatles"
January 30, 2017
Insight yes.... Depth no.
I can't say i didn't enjoy this book as I did. Written by somebody who was there in the eye of the hurricane that was The Beatles, by the way it is written you can tell that Alastair is a nice fella, and some of the information he shares is genuinely interesting. The problem lies in the fact that there isn't enough depth to it, I was expecting to have my eyes opened and it be the type of book I would want to read again.
Unfortunately I probably won't.
I can't say i didn't enjoy this book as I did. Written by somebody who was there in the eye of the hurricane that was The Beatles, by the way it is written you can tell that Alastair is a nice fella, and some of the information he shares is genuinely interesting. The problem lies in the fact that there isn't enough depth to it, I was expecting to have my eyes opened and it be the type of book I would want to read again.
Unfortunately I probably won't.
April 20, 2016
An easy and enjoyable read giving an insiders view to the Beatles in the 1960's. Like so many others, Taylor was axed in Klein's purge of Apple but it was disappointing to read of the Beatles collective cowardice after this event.
A number of interesting insights which are lent credibilty as Taylor never seeks to make it about himself.
A number of interesting insights which are lent credibilty as Taylor never seeks to make it about himself.
August 21, 2012
I always try to read biographies but I never finish them because they are so b o r i n g. But this one was really good and I couldn't stop reading it. I thought that it was really fascinating and I recommend it for everyone who is (a little bit) fan of The Beatles.
September 1, 2016
This book is full of great Beatles anecdotes I had never heard of before. Fantastic read, very entertaining and I would highly recommend to any Beatles fan new to the Beatles or ones that think they know everything!
August 8, 2013
Really enjoyed this, an eye opener to life with the Fab four throughout the 60s
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews