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John Lennon: Unseen Archives
John Lennon was the man who founded The Beatles, and whose energy and initial commitment to becoming "bigger than Elvis" were greatly influential in taking them to the heights of fame. John was the thoughtful, intelligent one, celebrated for his sharp wit and swift put-downs. Privately, he was a complex man: a superstar who hated the restrictions of being famous; a singer who disliked the sound of his own voice; a devoted husband who was publicly unfaithful. His song-writing partnership with Paul McCartney changed the parameters of popular music, and his early prose writing added to the richness and diversity of the English language.
After The Beatles broke up, John's relationship with Yoko Ono became one of the great love stories of our times, and with her he developed into both an interesting conceptual artist and an influential campaigner for peace. After an intense period of experimentation, his music also developed and matured. Despite his talent and commitment to the world of the arts, when his son Sean was born he took five years out of the public eye dedicating himself to raising his child.
'John Lennon: Unseen Archives' comprehensively chronicles the life of the world's most famous pop-star peace campaigner. The majority of the photographs are from the archive of the Daily Mail and they are accompanied by a detailed commentary which provides an insight into how John Lennon became more than a musician and went on to influence an entire generation. This wonderful book captures the impact he made upon the world; the memories of which still linger with us today.
After The Beatles broke up, John's relationship with Yoko Ono became one of the great love stories of our times, and with her he developed into both an interesting conceptual artist and an influential campaigner for peace. After an intense period of experimentation, his music also developed and matured. Despite his talent and commitment to the world of the arts, when his son Sean was born he took five years out of the public eye dedicating himself to raising his child.
'John Lennon: Unseen Archives' comprehensively chronicles the life of the world's most famous pop-star peace campaigner. The majority of the photographs are from the archive of the Daily Mail and they are accompanied by a detailed commentary which provides an insight into how John Lennon became more than a musician and went on to influence an entire generation. This wonderful book captures the impact he made upon the world; the memories of which still linger with us today.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
384 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 5, 2020
"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." -- John Lennon
While Unseen Archives is a relatively good book there are some things it's not: the images used are culled from the files of Daily Mail - the United Kingdom's largest circulated daily newspaper - so it doesn't cover, for understandable reasons, Lennon's pre-fame childhood and teenage years, or the Beatles' trips to Hamburg (where 'the boys' were documented in an excellent series of photographs by friend Astrid Kircherr), or the famous pics of Lennon around New York City in the final decade of his life. So what's left? Lots of b&w shots of the Fab Four on their home turf, especially during (but not always limited to) the height of their 'Beatlemania' years circa 1963-1967, plus a fair number during his early, fairly scrutinized and sometimes unique years with Yoko Ono. Some photos are a bit grainy or blurry - hence the reason they were likely filed away - but otherwise there were many I had never seen before in other books. It's a nice quick read for any Lennon and/or Beatles fan.
While Unseen Archives is a relatively good book there are some things it's not: the images used are culled from the files of Daily Mail - the United Kingdom's largest circulated daily newspaper - so it doesn't cover, for understandable reasons, Lennon's pre-fame childhood and teenage years, or the Beatles' trips to Hamburg (where 'the boys' were documented in an excellent series of photographs by friend Astrid Kircherr), or the famous pics of Lennon around New York City in the final decade of his life. So what's left? Lots of b&w shots of the Fab Four on their home turf, especially during (but not always limited to) the height of their 'Beatlemania' years circa 1963-1967, plus a fair number during his early, fairly scrutinized and sometimes unique years with Yoko Ono. Some photos are a bit grainy or blurry - hence the reason they were likely filed away - but otherwise there were many I had never seen before in other books. It's a nice quick read for any Lennon and/or Beatles fan.
December 16, 2018
I was never the greatest Beatles fan in the sixties for Chuck Berry, particularly so, Billy Fury and Adam Faith were more in my line. I didn't dislike the Beatles and did follow their careers to a degree. So when I saw this book on John Lennon with well over 300 images from 'Unseen Archives' I thought it worth a punt.
And so it proved for leaving aside the photographs, many of which are quite candid and I imagine meet the 'unseen' criteria there are fascinating chapter introductions on each period of Lennon's (and The Beatles') life and career. Marie Clayton, assisted by Gareth Thomas, grew up during the Beatles era and was at art college when the Four were still Fab so she is able to give plenty of first-hand detail, all of which adds to the Lennon persona.
Born in 1940, Lennon was inspired to purchase his first guitar after he had listened to the skiffle of Lonnie Donegan and he quickly formed The Blackjacks skiffle group in March 1957; they very quickly changed their name to the Quarry Men, John then being at Quarry Bank High School. The Quarry Men made their debut public performance at a street carnival in Roseberry Street, Liverpool on 24 May 1957.
Paul McCartney joined the group on 20 July 1957 and he was in the line-up when they made their Cavern Club debut on 7 August 1957. George Harrison joined the group on 6 February 1958 and name changes saw them as The Beatals, The Silver Beetles and finally The Beatles, a name first used when they performed at the Neston Institute on 2 June 1960.
John very quickly established himself as the unofficial leader of the group and it was he that accepted, on behalf of The Beatles, an offer from Brian Epstein to manage the group in December 1961. An unsuccessful audition for Decca followed in January 1962 but in May of that year Epstein secured a contract with EMI and informed the group, who were performing in Hamburg, that he had done so. In August of 1962 Ringo Starr completed 'The Fab Four' as he replaced Pete Best and in the same month John married his childhood sweetheart Cynthia Powell.
'Love Me Do' (I remember its release quite well!) was their first single as The Beatles and it reached number 17 in the charts but in March 1963 'Please, Please Me' went to the top of the charts. And it was in August 1963 that The Beatles performed for the last time at the Cavern Club. A couple of months later John achieved a modicum of notoriety with his 'please rattle your jewellery' comment at the Royal Variety Performance on 4 November 1963 and in December he and Paul were described in The Times as 'the outstanding English composers of 1963'
Success followed success; 1964 saw trips to France and the United States and the making of their first film 'A Hard Day's Night'. John also had his first book, 'In His Own Write' published in March 1964 and in April the group occupied the top five positions in the American singles chart. This was followed by a first major tour of the United States.
And so it all continued but unity was not always present within the group with John and Paul vying to be leader but this did not prevent them from being awarded MBEs. Flirtation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi followed and the establishment of Apple Corps and the opening of an Apple Boutique. And along with it all, John met Yoko Ono. By then John was tiring of The Beatles and he strongly disliked the idea of touring and all the screaming fans, so much so that he stated that the group often deliberately sang the wrong words to their songs because nobody could hear them anyway and he stated that they even went so far as to sing occasional obscenities, again which nobody heard!
His meeting with Yoko Ono changed his life, and went some way to ending The Beatles as a group, and he eventually divorced Cynthia and married Yoko Ono and, after some immigration trouble, the couple eventually settled in New York, where John met his untimely end.
The 'John Lennon: Unseen Archives' reveals a complex but fascinating character and the photographs and text make it a most entertaining view and read.
And so it proved for leaving aside the photographs, many of which are quite candid and I imagine meet the 'unseen' criteria there are fascinating chapter introductions on each period of Lennon's (and The Beatles') life and career. Marie Clayton, assisted by Gareth Thomas, grew up during the Beatles era and was at art college when the Four were still Fab so she is able to give plenty of first-hand detail, all of which adds to the Lennon persona.
Born in 1940, Lennon was inspired to purchase his first guitar after he had listened to the skiffle of Lonnie Donegan and he quickly formed The Blackjacks skiffle group in March 1957; they very quickly changed their name to the Quarry Men, John then being at Quarry Bank High School. The Quarry Men made their debut public performance at a street carnival in Roseberry Street, Liverpool on 24 May 1957.
Paul McCartney joined the group on 20 July 1957 and he was in the line-up when they made their Cavern Club debut on 7 August 1957. George Harrison joined the group on 6 February 1958 and name changes saw them as The Beatals, The Silver Beetles and finally The Beatles, a name first used when they performed at the Neston Institute on 2 June 1960.
John very quickly established himself as the unofficial leader of the group and it was he that accepted, on behalf of The Beatles, an offer from Brian Epstein to manage the group in December 1961. An unsuccessful audition for Decca followed in January 1962 but in May of that year Epstein secured a contract with EMI and informed the group, who were performing in Hamburg, that he had done so. In August of 1962 Ringo Starr completed 'The Fab Four' as he replaced Pete Best and in the same month John married his childhood sweetheart Cynthia Powell.
'Love Me Do' (I remember its release quite well!) was their first single as The Beatles and it reached number 17 in the charts but in March 1963 'Please, Please Me' went to the top of the charts. And it was in August 1963 that The Beatles performed for the last time at the Cavern Club. A couple of months later John achieved a modicum of notoriety with his 'please rattle your jewellery' comment at the Royal Variety Performance on 4 November 1963 and in December he and Paul were described in The Times as 'the outstanding English composers of 1963'
Success followed success; 1964 saw trips to France and the United States and the making of their first film 'A Hard Day's Night'. John also had his first book, 'In His Own Write' published in March 1964 and in April the group occupied the top five positions in the American singles chart. This was followed by a first major tour of the United States.
And so it all continued but unity was not always present within the group with John and Paul vying to be leader but this did not prevent them from being awarded MBEs. Flirtation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi followed and the establishment of Apple Corps and the opening of an Apple Boutique. And along with it all, John met Yoko Ono. By then John was tiring of The Beatles and he strongly disliked the idea of touring and all the screaming fans, so much so that he stated that the group often deliberately sang the wrong words to their songs because nobody could hear them anyway and he stated that they even went so far as to sing occasional obscenities, again which nobody heard!
His meeting with Yoko Ono changed his life, and went some way to ending The Beatles as a group, and he eventually divorced Cynthia and married Yoko Ono and, after some immigration trouble, the couple eventually settled in New York, where John met his untimely end.
The 'John Lennon: Unseen Archives' reveals a complex but fascinating character and the photographs and text make it a most entertaining view and read.
July 6, 2019
A scant few new details of John's life are revealed. Photos included seem to be mostly versions rejected for publication in the past because they are not well composed.
December 10, 2010
Numpang baca punya Roos :P
June 29, 2019
The book “John Lennon: Unseen Archives” was authored by Marie Clayton and Gareth Thomas in 2002. The book includes an amazing number of photographs that chronicle John Lennon’s life from 1940 to his death in 1980. These black and white pictures are from the Daily Mail. In addition to the pictures and text, the book presents a day-month-year time line of John’s life. This is a significant book for those who experienced the baby boom years in England, Europe, and the United States. I enjoyed reading the book while listening to the Beatles music and Lennon’s compositions. (L)
June 8, 2018
I love anything to do with John Lennon and the Beatles, this book is full of information and is very interesting if you like John Lennon this is a must read.
November 23, 2011
Many people agree that a single picture can be worth a thousand words. A picture can tell you the basics: who, what, when, where and why. But it can also talk about emotions, connections, and reveal more about a time period than any book can describe. This is the way that many of the photographs in John Lennon: Unseen Archives can pop out at the reader.
Read more: http://socyberty.com/crime/john-lenno...
Read more: http://socyberty.com/crime/john-lenno...
February 5, 2009
You don't read this book as much as you look at the pictures. I enjoyed it, but it was a cheap bargain book when I bought it. I probably didn't learn much, but it was a nice nostalgic trip back in time.
February 11, 2012
Awesome book about a true legend, awesome pictures!
November 23, 2016
Tragic telling of the intimate lives of John Lennon, his first wife and all the Beatles.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews