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Beatles in Their Own Words
This unique, bestselling series now incorporates over 25 titles. Features quotes gathered over the years from family, friends and the artists themselves giving the reader a personal insight into their music and world. Fully illustrated throughout with black and white photographs.
- GenresMusicBiographyNonfiction
Paperback
First published June 1, 1978
About the author
Barry Miles
79 books151 followersBarry Miles is an English author best known for his deep involvement in the 1960s counterculture and for chronicling the era through his prolific writing. He played a key role in shaping and documenting the London underground scene, becoming a central figure among the poets, musicians, and artists who defined the decade’s rebellious spirit. A close associate of figures such as Allen Ginsberg and Paul McCartney, Miles not only witnessed the cultural revolution firsthand but also actively participated in it through ventures like the Indica Gallery and the alternative newspaper International Times.
In the early 1960s, Miles began working at Better Books in London, a progressive bookshop that became a hub for the avant-garde. While there, he was instrumental in organizing the International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall in 1965, an event that marked the emergence of the British underground movement and featured prominent poets like Allen Ginsberg. The same year, Miles co-founded the Indica Bookshop and Gallery, which became a gathering place for creatives and countercultural icons. It was here that John Lennon first met Yoko Ono, at one of her art exhibitions.
Miles also played a role in launching International Times, one of the UK’s first underground newspapers, which Paul McCartney discreetly funded. Miles introduced McCartney to the people behind the project and facilitated many of his early connections with the underground scene. In 1967, he co-organized The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, a legendary multimedia event at Alexandra Palace featuring Pink Floyd, Yoko Ono, and John Lennon, among others.
Later in the decade, Miles took on the management of Zapple Records, an experimental subsidiary of Apple Records. During this time, he produced poetry albums, including one by Richard Brautigan. However, his personal relationship with Brautigan became strained after Miles became romantically involved with Brautigan’s partner, Valerie Estes. The fallout led to communication only through legal representatives. Although Zapple closed before releasing the Brautigan album, it was eventually issued by another label in 1970.
Miles also produced a recording of Allen Ginsberg’s musical interpretation of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, which was released in 1970. He briefly lived with Ginsberg in New York before returning to England following the breakdown of his first marriage. He later married travel writer Rosemary Bailey and continued to live and work in London.
In addition to his memoirs In the Sixties and In the Seventies, Miles has written definitive biographies of cultural icons such as Paul McCartney (Many Years From Now), Frank Zappa, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, and Allen Ginsberg. He is also the author of Hippie, a visual and narrative exploration of the 1960s counterculture. His writings often reflect a mix of personal experience and historical documentation, offering insight into the worlds of rock, literature, and art.
Miles is known not only for his historical accounts but also for his critical views, including pointed commentary on musicians like Rush and Frank Zappa, examining the political and commercial aspects of their work. With a career that spans over five decades, Barry Miles remains one of the most insightful chroniclers of the countercultural and musical revolutions of the 20th century.
In the early 1960s, Miles began working at Better Books in London, a progressive bookshop that became a hub for the avant-garde. While there, he was instrumental in organizing the International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall in 1965, an event that marked the emergence of the British underground movement and featured prominent poets like Allen Ginsberg. The same year, Miles co-founded the Indica Bookshop and Gallery, which became a gathering place for creatives and countercultural icons. It was here that John Lennon first met Yoko Ono, at one of her art exhibitions.
Miles also played a role in launching International Times, one of the UK’s first underground newspapers, which Paul McCartney discreetly funded. Miles introduced McCartney to the people behind the project and facilitated many of his early connections with the underground scene. In 1967, he co-organized The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, a legendary multimedia event at Alexandra Palace featuring Pink Floyd, Yoko Ono, and John Lennon, among others.
Later in the decade, Miles took on the management of Zapple Records, an experimental subsidiary of Apple Records. During this time, he produced poetry albums, including one by Richard Brautigan. However, his personal relationship with Brautigan became strained after Miles became romantically involved with Brautigan’s partner, Valerie Estes. The fallout led to communication only through legal representatives. Although Zapple closed before releasing the Brautigan album, it was eventually issued by another label in 1970.
Miles also produced a recording of Allen Ginsberg’s musical interpretation of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, which was released in 1970. He briefly lived with Ginsberg in New York before returning to England following the breakdown of his first marriage. He later married travel writer Rosemary Bailey and continued to live and work in London.
In addition to his memoirs In the Sixties and In the Seventies, Miles has written definitive biographies of cultural icons such as Paul McCartney (Many Years From Now), Frank Zappa, William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, and Allen Ginsberg. He is also the author of Hippie, a visual and narrative exploration of the 1960s counterculture. His writings often reflect a mix of personal experience and historical documentation, offering insight into the worlds of rock, literature, and art.
Miles is known not only for his historical accounts but also for his critical views, including pointed commentary on musicians like Rush and Frank Zappa, examining the political and commercial aspects of their work. With a career that spans over five decades, Barry Miles remains one of the most insightful chroniclers of the countercultural and musical revolutions of the 20th century.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 20, 2020
This was my first book that I read about The Beatles and I think I couldn't have chosen something better (I didn't really choose this, I went to our local library and this was the only book they had about the band that I was so madly in love with when I was 12 or 13). It's wonderful because these are snippets from all the interviews with the Fab Four (when they were still a band) and I laughed so much during reading this. All of the boys were funny, salty and often so wonderfully sarcastic that after reading this, you can't help but fall in love with them. Also, because it's their own words (let's pretend that interviewers weren't twisting their words) you get a very interesting insight into how they thought about what they were going through/doing. I especially enjoyed reading about their songs and what certain lyrics mean or how certain songs came to life.
May 30, 2022
In their Own Writings
Some of interviews I've seen, make the book a lot better to read. Really the part was mistakenky quote for Jesus. I believe the fans took it a lot easier with the song, "The Balld of Yoko and John." I believe journalists are always for interview just to make somebody uneasy about themselves.
Some of interviews I've seen, make the book a lot better to read. Really the part was mistakenky quote for Jesus. I believe the fans took it a lot easier with the song, "The Balld of Yoko and John." I believe journalists are always for interview just to make somebody uneasy about themselves.
March 10, 2023
Interesting to move from the glib one line answers of the early fab four years to the more philosophical answers of the later years.
Very easy read and an interesting glimpse into various aspects of the 'Beatles' life and the individuals
Very easy read and an interesting glimpse into various aspects of the 'Beatles' life and the individuals
July 3, 2017
KMŽ - přečteno v českém jazyce: http://www.databazeknih.cz/dalsi-vyda...
July 22, 2018
Classic, plain and simple. Classic.
April 17, 2022
The Beatles In Their Own Words
Very Easy read, started and finished it in less than a day. Wasn't thrilled with them including y'all or her band.
Very Easy read, started and finished it in less than a day. Wasn't thrilled with them including y'all or her band.
October 29, 2022
Good Read...
Barry Miles was a very close friend of all four Beatles, that's what drew me to the book. Interesting interviews culled from different sources, a good read.....
Barry Miles was a very close friend of all four Beatles, that's what drew me to the book. Interesting interviews culled from different sources, a good read.....
April 13, 2023
meh
For those of us who would prefer facts over opinion, too much opinion. Not enough factual experience or historical discussion.
For those of us who would prefer facts over opinion, too much opinion. Not enough factual experience or historical discussion.
December 30, 2020
Excellent review of their years
Wonderful recap of their perspective during their years together it is worth your time to read quick read. And easygoing
Wonderful recap of their perspective during their years together it is worth your time to read quick read. And easygoing
February 19, 2022
I acquired Beatles In Their Own Words forty-two years ago in mid-1980, after I discovered the music of the Beatles. As a fourteen-year-old I certainly knew who the Beatles were and many songs they did, but it was my first listen to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that spring that hooked me for life. In 1980 I spent my meagre paper route money on Beatles records and books, and this was one of my first acquisitions. When friends and family learned of my fondness for the Beatles they would often give me books, and sometimes I would get duplicates. My first copy, which I bought, was published by Quick Fox in 1978 and retailed for $5.95. The edition I read was a third impression by Delilah/Putnam which I received as a gift. By late 1980 it retailed for $7.95 when it was reprinted after the death of John Lennon.
I do not recall reading this book literally cover-to-cover when I first got it. Its format is best suited for thumbing through and looking at the photos and reading the adjacent quotations. I certainly read it this way, in discontiguous segments. As I review my collection of Beatles books I realize I don’t need this one, even for the sentimental reason that it was one of my first. I can part with both of them by giving it a formal cover-to-cover read and kiss-off. It isn’t that good a collection of quotations anyway.
The quotations were divided into chapters by subject matter, starting with Beatles: The Story, followed by Press Conferences, Songwriting, The Songs, The Films, Drugs, and Politics. What I was most shocked by, as I would have been at the age of fourteen, was that the book’s compiler, (Barry) Miles, chose to start the book with several paragraphs of quotations by John Lennon where every second word was the F-bomb. Couldn’t he have chosen something else? The best chapter was on the press conferences as it was filled with the Beatles’ comeback one-liners that had the press corps on their knees. I giggled through many of them, my favourite of which was:
How do you feel about the invasion of your privacy all the time?
Ringo: The only time it bothers us is when they get us to the floor and really mangle us.
I am parting with this book because the quotations weren’t all that interesting, especially in snippet format when an entire interview would have been more to my liking. When so many quotes are assembled around a common theme, they make a boring read. That’s why the press conferences chapter was such fun. Many photos were blown up to grainy oversized pixel dimensions, which made them unattractive.
June 5, 2014
Well, I am Beatles fan, so yes I knew many of these interviews. I was bit disapointed with choosing the quotes and it's topic. Best part was at the end, when there was actually music at hand. More or less, it was mostly Lennon which was shame given this was book about The Beatles.
December 19, 2009
A collection of interviews and quotes. Nothing too special and/or fancy, really. Plus, I knew a lot of it already.
January 22, 2018
No holds barred, un-softened direct quotes from interviews and assorted things along the way that definitely sheds light on each member of the fab four. Really enjoyed this.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews