Abbey Road to Zapple Records: The Beatles Encyclopedia

In this most excellent work, ( "Abbey Road to Zapple Records, A Beatles Encyclopedia") Judson Knight uses the "encyclopedia" format to take the reader on a guided passage through a virtual labyrinth of information, ... a ship navigated expertly across a small ocean of one brief, but incredibly productive segment of pop music history. Simply put, these are fascinating stories about the greatest rock band that ever lived, told by someone who knows how to write, and in a way that mere information blossoms into entertainment of the highest caliber. In "Abbey Road...", Judson Knight profiles the background of each member of the group, their families, their amazing albums, films and songs that changed the world; and in doing so, he helps to explain what happened and why. Knight analyzes many of the Beatles' lyrics, answering questions that have persisted in the backs of our minds for decades (and perhaps ones you didn't even know you had), most importantly, "What made these guys and their creations so phenomenal?" Judson Knight does a superb job answering that question and hundreds of others in a way that reads like so many allegorical vignettes..... vignettes sometimes mired in the irony that occasionally there are questions which really have no answers. There have been lots of books written about The Beatles. If you only read one, this should be the one.

My Beatles CDs sound ten times better thanks to this book. In addition to the songwriting, one of the things I love most about the Beatles is how lushly produced their music is. Thanks to this book, I can quickly look up any song title and get "the stories behind the songs".Basically, this is a well-researched, well-written guide laid out in an incredibly useful format. A must.

This book is the most comprehensive book of facts that I have ever read about the Beatles. Anything that you want to know about them is here. All the questions and myths are answered in an easy to read and entertaining format.

I am not a Beatles fan but was attracted to this book because it is much more than biographies of Beatles alone. The book is full of fascinating bits of information concerning a wide spectrum of 20th century entertainers and contemporaries both good and bad. Many stories about songs and personalities are classed as myths or rumors, others as fact. The author has done a journalistic job of presenting various reports from which the reader could draw his own conclusions.

I've been a Beatles fan for many years, and have read a fair amount about the band. I really loved the fact that this book presented information I'd never read elsewhere. I highly recommend this book to any Beatles fan!