Author turns obsession with Beatles into book

Spitz so doggedly traces the band’s family history, and depicts postwar Liverpool, that Lennon doesn’t meet McCartney until page 95 of his book.

“My book is not a book of dirty stories,” Spitz says. “There are no shocking revelations. I wasn’t looking for any and I didn’t find any.”

Still, there are sublime details and myth-busters that good fans will enjoy, like producer George Martin leaving the recording of “Love Me Do” to an underling while he had a lunch date with his secretary.

One much-repeated story is that future manager Brian Epstein first heard of the Beatles when a customer at his record store requested their recording of “My Bonnie” from Hamburg, Germany. In truth, he was already well aware of them — their posters hung in his store and Epstein, who was gay, secretly liked their rough-boys-in-leather image.

Beatles had a tight bond
Spitz opens with a detailed scene from Dec. 27, 1960, a Liverpool performance where the Beatles’ improvement after a lengthy residence in Germany so startled and thrilled their hometown audience that it presaged the impact they would have on the world three years later. Spitz even reports the brand of popular hairspray whose scent lingered in the air.

He was struck by the extraordinary tight bond the four men created, personally and musically. Even during their unpleasant breakup, they still loved each other, he says. Spitz believes the split was less because of the influence of Ono than the fact that Lennon and Harrison couldn’t stand to be in the room with McCartney anymore.

The flip side is how completely, even ruthlessly, the four men would freeze out anyone they no longer had use for, as drummer Pete Best most famously found out.

The project was an intense time in Spitz’s life. He and his wife have split and he says his daughter thinks dad has a mop tops obsession.

“It turned my life inside out,” he says. “Yet I must say it was the most incredible and pleasurable experience I ever had.”

Spitz is involved in one more Beatles-related project: writing a version of his biography for young readers.

“It’s sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll,” he says, “without the sex and drugs.”

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