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Living the Beatles Legend
Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans | Kenneth Womack
1 post | 1 read
The first full-length biography of Mal Evans, the Beatles’ beloved friend, confidant, and roadie. Malcolm Evans, the Beatles’ long-time roadie, personal assistant, and devoted friend, was an invaluable member of the band’s inner circle. A towering figure in horn-rimmed glasses, Evans loomed large in the Beatles’ story, contributing at times as a performer and sometime lyricist, while struggling mightily to protect his beloved “boys.” He was there for the whole of the group’s remarkable, unparalleled story: from the Shea Stadium triumph through the creation of the timeless cover art for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the famous Let It Be rooftop concert. Leaving a stable job as telecommunications engineer to serve as road manager for this fledgling band, Mal was the odd man out from the start—older, married with children, and without any music business experience. And yet he threw himself headlong into their world, traveling across the globe and making himself indispensable. In the years after the Beatles’ disbandment, Big Mal continued in their employ as each embarked upon solo careers. By 1974, he was determined to make his name as a songwriter and record producer, setting off for a new life in Los Angeles, where he penned his memoirs. But in January 1976, on the verge of sharing his book with the world, Evans’s story came to a tragic end during a domestic standoff with the LAPD. For Beatles devotes, Mal’s life and untimely death have always been shrouded in mystery. For decades, his diaries, manuscripts, and vast collection of memorabilia was missing, seemingly lost forever…until now. Working with full access to Mal’s unpublished archives and having conducted hundreds of new interviews, Beatles’ scholar and author Kenneth Womack affords readers with a full telling of Mal’s unknown story at the heart of the Beatles’ legend. Lavishly illustrated with unseen photos and ephemera from Mal’s archives, Living the Beatles’ Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans is the missing puzzle piece in the Fab Four’s incredible story.
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An extensive biography of Malcolm Evans: roadie, assistant, etc to The Beatles. Based on Evans's personal diaries alongside all the memorabilia he had collected over the years, this work is definitely warts & all. It was a fascinating read to see what went on behind the scenes at the recording sessions & the real life friendships of the Beatles & how it all fell apart. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf Infidelities, drug use, & partying all took their toll on Evans when his work life clashed with his private life. I didn't particularly like him as a person after reading this, he seemed to be supremely selfish when it came to his family. His wife & two children spent months of each year without him & he didn't even have the decency to hide evidence of his on-the-road dalliances from his wife. 5mo
OutsmartYourShelf Plus some of these girls were extremely young & maybe he was no different to many other men in the rock & roll lifestyle of the time but it was grim reading. When things started to implode, I had problems feeling any sympathy for him to be honest.

Overall, it's an informative read which covers the whole gamut of the Beatles' career as a group. It doesn't shy away from showing the seamier side of the lifestyle, & the issues that can stem from that
5mo
OutsmartYourShelf It's well written & keeps the reader's attention. 4🌟

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, HarperCollins UK/Mudlark, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5922812055
Read 15th - 30th Nov 2023

#NonfictionNovember
5mo
Suet624 For some reason I‘m reluctant to read this one and I think you‘ve just explained why. 5mo
OutsmartYourShelf @Suet624 Yeah, I found parts of it really uncomfortable to read & no-one really comes out of it very well. It's all “everyone loves Mal he's just a gentle giant“ but I was reading it thinking “nope“. 5mo
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