From Publishers Weekly
John Lennon once said that the Beatles on tour were as debauched as the ancient Romans in Fellini's Satyricon. Outside of a description of a "happy" Lennon urging his band mates to "take your pick" from a group of hookers provided by an Atlantic City concert promoter, this highly entertaining account by broadcast journalist Kane, who covered the tour at the time, is as discreet about the Fab Four's sexual adventures as they were, although Kane notes that "women came and went from the Beatles' floor in most hotels." But in all other respects, from fiery airplanes and rioting fans to encounters with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Jayne Mansfield (the latter two seem to spend "quality" time with Lennon), this is a fantastic insider's look at the cultural explosion that was Beatlemania. It helps that Kane was only 21 at the time (the same age as Paul McCartney); unlike "dull-witted" reporters whom the Beatles came to disdain, Kane quickly noted "their indisputable naturalness and, to varying degrees, the depth of their humanity and their lack of phoniness." In turn, the Beatles rewarded Kane with many in-depth interviews through the tour (60 minutes of which are included on an accompanying CD), which Kane skillfully uses throughout provide the Beatles' own insightful view of the ongoing craziness surrounding them, as they travel from one chaotic hotel and concert scene to another. This is the most detailed description yet of the Beatles' American tours, and one of the few books on the band written in the past decade that can be considered indispensable.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Tell-all books by Beatles insiders have become as numerous and indistinguishable as hairs on a Beatle wig. But Kane's journalist's eye--he was the only American reporter to travel with the group for every stop of their 1964 and 1965 tours--sets this one apart. There had never been a cultural phenomenon to match Beatlemania--and nothing has quite equaled it since--and Kane vividly portrays its familiar trappings, from riotous fans whose screaming drowned out the music to chaotic postconcert escapes. More fascinating are Kane's behind-the-scenes views of "the boys," extracted from many interviews (excerpted on an accompanying CD), that disclose, for example, that Kane managed to insult John Lennon during their initial meeting--and wound up eliciting eloquent criticism of the war in Vietnam. Kane gradually fell for the music, and he provides valuable perspective on the performances, which are often neglected in other Beatles tour accounts. Less successful are Kane's attempted pontifications on the band as a harbinger of '60s dissent. Terrific fly-on-the-wall stuff about a unique pop-cultural event. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Ticket to Ride FROM THE PUBLISHER
In 1964, the Beatles invaded America: thirty-two shows in twenty-five cities in thirty-one days, record-smashing attendance, unimaginable fan reactions. It was the first major rock'n'roll concert tour ever, and the world would never be the same. Ticket to Ride tells the story of this tour like it's never been told before and charts the transformation of four young Liverpudlian innocents into world-renowned musical legends and cultural icons. Larry Kane was the only American journalist to travel to every stop of the Beatles' 1964 and 1965 North American tours. He saw it all -- on the Beatles' airplane, in their hotel suites and limousines, and backstage. Witness through his eyes some of John's, Paul's, George's, and Ringo's most personal moments, their views on the changing world around them, and the world's greatest rock band in their finest moments. Enjoy the ride! Includes a CD featuring an hour of rare interviews where the Beatles express themselves frankly about war, music, the Beatles phenomenon, and much, much more.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
John Lennon once said that the Beatles on tour were as debauched as the ancient Romans in Fellini's Satyricon. Outside of a description of a "happy" Lennon urging his band mates to "take your pick" from a group of hookers provided by an Atlantic City concert promoter, this highly entertaining account by broadcast journalist Kane, who covered the tour at the time, is as discreet about the Fab Four's sexual adventures as they were, although Kane notes that "women came and went from the Beatles' floor in most hotels." But in all other respects, from fiery airplanes and rioting fans to encounters with Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Jayne Mansfield (the latter two seem to spend "quality" time with Lennon), this is a fantastic insider's look at the cultural explosion that was Beatlemania. It helps that Kane was only 21 at the time (the same age as Paul McCartney); unlike "dull-witted" reporters whom the Beatles came to disdain, Kane quickly noted "their indisputable naturalness and, to varying degrees, the depth of their humanity and their lack of phoniness." In turn, the Beatles rewarded Kane with many in-depth interviews through the tour (60 minutes of which are included on an accompanying CD), which Kane skillfully uses throughout provide the Beatles' own insightful view of the ongoing craziness surrounding them, as they travel from one chaotic hotel and concert scene to another. This is the most detailed description yet of the Beatles' American tours, and one of the few books on the band written in the past decade that can be considered indispensable. (Sept.) Forecast: Original Beatles fans may now be in their 50s, but the band's continuing popularity among them and their children, shown by the success of recent greatest hits compilations, should ensure a strong audience for this highly enjoyable look at the Fab Four's adventures. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Radio newsman Kane may have been the only journalist to travel with the Beatles on all the stops of their 1964-65 tour, but this recounting offers little more than a chronology of screams and adulation. Kane was 21 and a Florida radio reporter when he got the break to join the first Beatles tour of America, which he understands to have been "the greatest tour in rock-and-roll history . . . an event of great musical and social magnitude." He writes that he approached the task with a degree of cynicism, as well as with anxiety and frustration, but he soon stands agog at the arena crowds--"rows and rows of hyperactivity"--and at the desperate acts fans would commit to get near the Fab Four: crawling through hotel air ducts, charging police officers, hoping one of the jellybeans they hurled at the musicians would hit home and thus achieve a form of contact. At times, Kane tries to put the Beatles within some sociological context--"a simmering youthful unrest and defiance against the establishment"--but mostly recounted here are the performersᄑ daring and absurd escapes from the concert hall, the sexual liaisons after the shows ("Getting women into the hotels required somebody with the power to do so. The Beatles couldnᄑt just wait around in the lobby for someone to show up!"), and Kaneᄑs amazement that these were just four regular guys: "Their casual everymanᄑs view of life, coupled with their soulful music, endeared them to a whole generation." What could have made all this hum--Kaneᄑs unhindered access for interviews--instead provides much of its most inane material. "Kane: Hi, Ringo, how are you? Ringo: All right, Larry. How are you? Kane: Pretty good. A lot of magazines and portraits ofyou depict you as being very sad. Youᄑre not a sad person, are you?" Heartfelt, yet so threadbare of fresh material that it hardly merits even article-length treatment. (Photographs, 60-minute CD of interviews) First printing of 75,000; $50,000 ad/promo. Agent: Alfred Geller