It's been a Beatles kind of year, with the release of The BeatlesAnthology book, the "1" CD that collects 27 No. 1 singles and theupcoming DVD and limited theatrical re-release of their classic 1964film "A Hard Day's Night."
But don't think the Anthology is the last word on the musical andcultural phenomenon that took the world by storm. Photographer JorieGracen and former Liverpool concert promoter Sam Leach have checkedin with works of their own that add fresh looks at the history of theFab Four.
Gracen combines her keen photographer's eye with a fan's-eye viewof the post-Beatles Paul McCartney in I Saw Him Standing There ($35,Billboard Books).
Leach, who was the first Liverpool promoter to take the Beatlesout of the small clubs and book them into larger ballrooms, tellstales of pre-Beatlemania days in The Birth of the Beatles ($17.95,Seven Hills Book Distributors).
Gracen is a Chicago free-lance rock 'n' roll photographer whosepictures have appeared in the Sun-Times, on the cover of McCartney'salbum "Tripping the Live Fantastic" and in publications ranging fromRolling Stone to Newsweek. I Saw Him Standing There followsMcCartney around the world in pictures from 1976 through 1999.Wrapped around the 170 color and 40 black-and-white photographs arestories she's collected from fans about meeting McCartney along withher own memories of concerts, backstage passes and news conferences.
With another book in the works focusing on her pictures of otherrock stars and celebrities, Gracen says it was only natural thatMcCartney should come first.
"I was always such a big Beatles fan, and Paul was my favorite,"she says. "And who gets to meet Paul? The press. That seemed to me tobe a good career, being a press photographer."
That career started almost by accident. She'd started out to be apainter, and took photographs of subjects as reference material.Friends at the University of Illinois persuaded her that photographycould stand as an art form on its own, and she started takingpictures as well as writing album reviews and celebrity interviewsfor the student newspaper.
"When I was working at the Daily Illini, there would be anassignment to photograph a celebrity or a rock star, and no one elsewanted to do it. I thought it was a great opportunity."
The meat of I Saw Him Standing There is in the pictures of highquality and broad range. The bulk are concert photos, where Gracenhas a well-earned reputation as one of the best in the business. Thephotos backstage and at press conferences add texture, with spicefrom a handful of candids, including one of McCartney holding acamera, taking Gracen's picture.
"The book is unique," Gracen says, "because of the stories fromthe fans. There's not too much serious stuff here. It's light-hearted and fun. The Anthology is heavy-duty. This is more of a funbook."
There's Joy Waugh-O'Donnell, who Paul and Linda McCartney gave afirst-class trip to London to meet Paul after she CBS' "48 Hours"aired a segment in which she was an ordinary fan, following Paularound Chicago in December 1989. When Paul told her, "I've heard allabout you," she replied, "I've heard a lot about you, too!"
There's Diane Harrington, who slipped off the curb-but was caughtby her husband-when she spotted Paul and Linda giving her a thumbs upfrom their limo in Worcester, Mass.
And there's DJ, who drew a shake of the finger and the mouthedwords "naughty, naughty" from Paul as she focused binoculars on hiswedding ring from her front-row seat in St. Louis. Apparently Paulthought her focus was elsewhere.
While I Saw Him Standing There follows a McCartney who has longbeen a mega-celebrity, Leach's The Birth of the Beatles picks up thestory at a time the band was struggling to get a break.
The young Beatles had been playing clubs such as the Casanova,Iron Door and the Cavern, but Leach booked the Beatles and four otherLiverpool bands into the Tower Ballroom on Nov. 10, 1961. With publictransportation shut down on a foggy night, the show drew a ballroomrecord 4,124 fans.
Leach had an altercation with Brian Epstein, not yet the Beatlesmanager, over placement of the NEMS logo from Epstein's music storeson show posters. Upon word from Epstein that he didn't want theposters, Leach replied, "Well, you surprise me. . . . Your precioustrade name is hung all over Liverpool, on 1,000 posters."
Epstein took the posters, but eventually he also landed the band.One night before Operation Big Beat, Epstein saw the Beatles for thefirst time in the Cavern Club. Before long, he offered to manage thegroup. The Beatles asked Leach for advice, and he told them thatEpstein could take them places he couldn't. John Lennon told Leach,"You'll be right with us, Sam," but that wasn't to be.
Leach is a terrific storyteller, and his book is chock full ofentertaining stories not only of the Beatles but Gerry and thePacemakers, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes and all the bands that madeup the Merseybeat era.
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