All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words

All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words is Peter Brown and Steven Gaines’s groundbreaking oral history of The Beatles.

All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines (St. Martin’s Press).

Only a portion of the 70 hours worth of interviews in this book made it into their 1983 biography, The Love You Make: An Insider’s Story of the Beatles. It was the definitive biography on The Beatles at the time. We know that Mark Lewisohn is working on his three-volume series about The Beatles. His second volume is still one the way–book one took ten years! It was only a matter of time before Brown and Gaines went back into the vault to present the unpublished and unvarnished interviews. Prior to the transcripts, they add additional context about the interview subjects. Their interviews took place during 1980-81 and sadly, they did not interview John Lennon prior to his murder. In addition to Lennon, the 1976 death of Mal Evans also preceded the interviews. I’m sure he would have had some great stories to share.

Even though John Lennon was not interviewed, there’s still a solid amount of material here. Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and ex-manager Allen Klein are among the longer interviews in the book. A number of subjects recur throughout the many interviews. They include Brian Epstein’s sexuality, Manila, studying with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India, Allen Klein, Apple, and of course, the break-up of The Beatles. A decade had passed by the time Brown and Gaines interviewed The Beatles and members of their inner circle. Peter Brown’s role with The Beatles is one of the reasons why these interviews are so unique and candid. Obviously, his post-Beatles career features controversial clients but he was a part of the inside circle. Where filmmakers seek to gain trust with interview subjects, the trust was already there with Peter Brown.

It’s safe to say that The Beatles were always heading to a breakup. This is not a question of if but when. After all, they were individuals and beginning to grow apart. John was the overall leader but Paul was the one who led the way when it came to recording albums. But anyway, the fractures were already there well before 1970, starting with Brian Epstein’s death. Anyone familiar with their history knows that Paul McCartney was on Team Eastman while the other three were on Team Allen Klein. For some reason, I thought the Eastmans started their work after Paul met Linda. It turns out it was the other way around. But still, we get the definitive answer on their breakup. Outside of that, there are some differences when it comes to parts of the overall narrative.

Interestingly enough, Gaines is also an author of a biography of The Beach Boys. One wonders if the complete transcripts of those interviews will get a similar treatment. Hey, it only adds to the creative rivalry between the two bands!

Because so many interview subjects are no longer with us, we will never see a book like All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words again. If you call yourself a fan of The Beatles, All You Need Is Love is an essential book for your Beatles collection!