Tune In

The Beatles: All These Years

By: Mark Lewisohn

Narrated by: Clive Mantle

Length: 43 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Tune In is the first volume of All These Years - a highly-anticipated, groundbreaking biographical trilogy by the world's leading Beatles historian. Mark Lewisohn uses his unprecedented archival access and hundreds of new interviews to construct the full story of the lives and work of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.

Ten years in the making, Tune In takes the Beatles from before their childhoods through the final hour of 1962 - when, with breakthrough success just days away, they stand on the cusp of a whole new kind of fame and celebrity. They've one hit record ("Love Me Do") behind them and the next ("Please Please Me") primed for release, their first album session is booked, and America is clear on the horizon. This is the lesser-known Beatles story - the pre-Fab years of Liverpool and Hamburg - and in many respects the most absorbing and incredible period of them all. Here is the complete and true account of their family lives, childhoods, teenage years, and their infatuation with American music; here is the riveting narrative of their unforgettable days and nights in the Cavern Club, their laughs, larks, and adventures when they could move about freely, before fame closed in.

For those who've never read a Beatles book before, this is the place to discover the young men behind the icons. For those who think they know John, Paul, George, and Ringo, it's time to press the reset button and tune into the real story, the lasting word.

©2013 Mark Lewisohn (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Beyond essential . . . a wildly evocative portrait . . . The saga is clearer and richer here than it’s ever been. Lewisohn writes in novelistic detail and with the obvious conviction that none of the previous Beatles biographies have ever been good enough.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“A radical event and a joy to read . . . Lewisohn’s work stands as a monumental triumph, a challenge not merely to other Beatles biographers but to the discipline of biography itself. If only all important subjects had their Lewisohn.” (Washington Post)

“The biggest, deepest Beatles book ever.”—Rolling Stone “The widest possible angle on an extensive and engrossing group biography built on a well-raked mountain of exacting new research . . . expertly controlled and propelling.” (New York Times)

All the early pieces of the puzzle ..together.

Insanely in depth. yet still fascinating, These guys worked hard and struggled. It's not the overnight success The Beatles always seemed to have been.

awesome!

love the writing and the performance. his american accent is hilarious. we sound like cartoon characters. but the beatles and brian epstein are "spot onnn."

If you like Beatles YES!!!

Only covers their childhood to early recordings but my god... So detailed. the performance is amazing, can't wait for more

Thank You, Mark Lewisohn!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I haven't felt as anticipatory a feeling as I do now as I await the next volume of this incredible work! I just hope I live long enough to be around for volume 3 as well!
Good health to you, Mr. Lewisohn, also!
If you are into the Beatles or even just into a good story - you got one here.
Kudos too, to the narrator, Clive Mantle, he does pretty well with this.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Tune In?

Many

Which scene was your favorite?

Many

Any additional comments?

Many great books on the Beatles have been written, in just the past 20 yrs even, and this now is one of them - an absolute must have/hear/read.

Great listen for Beatles fans.

Where does Tune In rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I am not much of a literary critic, nor do I often write reviews, but I REALLY enjoyed this book. I was a huge Beatles fan "back in the day" so admit to a bias from the start. Great book full of information.

An absolute must for any Beatles fan.

This is an incredible book and it delivers the most in depth story....even deeper the The Beatles Anthology ...I could not imagine anymore could be written about the Fab Four...was I wrong and happy that I was. Looking forward to the next two parts of this trilogy. Enjoy....also incredible narration...spot on.

Amazing

Loved it. I wasn't as engaged with the early days as I was around the midpoint, but overall was fantastic. Can't wait for volume 2

Expert journalism, expert voice performance on Audible

I found my way here after seeing the Get Back documentary series, so, a little backwards in the storytelling timeline, but making me realize I knew nothing of this history because “I already knew all this” I had said to myself, but I was wrong, luckily I decided to give it a chance and I felt bad when it ended! But, wait, there’s more!

There is a lot of historical context given to “the times” of the era, something I lived through in the USA as a small child and not realizing the level of poverty these “lads” persevered and I had not truly realized their “overnight success” (to me) did not occur overnight at all, but from grinding hard work for years on end, the fact “they made it” is due to an amalgam of chance, choices, charm and the dedication and expertise of a few adults who saw the glimmer and cherished and preserved “the lightning in the bottle” they saw or thought they saw. It’s improbable success occurred really, not at all the overnight success I had imagined.

Highly recommended. Even if you are not a Beatles fan (yes, I listened to several 8 tracks over and over and over and over as my Dad drove us around in his car and maybe a little too much “Beatles” in those early years did me in for any discovery on my own), this is a recounting of an era that puts perspective on more than just a music history.

The definitive biography and a perfect performance

Very exhaustive in detail, but never tedious. The narrator does a wonderful job including capturing voices appropriately, without sounding like a distractingly cartoonish impressionist. Can’t wait for volumes two and three, although they each take about a decade to write.

Insanely great

Wow. Just wow. A pure delight from beginning to end: one of the most enjoyable audiobooks I've ever listened to. I'm a Beatles fanatic, and that probably helps; but I'd venture to say that this book has the potential to grab even people who don't know or don't care much about them. Mark Lewisohn writes with great insight and narrative skill about the struggles of the Beatles to gain recognition and professional success at a time when no one else - NO one - was doing the kind of music they were doing, in the way they were doing it. They're poster children for the "10,000 hours" take on career development. They paid their dues.

Lewisohn gives particularly full attention to Pete Best, Brian Epstein, and George Martin. I've read several books on the Beatles and biographies of individual band members, and I still heard surprising new information about these people, and everybody else connected with the band, on practically every "page."

It's not hagiography. John Lennon, as much as I love him, is clearly a world-class jerk, and the others all have less positive aspects. Their terrible treatment of Pete Best and their wild life on the Reeperbahn are presented in unsparing detail. But running through the book is a strong sense of their devotion to music, the clarity of their vision, and their genius: genius being defined as an infinite capacity for taking pains.

Clive Mantle does a terrific job with the narration. He does the "voices" as if it were a work of fiction. I know that's not to everyone's taste, but to me, the key is whether it's done well or not. Mantle nails the Liverpool accent and even captures the unique cadence of each Beatle; and he nails the posh "standard" accents of Epstein and Martin as well.

Lewisohn spent 10 years writing this. I hope that includes the research for the other two volumes. This one stops at the end of 1962, just before "Please Please Me" was released. I don't want to wait another 10 years for the next part. I'm not ready to let these guys go yet.