Yet another Emerick-discussion....

It occured to me that Geoff was quite vicious in the descriptions of his
fellow technicians: Ken Scott, Glyn Johns and even George Martin wasn't
the friendly father-figure he seemed to be!
On the whole I love the book; the images of magic (Revolver-sessions)and
frustration (White Album Sessions) are vivid. I don't know about all
the facts Geoff described but I liked the subjectivity of it.

Lookingglass...

I read and enjoyed the book too, but I did not get a sense of "viciousness"
toward these people.
He was blunt and spoke his opinions, but viciousness was not the taste I
got.

dave (...a soap impression of his wife which he ate and donated to the
National Trust...)

fattuchus...

I read the book and enjoyed it in the sense that it was written by an
insider and it was fascinating to read what he had to say. However,
his constant put downs of Ringo and George were distasteful . . . . I
think many Beatle fans would be upset. I know I was.

If Geoff was typical of the EMI people working with the Beatles, I am
amazed that Ringo and George took it for as long as they did.

Secretagentman...

while its obvious he respected Paul the most I thought he was rather
fair about the other Beatles. He said George was not the greatest
guitarist and anyone who has heard some of the boots would have to agree
that he often played some sloppy solos. It his viewpoint of the people

Philip S....

No doubt. However, I've also noticed something else about George: I've
listened to literally dozens of Beatles live performances, dating from
Hamburg to their last tour in 1966, and he is rock-solid in pretty much all
of them. Ever hear George bungle the difficult solo from "A Hard Day's
Night" in concert? Me neither. But according to Emerick--and available
boots--the same solo gave him fits in the studio.

Perhaps the added adrenaline of a live performance made him a more adept
guitarist? Or maybe just the added practice and repetition helped him. The
other possibility is that he was intimidated by the studio environment, at
least in the early days.

fattuchus...

You raise a good point that had entered my mind when I read Emerick's
book . . . . Emerick depicts George as fumble fingered (which I found
hard to believe), yet George played beautifully at many, many concerts.
That is why I don't fully believe Emerick's comments.

There was some bitterness after the Beatles broke up, and George gave
many interviews where he complained (and this is a close quote) "Paul
McCartney ruined my guitar playing" or "I will never play again with
Paul McCartney." George seemed quite angry at Paul for a few years
after the break up. I sometimes wonder if when the Beatles quit
touring and devoted themselves to the studio, Paul started to become
domineering and bossy, damaging George's concentration and confidence.
Based on quotes I have seen, I believe Paul (and to a lesser extent
John) quashed George's efforts to record songs he had written. That is
why he had so much material for All Things Must Pass.

IMHO the last couple of years, neither John nor George were completely
happy being Beatles.

Barbara & Wim Meijnen & Kombrink...

One clue may be that George's Hard Day's Night solo was recorded at
half-speed, so it wasn't the virtuoso performance it seemed. Maybe it's
a matter of confidence? Quite a lot of solo's up until '65 are okay (and
some excellent; Can't Buy Me Love, All my Loving)but the really biting
and stinging solo's of '66 en '67 are played by Paul (Taxman, Sgt.
Pepper's title track). In the Emerick book it seems that George was more
involved in Indian music and maybe had enough of his demanding and bossy
collegues?

at work and just like you or me its how he perceived what was going on.
I have read tons of Beatle books and would definitely place this book in
the top 5 for enjoyment.