THE BOOK

Fab But True is beautifully written and fast-paced, an easy and fun read.  Containing over 70 images, some of which are rare “off the Beatle track” photos, Fab But True tackles sixteen true tales from the storied career of The Beatles.  Fab But True features a foreword from noted Beatles expert and Sirius XM Beatles Channel host Tom Frangione.

The stories begin in 1954 with the running of the Derby Stakes, and how the improbable victory of a longshot racehorse helped give birth to The Beatles.  Then we visit our heroes in the seedy city of Hamburg, Germany, where a prank involving a condom and a match gets The Beatles deported, ending their first residency in ignominy.  Next, we see The Beatles in EMI Studios for the first time, making an outsized stand against a song they didn’t believe in.  The next story takes an in-depth look at how Ringo was temporarily de-throned from his perch as The Beatles drummer while recording their first single, and the circuitous tale of Love Me Do.

From there, Fab But True picks up with the incredible tale of how the enduring Beatles “drop T” logo was created on the spot by a drum salesman trying to sell Ringo a new kit, and then painted by a partially disabled signwriter on his lunch hour.  We next visit the now-controversial day when The Beatles and the Rolling Stones met in London – and the real story about how the song “I Wanna Be Your Man” – written by John and Paul – became the Stones’ second single. 

Next up in the truly incredible story of how Brian Epstein entrusted The Beatles’ merchandising rights to a notorious London lawyer who was in over his head – and how The Beatles lost tens of millions of dollars in the process (and the lawyer’s shocking end).  The Beatles’ first world tour in 1964 brings the story of Jimmie Nicol, an unknown but talented drummer who filled in for Ringo after he collapsed during a photo shoot (including details skipped in most accounts of this well-known tale).

The Beatles’ first American tour in 1964 brings John, Paul, George and Ringo to the segregated South, and tells the story of the principled stand against segregation that led to an unprecedented concert at Jacksonville’s Gator Bowl in the aftermath of a hurricane. 

One of the most cosmic coincidences in all of Beatles’ history is up next, telling the truly unbelievable story of “Eleanor Rigby,” and how Paul invented this fictional character in his 1966 song – only to find that a woman with that very name lay buried in a cemetery of the very church where the Quarrymen played on the day John and Paul first met in 1957.  Fab But True next visits The Beatles in Japan, where a double-dealing concert promoter fueled a cultural firestorm that confined the group to its Tokyo hotel, where over the course of three days they produced the only group painting the four of them ever did.

A notorious music industry mobster is next up, and how wise guy Morris Levy entangled John Lennon in his crooked orbit for nearly a decade – all because of one borrowed Chuck Berry line in the song “Come Together.”

The last four stories look at incredible events that occurred in the first few years after The Beatles’ breakup, starting with the final Lennon-McCartney recording session in 1974, and the drug-fueled, unlistenable music that resulted.  We next visit Florida’s Disney World, and how it became the unlikely backdrop for the ultimate legal dissolution of The Beatles. 

Next up is the heartbreaking tale of longtime Beatles’ roadie and confidant Mal Evans, the “Gentle Giant,” and the full story of how he met his untimely end at the hands of the LA Police Department in 1976.  Finally, Fab But True examines the yearslong dispute between The Beatles’ Apple Corps and Apple Computer, Inc., how many rounds of litigation between these two heavyweights ultimately brought a complete role reversal and the tech behemoth swallowing whole The Beatles’ utopian corporate vision.