The Beatles: A One-Night Stand in the Heartland

Bill Carlson
Cumberland House Publishing (2007)
ISBN 1581825900
Reviewed by Cynthia A. Olvera for Reader Views (4/07)

The closest I’ll ever get to the feeling of excitement and anticipation of The Beatles arrival for a concert is in the pages of Bill Carlson’s “The Beatles: A One-Night Stand in the Heartland.”  I’ve never known a life without The Beatles.  My generation has always known and loved them, but as I flipped through the pages I envied my mother for having been there for the time when four mop top boys first stepped off a jumbo jet.   Oh what an amazing time! 

This collection of 160 never-before-published photographs, gives the readers a small glimpse inside a routine day at the office for The Beatles on tour in 1965.  It’s all in there…from the lines of screaming fans to the press conferences.  Each black and white photograph projects that wonderful feeling of nostalgia that can only be found in art that truly captures the real beauty in all shades of life and love.

One of my favorite parts of this book is in a newspaper article written the day after the concert took place.  In it, the writer recalls the usual screaming teens, but then goes on to call The Beatles “alleged musicians.”  I laughed out loud!  It bears repeating that my generation has always known and loved The Beatles, so we forget that in 1965 so much of mainstream America did not know or love them.  I laughed, because this article just labeled one of music’s most influential bands as “alleged musicians.”  What an amazing time!

I felt so wrapped up in these pictures.  I’ve read through “The Beatles: A One-Night Stand in the Heartland,” and stared at the pictures repeatedly, and each time I found myself feeling a hint of true anticipation and real excitement for the concert to come…even if it is only in pictures.  If you call yourself a true Beatles fan…you MUST own this book!

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