Geoff Emerick was only 15 years old when he began working with the Beatles as assistant engineer for their early classics I Want to Hold Your Hand and She Loves You. Incredibly, at the age of 19, he was promoted to full engineer, taking the helm for the group's groundbreaking album Revolver. Ten months later, he joined forces with the Beatles for the recording of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, hailed by Rolling Stone as the greatest album ever made. In their constant quest for experimentation and new sounds, and despite the technical limitations of the pre-digital age, Emerick developed a slew of innovative recording techniques, many of which are still in use today.
In Here, There, and Everywhere, Emerick tells his story for the first time, taking the listener through the hallowed (though somewhat dingy) corridors of Abbey Road Studios to give rare insights into the Beatles' unique creative processes and personalities and provide a behind-the-scenes look at how the greatest band of all time made their greatest records. As Emerick describes the Beatles' transformation from wide-eyed Liverpool teenagers into tour-savvy professionals, he provides a startling picture of the Fab Four.
Fascinating and moving, Here, There, and Everywhere illuminates the creative tensions within the band that fueled their early success, but would ultimately lead them to record in separate studios while the partnership was disintegrating.
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"Priceless treasure trove of Beatles engineering, musical, psychological, and gossipy tidbits, written by the greatest engineer of pop music, who was instrumental in creating Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's, and Abbey Road. Also a great window into the Abbey Road recording culture of the 60s and recording history in general. He comes off as an amiable guy with excellent ears, good will, and a great memory. None of the Beatles escape quite unscathed, but it's nice to see them described as normal moody human beings, and besides, Emerick clearly is bursting with admiration for them.. really brings the music back to life no matter how many times you've heard it, and makes you feel the excitement that was in the studio as they made music history -- especially the chapters on Sgt. Pepper's, which I still adamantly argue (against the 'Revolverist' revisionists) was the Beatles' creative peak--and probably the peak pop album of all time, yes, which sadly puts me in agreement with the totally annoying boomer bible, Rolling Stone. Good companion books: The Beatles Recording Sessions (I think it's called that, by Lewisohn & Emerick), and that huge fat catalog of all the Beatles recording gear and how it was used."
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Anton (4 out of 5 stars)