Book Review: 'With a Little Help From Their Friends: The Beatles and the People Who Made Them'

I'm not a big fan of "listicle" writing, particularly in book form, but "With a Little Help From Their Friends: The Beatles and the People Who Made Them," by BBC broadcaster (and host of the excellent "Freak Zone") Stuart Maconie makes good use of the format, providing mini-profiles of folks who, in one way or another, influenced the lives and careers of the Fab Four.

Maconie's list of 100 people ranges from the predictable (Fifth Beatles, Fifth Beatle candidates and various wives and lovers) to the relatively obscure (Peter Yolland? Robert Newman? Meta Davies? Shyamasundar Das?) to the left field (Imelda Marcos) with the author serving up the details in compelling fashion, with warmth and humor.

Along the way, he presents information not all of us may know (Das, the Hare Krishna member spotted in the background in Peter Jackson's "Get Back" is the author of a 1,400-page, unpublished memoir that includes details of his time living at the homes of George Harrison and John Lennon) and frames familiar information in thoughtful new ways. 

Writing about Lennon's uptight/upright Aunt Mimi, for example, Maconie notes that her out-of-character decision to give in and buy John a guitar "was a turning point for Mimi, for John, and for the rest of us." And he notes that without "the kindness and gentleness..support and encouragment" of Ringo's "sweet, gentle" step-dad, Harry Graves, "we might never have got th ringo who made the world happy with the toss of his head." 

Along the way, Maconie also reminds us that, of the Beatles, only George Harrison grew up in a traditional two-parent home and that Paul McCartney's widowed father, Jim, raised two young boys when he was in his early 50s. Writing with wit and economy, the author brings a humanity to the people who helped shape the famed musicians we think we now so well.

Not every piece is perfect. Maconie sometimes backs into a story in an odd way, such as when he begins the story of Peter Yolland, producer of the Beatles' Christmas Shows, with a long anecdote about the British sci-fi TV series "The Tomorrow People." And he occasionally overstates the influence of some of these people. Noting that, for example, without Imelda Marcos "there might not have been a Sgt. Pepper" is just silly.

But, as a whole, this is a fun read that may introduce you to some folks you didn't know, and which will get you thinking about the Beatles in new, different ways, which is always a good thing.

Hardcover, 368 pages.