When They Were Boys

from my Good Reads review of When They Were Boys by Larry Kane. I gave it a 3 star rating based on Good Reads system (I liked it.) 

"I say to you, Larry, here in 1965, that the children of 2000 will be listening to the Beatles." Author, journalist, Larry Kane, traveled with the Beatles' "North American tour in 1964, 1965, and part of 1966." In case you missed that, Mr. Kane will repeat the info multiple times throughout his memoir: When They Were Boys: The True Story of the Beatles' Rise to the Top Skip the long introduction. If so inclined, read the introduction later, to refresh your memory. It will give you long summaries of everything you just read. Reading the book is a bit like listening to someone with Alzheimer's disease ~ too much repetition. At one point I thought I had accidentally scrolled back Kindle pages because I knew I already read "this." No, just more repeating of info. Chapters begin with quotes. The quotes are then repeated in the paragraphs. The story is told in Parts. Most Parts begin with a hard to decipher paragraph, describing events of the time period. "The prince walked down the steps," was meaningless to me. Was Kane trying to be cute or clever or sounding like he was under the influence when he wrote such drivel? Was he imitating someone else's style? Who knows. I enjoyed reading most of the book's stories and learned some things about the group I had not heard previously. "Gator Bowl football stadium Jacksonville Florida concert was to be segregated.  Paul said, 'Well , that's rubbish. Tell them we  are not going to player there if Negroes are seated separately." (1964) The others agreed and the stadium was integrated for the show.  Paul also said that "It's all stupid to me," about discrimination. I neglected to record who said they "would never be remembered as a dance band." I liked the Beatles when they first hit the scene because there songs had a good beat and were easy to dance to. I stopped liking them when they went what I thought "all psychedelic." May years later I came to appreciated the Beatles again.  I used to watch Philadelphia news with Larry Kane; did not know he toured and wrote about the Fab Four.  In the U.S. of A. we have Boomers. In Britain the post war population explosion was called the Bulge generation. I had to research winkle-picker and winkle-creeper shoe and Teddy Boy style of clothing.  I had to search videos of Rory Storm (Alan Caldwell,) The Chants (Ankrah) (not many of those), George Formby, and Lonnie Donegan.  I did know the song "When Your Chewing Gum Loses Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight," but did not know the artist or recall ever seeing Lonnie perform all those years ago.  I wonder if the teens of 2022 listen to the Beatles. I doubt if my granddaughter (the one who likes reading) would be interested in When They Were Boys, but it would be a decent start to learning about the mop heads rise to fame.