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Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans Hardcover – November 14, 2023
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The first full-length biography of Mal Evans, the Beatles’ beloved friend, confidant, and roadie.
Malcolm Evans, the Beatles’ long-time roadie, personal assistant, and devoted friend, was an invaluable member of the band’s inner circle. A towering figure in horn-rimmed glasses, Evans loomed large in the Beatles’ story, contributing at times as a performer and sometime lyricist, while struggling mightily to protect his beloved “boys.” He was there for the whole of the group’s remarkable, unparalleled story: from the Shea Stadium triumph through the creation of the timeless cover art for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the famous Let It Be rooftop concert.
Leaving a stable job as telecommunications engineer to serve as road manager for this fledgling band, Mal was the odd man out from the start—older, married with children, and without any music business experience. And yet he threw himself headlong into their world, traveling across the globe and making himself indispensable.
In the years after the Beatles’ disbandment, Big Mal continued in their employ as each embarked upon solo careers. By 1974, he was determined to make his name as a songwriter and record producer, setting off for a new life in Los Angeles, where he penned his memoirs. But in January 1976, on the verge of sharing his book with the world, Evans’s story came to a tragic end during a domestic standoff with the LAPD.
For Beatles devotes, Mal’s life and untimely death have always been shrouded in mystery. For decades, his diaries, manuscripts, and vast collection of memorabilia was missing, seemingly lost forever…until now.
Working with full access to Mal’s unpublished archives and having conducted hundreds of new interviews, Beatles’ scholar and author Kenneth Womack affords readers with a full telling of Mal’s unknown story at the heart of the Beatles’ legend. Lavishly illustrated with unseen photos and ephemera from Mal’s archives, Living the Beatles’ Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans is the missing puzzle piece in the Fab Four’s incredible story.
- Print length592 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDey Street Books
- Publication dateNovember 14, 2023
- Dimensions6 x 1.73 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100063248522
- ISBN-13978-0063248526
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From the Publisher
Working with full access to Mal's unpublished archives and having conducted hundreds of new interviews, Beatles scholar and author Kenneth Womack affords readers with a full telling of Mal's unknown story at the heart of the Beatles' legend.
Including never-before-seen photos and ephemera
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Mal's drawing of the Abbey Road cover shoot |
John, Mal, and Paul backstage at Munich's Circus-Krone-Bau |
John's letter endorsing Mal's memoirs |
Editorial Reviews
Review
"A Holy Grail for fans, offering an extended look into the band." — People Magazine
"Womack's account is full of thrilling moments. Devoted fans of the band will find much to cheer about." — Publishers Weekly
"Almost 50 years later, after the manuscript and other materials were discovered languishing in a storage basement by a publishing temp and returned to Evans’s family with Yoko Ono’s help, Kenneth Womack has finished the job with rigor and care." — New York Times
"Womack has woven a portrait full of complex threads that lead everywhere and, near the end of Evans' life, nowhere. The devout dedication to 'his boys,' his obsession with Westerns and guns, abandoning his wife Lily and children Gary and Julie for weeks and months on end as he ate, drank, slept, and drugged around the world . . . to finally the gut-wrenching, horrific conclusion to his life that, until now, has become the stuff of legend. This book is just amazing." — Q
"Womack’s book is a celebration—not just of Evans, but of all the unsung supporting characters who make creative life possible. . . . It removes the cloud of mythology that often shrouds the Beatles’ story and reminds us that their superstardom was by no means predestined." — The Guardian
"Like discovering the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Womack’s exclusive access to Evans’ unpublished archives, diaries, self-recorded notes, unfinished autobiographical manuscripts, and previously unseen pictures (along with numerous new interviews) conveys another view of the Beatles’ stunning history." — Culture Sonar
"With Living the Beatles Legend, Womack has shined an enormous light on a Beatles adjunct whose enormous contribution and heart-rending personal story has not been told until now." — Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Womack's Living the Beatles Legend is packed with behind-the-scenes stories spanning the band’s career and beyond [and] illustrated with rarely seen photographs and pages from the diaries of Malcolm Evans, their road manager and right-hand man, whose tragic story is itself fascinating." — Washington Review of Books
About the Author
Kenneth Womack is one of the world’s foremost writers and thinkers about the Beatles. In addition to such titles as Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles (2007), the Cambridge Companion to the Beatles (2009), and The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four (2014), he is the author of a two-volume biography devoted to the life and work of Beatles producer George Martin, including Maximum Volume (2017) and Sound Pictures (2018). His book, Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles (2019), was feted as the go-to book by the Los Angeles Times for readers interested in learning about the band’s swan song. His most recent book, entitled John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life John, was published in September 2020.
Womack serves as the Music Culture critic for Salon, as well as a regular contributor to a host of print and web outlets, including Slate, Billboard, Time, Variety, The Guardian, USA Today, The Independent, NBC News, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Womack also serves as the Founding Editor of Interdisciplinary Literary Studies: A Journal of Criticism and Theory, published by Penn State University Press, and as Co-Editor of the English Association’s Year’s Work in English Studies, published by Oxford University Press. Over the years, he has shared his work with public libraries and community organizations across the nation, as well as with audiences at Princeton University, Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, the Grammy Museum Experience, and the 92nd Street Y. He has also served as an expert commentator for ABC’s 20/20 and NBC’s Access Hollywood.
Product details
- Publisher : Dey Street Books (November 14, 2023)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 592 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0063248522
- ISBN-13 : 978-0063248526
- Item Weight : 1 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.73 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #17,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6 in The Beatles
- #43 in Rock Band Biographies
- #222 in Actor & Entertainer Biographies
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Kenneth Womack is a world-renowned authority on the Beatles and their enduring cultural influence. His Beatles-related books include a two-volume biography devoted to famed producer Sir George Martin; Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles; John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life; and All Things Must Pass Away: Harrison, Clapton, and Other Assorted Love Songs. Womack is also the author of five novels, including John Doe No. 2 and the Dreamland Motel, The Restaurant at the End of the World, Playing the Angel, I Am Lemonade Lucy!, and The Time Diaries.
everythingfabfour.com
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I think the hardcover version is lovely and found the 514+ pages of text captivatingly easy to read. Many of the photographs have never been seen before, capturing intimate (and surprising) moments with Mal and the Beatles. I would, however, love to see these photos in color. I greatly look forward to Volume 2 of this project, which hopefully will include more of Mel’s original writings as well as color photographs!
I also got the E-book (for searching purposes), and loved listening to the Audiobook version! The Foreward alone -- written and read by Mal’s son, Gary Evans – is very moving and worth the purchase price of the Audiobook.
In addition to the frenzy of early Beatlemania, this book allows Mal to take the reader inside his many adventures, including the spiritual journey to Rishikesh India, cruising the Greek Islands, a Learjet jaunt to the Rocky Mountains with Paul McCartney, parties at the iconic Friar Park manor, mingling with fans outside EMI Recording Studios (now known as “Abbey Road”), on the set of Frank Zappa’s movie (also featuring Ringo and Keith Moon), and behind the scenes at the epic concert for Bangladesh with “George Harrison and Friends,” to name but a few. Mal’s writings show him to be a very creative, sensitive man who struggled when his compulsion to follow his passions (i.e., the Beatles and their individual pursuits) conflicted with obligations to his wife and children back in England.
Author Ken Womack delves deep into the period preceding Mal’s shocking death in 1976, with insightful interviews of Mal’s live-in LA girlfriend, Francine Hughes, providing some much-needed perspective into how such a violent end could have unfolded. In addition, I was fascinated by the detailed story of how Mal’s long-missing memoirs were eventually rescued by some surprising heroes. I hope we get to see much more of what was in those missing boxes in the very near future!
Mal’s story is a bit sad. He is a loving person and with Neal Aspinall, they are the true 5th and 6th Beatles. Their contributions are immeasurable, and they were true friends.
It is very easy to get attached to Mal in this book. He was not always treated well by the Beatles and their management. He was paid almost nothing to do the important job of being the Beatles security.
I will probably read again in the very near future.
I was a Beatles Fan back in the early 1960s.
I read everything about them that I could get my hands on. The magazines and newspapers carried stories of the glory of being the Top. How exciting!
But that was all part of the hype.
The Beatles were really just four young men learning how grow up in spite of their new found fame. They were just people, like you and I.
They had the good fortune to have Brian Epstein as their Manager, and Mal Evans who did the heavy lifting for them. He was always there for them, often leaving his wife and children alone for long periods of time.
This book reveals what that life was like.
The story is fascinating, and yet bittersweet.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to grasp a better understanding of just who these people were/are.
As you read this book, it would be wise to have some tissues ready in case it should rain.
I’ve been a Beatles fan from day one! (I’m 68 yrs. young!)
But, other than Yoko having a hand in making sure these diaries got published, not a lot of ground breaking news here.
It tells the story of how each Beatle felt about Mel, both while the Beatles were together and beyond- at least until Mal’s untimely death in 1976.
It also thoroughly explains how Mal helped such groups as Badfinger.
In my opinion, Mal was the 5th Beatle! He knew and did all from beginning to end.
I gave it 4 stars because most pics in the book are newspaper quality.
Top reviews from other countries
• The legacy of the greatest band in history remains as strong as ever
• Beatles are the shakespeare of popular music
• They’ve given the world a huge amount of enjoyment..
• the Beatles the big bang of 20th Century culture
That's why I read this book of Mal, unfortunately no longer with us
I managed to read some 100 pages, then browsed it to the end and will never finish it. 60 pages of references in the end too....