Scholarship surrounding The Beatles—that’s the four-member 1960s rock ’n’ roll group out of Liverpool, England—is a well-saturated market. But that didn’t slow down local music writer Mark Brickley.
Brickley, who has penned articles for Deep Magazine, The Coastal View News, and Noozhawk, fell in love with The Beatles’ music as a teenager. But it wasn’t until after years in music journalism, with interviews and research amassed, that he was ready to write a book about the legendary rock band.
“I thought I would really like to contribute something new to their legacy and their anthology,” he said. “That’s how the book kind of formed in my mind.”
The new book, Postcards from Liverpool, with the subtitle, Beatles Moments & Memories, is a collection of interesting tidbits about the lives of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, along with the instruments, techniques, and styles they pulled from to create their signature sound.
The book is organized into different sections, Brickley explained, titled “Backstories,” “Moments,” “Memories,” and “Postscripts.”
“I wanted it to flow like a song, like a ’60s song with an introduction,” he said. “There’s a bridge section, which keeps the story flowing and readable.”
There are plenty of interesting tidbits that Beatles diehards will find informative and amusing, but there’s also some interviews that Brickley conducted with artists of notable connections to the band.
There are interviews with Jackie Lomax, who recorded on Apple Records in the ’60s; Ron McNeill, the founder of the tribute group Fab Four; and English songwriter Mitch Murray.
“Lomax said that every artist that came after The Beatles was influenced by them, and that’s so true,” Brickley said. “Every artist that I’ve interview takes it back to The Beatles and how they were either their muse, musical inspiration, or the template for developing their own songwriting skills.”
There are a few moments in the book when Brickley got to see the last living Beatles—Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr—in person. Brickley attended McCartney’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, when the British singer/songwriter had his name enshrined on the sidewalk in downtown Hollywood.
Brickley even got to ask a couple of questions of Starr at a Grammy Museum exhibition press conference.
“I had a question I had prepared,” he said. “You never know what you’re going to get, and he gave me a great response. He was laughing, he was just a friendly guy.”
Much of Postcards from Liverpool details Brickley’s own adventure to England, exploring places like Penny Lane and the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where The Beatles got their start. All those places, like the music and the four musicians who created it, drew Brickley in and drove him to write the book, he said.
“It’s something that had a life of its own,” he said. “It was a force that I just kind of went with, it just compelled me to try and write something about The Beatles in my own voice. I just wanted to put something out there that was new and fresh and interesting to me and hopefully other people.”
Managing Editor Joe Payne’s favorite Beatle is George Harrison. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 6, 2017.
