Neil Fein's Blog

Ticket to Ride: Inside the Beatles' 1964 & 1965 Tours That Changed the World
by Larry Kane

KANE: John, rumors have it you asked [security if you could] wave out the window.
LENNON: Well, it's the least we could do. We're going to ask today to wave. They won't let us wave. They worry it will incite the crowd.

Larry Kane is without a doubt converted to one of the more recent schools of thought in journalism, that sees the detached observer as a myth. No journalist can be a fly on the wall, particularly in an age where tape recorders were the size of small briefcases. The man is a fan, as well as an excellent writer and a sharp observer. This is the first Beatle book I've read that insisted I read it all, now.

On the Beatles' 1964 and 1965 tours, the band travelled by bus and airplane, and a small circle of journalists travelled with them, feeding "exclusives" and what we'd now call sound bytes back to their stations and papers. Much is made of the fact the Mr. Kane was the only journalist to travel with the entirety of both North American tours. While he is a respected journalist, and his other stories are mentioned in passing, he has become known as that reporter who traveled with the Fab Four to a ridiculous degree.

Nevertheless, the authour does have a balanced viewpoint, an appropriately bland voice. When the material is magical, the narrator must of neccesity ground the story by countering the tone.

The chapters with stories of teen fans who would do anything at all to even meet a Beatle for a moment or three make up for this. Ticket to Ride also shows us just how deadly mobs can be, and just how many times the entire tour was almost cancelled in the wake of fan violence. The Beatles truly did hang by a thread in their early days. Perhaps they later felt a lack, and manufactured their own tensions within the group to serve the purpose. While there are few overarching narratives extending beyond a chapter or two, the story of Mr. Kane himself serves as a tenuous framework grounding the fantasyland of the tours in the tidings of radio ratings, career climbers, and handguns.

The Beatles need no introduction, of course. Insert your favorite sort of fawning paragraph indicating their achievements and influence on popular music, and we'll consider this a done deal.

Stories of the tour are legion, of course, and most center around the fans. Looking at films of screaming fans, the girls and boys in the audiences looks faintly embarassing to fans in the Noughties. But these kids didn't grow up with the musical, lyrical and political sophistriation that John, Paul, George, and Ringo gave to popular culture. It would seem we're long overdue for another muse, considering the vacuous state of most modern music.

John, Paul, George, and Ringo. We hear the names a lot, and always in that order. Mr. Kane noticed that, when he addressed the lads as a foursome, they had established their own pecking sequence in keeping with the politics within the group, and they invariably would respond in order. Observations as perceptive as these are impressive, but they are too few, alas.

Whatever the flaws of this book, they are minor in compariton to its merits. Mr. Kane had a wonderful story to tell, and, like the Liverpool lads themselves, he cleverly told the parts of it that leave the reader wanting to hear more. it's a wonderfully seductive volume, and a highly rewarding one.

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