I find it laughable that he gets criticised for his views. The Rubber Soul critique I disagree with, but Geoff’s allowed to not like it much! I understand him more on the White Album. I don’t think it sounds as sonically or fresh as say, Revolver does. Of all the Beatles albums, it’s the one that’s benefited the most from Remastering (again, just my opinion). He’s allowed not to like it. Lennon dislikes And your Bird Can Sing, and is at best lukewarm on Abbey Road. Again, he’s also allowed to have these views!

As to the pro-McCartney thing, well, it’s obvious that Macca and him were more on the same wavelength from the start. McCartney seems to have understood just how much talent Geoff had, and cultivated that talent. However, McCartney doesn’t come off scot-free, as numerous sources tell us, McCartney was slow to credit others for their efforts, hence Geoff not getting an actually engineering credit on Sgt Pepper. I’m not saying Macca is perfect, but Geoff found him the easiest to work with and Macca wanted him on his solo stuff. Geoff’s allowed to say he got on best with him!

Likewise, Geoff paints the band as they were from his perspective. John Lennon had many sides and there are numerous sources of him being rather unpleasant. Surely most fans know this? Do the examples of Lennon being unpleasant to Geoff in the book sound out of character? Nope. To be fair he also has a few nice moments. More interestingly he confirms how Lennon was untechnical and lacked production ideas and needed help. McCartney, George Martin and the recording nous of Geoff Emerick gave him that help, and he flourished. This isn’t belittling Lennon, but it’s a nonsense to say that Lennon could have done it all alone. McCartney needed similar support. This book will only disappoint those who think Lennon and McCartney were omnipotent. If one looks at the uneven solo careers of both lead Beatles, we can see how much they missed the support network of the (extended )Beatle family.

As for Harrison, George’s own biographer Graeme Thomson confirms much of what Emerick says about how standoffish he could be to those not in his circle of trust. I doubt George would have disagreed with Emerick or even cared much. Thomson, alongside Ian MacDonald and George Harrison himself, confirm the minimal role he would take on albums such as Sgt Pepper. That McCartney superseded Harrison at times is pretty much fact. That Emerick thinks McCartney the more talented, is his opinion. If he is unsympathetic to George, well so was George Martin. George Martin pays lips service to Harrison, but he too obviously favoured McCartney.

Rather than criticising, it’s probably more logical to try and understand why? McCartney was (arguably) the best musician and, perhaps crucially for a producer and engineer, he found it far easier to convey what he wanted production wise. Lennon, found it extraordinarily difficult to convey production ideas: see Strawberry Fields Forever as the best example. Harrison took a laboured approach. It’s easy to see why McCartney is both Geoff and George’s favourite. Likewise, he was the most committed to the Beatles post 67. Both Harrison and Lennon having had enough far earlier. In this context, it must have been easier working with McCartney from Emerick’s perspective. Read some Peter Doggett’s account on Apple and in another context for a different view of Paul.

As for Ringo, he was a talented drummer, but he himself confirms that he spent most of Pepper learning to play Chess and felt his role was reduced once they stopped being a touring band. His lack of sympathy for Ringo post Beatles (and the madness of Apple) makes sense in context. As Beatles fans we romantically this it was all wonderful. Recording the White Album and especially Let it Be sounds horrible. The chaos of the break up of the Beatles and the aftermath don’t sound much fun. Emerick’s account fits in with what others report of this period, most notably Peter Doggett’s You Never Give Me Your Money.

The book is the observations and interpretations of one who WAS INDEED there. It’s a wonderful book.

“March 3, 2006

Dear Daytrippin’,

I must start of by thanking you for your efforts to bring the truth to the
fore. I have followed with interest the Bob Spitz biography debacle.
By way of an introduction my name is Ken Scott and I was honored and
privileged to work on a lot of recording sessions with the Beatles.
Being one of the few who got to see the Beatles record, up close and
personal, I have always been bothered by the many people who disseminate
false stories, always for a fast buck or some kind of ego boost. I have
been waiting for someone with legitimate credentials – like Geoff Emerick –
to come out, finally, with the true story. When his “Here, There and
Everywhere” was announced I was so happy. The truth would be told, finally,
I thought.

I was in for a big disappointment. I was one of the people interviewed for
Geoff’s book, as were many other former Abbey Road employees. We all came to
understand that these interviews were arranged because he had very little
recall of those days, and his co-author would use our memories to buttress
Geoff’s own meager memories.

Now, after reading his book, I KNOW how little he remembers. It appears we,
the interviewees, didn’t give enough, because much is clearly fabricated
stories, something made up to fill out the book.”

Here’s the whole letter with some examples of Emerick’s inaccuracies. And the list is not even close to being complete…
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.music.beatles/2006-04/msg00061.html

I myself have listened to the vocal track and while I have my own viewpoint I won’t state it here, because “paulsbass” ended up getting into such a heated argument with another commentator over this matter that Joe the administrator of this site decided to close that particular section of the comments. So I figure I’d better shut up before he does the same thing here.

Do fans who are rankled by Emerick’s view of George as an “economy class” Beatle also feel angst towards John & Paul for their same view of George? Emerick points out that J&P and George Martin himself didn’t take George that seriously, not at least until the Abbey Road sessions. You can feel angry at Emerick sure, but George himself admits that J&P’s egos and dominance over him kept him down.