At the time it seemed as though the press had a moratorium on publishing accounts of their behaviour on tour. I've read tales of journalists being extremely aware of the band's indiscretions (and sometimes involved) but opting not to write about them. And although Braun doesn't go into too many specifics, he gives a fascinating insight on what they were really like.
Hunter Davies' biography from only a few years later was authorised, and as such was heavily sanitised. John Lennon recognised this, and in an interview with Jann Wenner in the early 70s pretty much described the book as being a work of fiction. Braun's book, on the other hand, rips the curtain open and portrays the boys as real humans, real personalities who are more than their caricatured personas.
"That was a true book," Lennon said. "He wrote about how we were, which was bastards … You have to be a bastard to make it, man. That's a fact, and the Beatles were the biggest bastards on earth."

Edgewater Inn, anyone?
But Lennon was on the right track. Braun's book certainly goes further than the others. Music papers generally ignored the existence of this book. The 1995 reprint with a foreword by Mark Lewisohn was the first time many fans even became aware of it. Me? I accidentally stumbled across the 1964 edition only a few months ago. I'm embarrassed I'd never sought it out before.
A Hard Day's Night was a loving, photoshop of a day in the life of a Beatle. On the other hand, Love Me Do: The Beatles' Progress is a raw, grainy polaroid of the same moment in time.
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