HOWZAT

John comes out of Cyn’s story as weak, always refusing to face problems or unpleasantness, dominated by Yoko. Cyn draws a neat comparison with the domineering Aunt Mimi — suggesting that John had married his aunt. That would have made John laugh — and Yoko will probably scream when she reads it.

Paul comes out of it well. He buys a love letter from John to her and Julian, which Cyn had sold when she was hard up. Paul gives it back, nicely framed. He also sticks by her when most of John’s friends desert, arriving one day with a song he has written for Julian — Hey Jules, which turns into Hey Jude.

All Beatles fans will be interested in the book, the best in recent years to include first-hand accounts, but in the end it’s a sad story. She was in love with John, no question, but she says now that if she had known as a teenager what falling in love with John would lead to she would have walked away. That rings true, even though in the first book she said the opposite, that she was grateful and wouldn’t have missed it.

Tony Barrow, who was press officer to the Fab Four (a phrase he says he coined), has also written extensively about his Beatles connections over the years. He hasn’t much new, but he writes well and with authority, and John, Paul, George, Ringo and Me will be an invaluable source for all Beatles Brains, especially on the early performances, tours and records. It has gone into pop legend that Decca turned down the Beatles — but EMI turned them down first, a fact that Epstein kept quiet. Anne Collingham of the Beatles Fan Club, whose signed letters I treasure to this day, turns out not to have existed. Curses.

Barrow is hard on Cynthia, dismissing John’s relationship with her as “shallow”, which, alas, is probably what John himself eventually thought. He describes John reducing Epstein to tears by grabbing him by the testicles. His view, denied by Cyn, is that it was John whom Epstein always fancied.

He also names the girl who was in Paul’s house when Jane Asher, to whom Paul was engaged, suddenly returned home — and Jane flounced off, for ever. Barrow’s theory is that this girl was a set-up by Paul, to make Jane walk out, as he was already in love with Linda, which seems a bit far-fetched to me.

Tony Bramwell, who was also connected with the Beatles from their early Liverpool days, beginning as Epstein’s office boy and moving on to working with Apple, tries hard to make what personal knowledge he did have go a long way, but he has produced a fairly hefty, well-researched book. And it did make me smile. In fact, I laughed aloud at some of his illustrations. Two pages are devoted to his 1960s address book — proving that he did once have the Beatles’ home addresses. Well done, Tone.

So whose Beatles memoirs would I still like to read? Jane Asher’s, Paul’s girlfriend for five years, during his most creative period. I can’t recall a Beatly word from her in 40 years. And Neil Aspinall, the Beatles’ first roadie, now running Apple. He really does know where all the skeletons are, but has always remained silent. Come on Neil, do share.

Hunter Davies’s The Beatles, the only authorised biography, is published by Cassell. Titles reviewed are available at Books First prices of £18 (Cynthia Lennon), £15.29 (Barrow) and £13.49 on 0870 165 8585

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