For storytelling, this two-volume, 1,021-page effort can't compete with Philip Norman's recent Shout!—but then again it doesn't really try. Instead, it's a compilation of words and music to 211 songs recorded by the Beatles as a group from 1962 to 1970, together with biographies, pictures, anecdota and a discography. Depending upon one's musical abilities; the simple guitar-piano arrangements are either blessedly accessible or disappointingly unadorned. But much of the trivia, particularly the musical history by David Fricke, is wonderful. What was the original title of Yesterday? (Scrambled Egg). What did Ringo use for a drum on Words of Love? (a packing case). What was John Lennon's assessment of himself? "Part of me thinks I'm a loser and the other part of me thinks I'm God Almighty." That may seem a bit grandiose, but few could disagree with arranger Milton Okun's bottom line: "The Beatles resurfaced the mirror in which we see ourselves." (Delilah/ATV/Bantam; $39.90)
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