The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of The Beatles
| Author |
Peter Brown Steven Gaines |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | The Beatles |
| Publisher |
Macmillan (1983) Pan Books (1984) |
|
Publication date
|
February 1983 |
| Pages | 448 393 (Pan version) |
| ISBN | ISBN (Pan) |
The Love You Make: An Insider's Story of the Beatles is a 1983 book by Peter Brown and Steven Gaines. Brown was personal assistant to the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, a senior executive at Apple Corps, as well as best man to John Lennon at the latter's wedding to Yoko Ono in March 1969.
In a 1983 interview, Peter Brown said that, having turned down all previous offers to share his recollections of the Beatles, he had decided to write a book in 1979 because of the many inaccurate accounts that had been published. He said he contacted the four former band members that year, and that they each agreed "it was a good idea to do a definitive book once and for all and get it all over [with]; then we could forget about it."
The Love You Make covers the period from the Beatles' teenage years, through Beatlemania and the group's break-up, until after Lennon's murder in December 1980. A large portion of the text is devoted to Lennon and Epstein, particularly to the latter's homosexuality. Brown presents an at-times unflattering picture of the individual Beatles; he depicts Lennon as lacking in kindness, belittles George Harrison's quest for spiritual enlightenment, and portrays Paul McCartney as self-serving and insincere. In his overview of the most popular books about the group, in The Rough Guide to the Beatles, Chris Ingham writes that Brown's account focuses on "the seamier side of The Beatles' story" and was viewed as being "nothing short of betrayal" by the surviving former band members.
The Love You Make was published in the United States in February 1983. Late in January, as a result of one of Brown's revelations, the British tabloid The Sun published an article about McCartney having fathered an illegitimate child in 1964 – a story about which the press had long been aware but had previously lacked corroboration. After Brown sent a copy of his book to Paul and Linda McCartney, the couple ceremoniously burnt it, with Linda photographing the event.
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