Great writer - lazy reader

Mal Evans’ story his well worth hearing. He was a key part of the Fab Four’s shadow fab 4. Womack writes well, he’s weaved a compelling narrative from Mal’s fragments.

But, if you’re British, it’s torture, he mangles just about every place name he encounters, and I find myself shouting at the place names. He’s an academic, he should understand the importance of researching these things.

It doesn’t completely devalue the book. It’s a great book. But boy it’s irritating.

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2 people found this helpful

A fantastic untold story

Ken Womack is the master of the narrow angle Beatles book - with deep dives into specific periods and specific people a speciality (in contrast to Mark Lewisohn's comprehensive, detailed approach). Though the strokes are sometimes broad, there's a lot here now to enjoy - and access to Mal's own journals was the real driver of that.

One thing lets this down, and it's not a little thing. Womack's pronunciation of English place-names, Liverpool slang and unique words (like surnames) is so consistently bad that it's borderline disrespectful. It would not have taken long to flag difficult to pronounce names and to have checked with a consultant - any British person, basically. But Womack ignorantly and wilfully ploughs on with his invented pronunciation, suggesting that he literally does not care. It feels like at no point did he ask - "am I saying this right?" - which shows contempt for his audience and the Beatles' country of origin.

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4 people found this helpful

Grating American Narrator

This great story is totally ruined by the choice of narrator. The frequent mentions of ‘Burn Mouth’ and the ‘Grozvenor House’ suggest the American narrator hasn’t bothered to check his many mispronunciations and the editor hasn’t picked them up. I’ve only just started listening and the clumsy narration is already grating. There are so many great Audible narrators out there so I’m baffled as to why one with more empathy wasn’t chosen to tell Mal’s story more sensitively.

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A mixed bag

Mal's story is that of an ordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. There's lots if interest here especially for a Beatles fan. it's not brilliantly written but it retained my interest despite its rather excessive length. The narration was grating at times. Overall, I would recommend it.

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Very good book slightly spoiled by narration.

I have to agree with some of the other reviews regarding Womack's narration. Some of his pronunciations of British place names actually made me laugh out loud (not in a good way) and some proofreading would've been an idea (George Formby was NOT from Liverpool), but overall a very entertaining, well written tome.

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Fascinating story let down by appalling narration

Ken Womack writes in an engaging style, demonstrating the extensive research he has carried out on Mal Evans. He should therefore have the nous to let someone else narrate his book and this might have been a five star production. Unfortunately, he chose to read it himself and the result is at times painful for British listeners. He makes no attempt to pronounce place names with any accuracy and this seriously detracts from what should have been a wonderful listening experience. It's a real shame because the story he tells is fascinating. What a lost opportunity. In this case, I'd buy the book, unless one has no option but to listen.

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2 people found this helpful

Loads of info I’ve never heard before

Excellent informative story thoroughly enjoyed and learned so much about what went on behind the scenes when the Beatles were touring

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Interesting book wrecked by awful narration

I don’t know why the author chose to read the book himself - probably financial - but it ruined the book for me. The story of Mal Evan’s life and death is interesting and tragic but I wish I had read it rather than listening to the audible and suffering through a very British story told with a broad Texan accent. Norwich pronounced Nor-witch was a low point!

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Great content, but the narration is annoying

Loads of great detailed stories in the book, and more “warts and all” than other Beatles books I’ve read/listened to. Really well put together.

It should have been read by someone else though. The narration is really lifeless, with everything sounding the same.

Lots of mispronunciations of British place names are grating eg Burnmuth, Toks-teth, Gross-vener House.

Also, American terms such as “sophomore”, or referring to someone as weighing 250 pounds just wouldn’t be in anything Mal would have written.

The narration is a big part of the enjoyment of an audiobook. Mispronounced words should have been picked up, but a better narrator is the bigger issue.

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3 people found this helpful

A must for Beatles fans

Some great stories and insights to the history of the Beatles. Well written , would have preferred a Liverpool accent by the reader.

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