BOOK REVIEW: My Kid Brother's Band: aka The Beatles. - by Louise Harrison.

TITLE: My Kid Brother's Band: aka The Beatles
AUTHOR: Louise Harrison
PUBLISHED BY: Acclaim Press

Louise Harrison's book gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Fab Four during the 1960s and beyond. There isn’t much published about Beatle George’s family history; John and Paul have been widely written about but George and Ringo lesser so. This book by George’s sister, Louise somewhat puts that to rights.

For those readers expecting an anthology of George’s life, they will be disappointed; it is her story and as she says is “interwoven with her experiences and perspectives as the only biological sister of any Beatle”. The book is mainly about Louise’s life and is her memoire interlaced with anecdotes and references to brother, George, whilst putting to rights some of the inaccurate accounts and myths about George and his family. Louise recounts her own life and relates it to how close she was with her brother and how invested she was in his career during The Beatles' early years whilst she was living in the USA.

As older sister to three brothers, Louise’s life ran parallel to George's in his younger years and she recounts her time with him and her brothers when they were children growing up in Liverpool. As a scouser myself, all the places I know and am familiar with are given a mention, such as the Mersey Tunnel, the Pier Head, the river Mersey ferries, local parks Sefton and Calderstones, local stores Blackers and T. J. Hughes, and the district she lived in at that time, Wavertree. The famous Jerome’s photography studio gets a mention, where all portrait photographs were taken at that time; I still have mine taken there when I was a toddler and those of my grandparents from the 1900s.

The 80-plus-year-old author recalls her upbringing and family life in Liverpool before she settled in the USA with her husband. Memories of post-war Liverpool and experiences during the blackout are included, and, as George’s father had been a steward in the Merchant Navy, (as was mine), she describes his time spent working away from the family. It is a nostalgic read of a loving, close-knit family and one I’m sure Louise enjoyed remembering and recounting for the book.

Louise’s story is well written and easy to read; it flows quite well except for repetition at times plus she uses this opportunity to give many of her own personal opinions on politics, religion and her philosophical beliefs, but she does give readers a heads-up warning that not everyone is going to agree with her, so readers are well prepared to be offended, or not.  

Most Beatles' fans may be disappointed with the book as Louise makes it clear that she has respected George’s privacy and will not tell all; but that withstanding, the book does have interesting stories about John, Paul, George and Ringo, mainly from when Louise accompanied The Beatles to many of their shows during their 1964-1965 tours of USA.

This memoire also recounts Louise’s adult life in Canada, Peru, and various places in the USA. She reflects on her involvement to promote The Beatles during their early years. She gives a rare glimpse of George, often portrayed as the "shy" Beatle, but who was really a sensitive, fun-loving and caring person much influenced by the ‘Harrison Hug’, something all of the family practised and appreciated through their lives.

She writes about meeting famous people on her travels such as Prince Phillip, President Clinton and Ed Sullivan plus recounting memories of George's visit to her home in Illinois a few months before the British musical invasion into USA, with accompanying photographs along with cherished family pics, all in black and white. Reproductions of mail correspondence between herself and record companies such as EMI, Capitol Records and NEMS plus others makes interesting reading.

This book is not all about The Beatles and for me that is a plus as there are many books just about The Beatles and their time together; it is an enjoyable, conversational book which as such differs from traditional books about The Beatles in a good way.

However, I must take umbrage with the title of the book as it is somewhat misleading. This book is an autobiography of Louise Harrison rather than the story of her kid brother's band and as such it may have been more appropriate to have been titled to reflect this. Additionally, I was disappointed that letters George wrote to his sister weren’t included in the book as I have enjoyed reading and listening to many of them online.

That being said, the book is informative, entertaining and revealing; I was surprised to learn of Louise’s contribution to the start of The Beatles' careers and their popularity in America as I was unaware of this. It appears that Louise never benefitted from her brother's fame as a Beatle although he did look after her financially over the years; evidence of her hard work on The Beatles' behalf before they made it big in the USA is demonstrated in the book.

It was a joy to read Louise’s life story, her part in The Beatles' musical journey and share her memories of Liverpool and her younger days with George, often labelled the quiet, shy Beatle but who Louise cites as the fun-loving, spiritual person she was lucky enough to have as her brother.

Reviewer - Anne Pritchard.