Book Review — Ticket to Ride: Inside the Beatles’ 1964 Tour That Changed the World

In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ 1964 tour of America, Backbeat Books has republished Larry Kane’s insider’s view, Ticket to Ride. Just 21 years old, Larry was the only American reporter to accompany the band on their historic tour.

The Beatles fan can find many books out there that chronicle the group’s sad decline and breakup in agonizing detail. Larry Kane’s journal gives us a portrait of what even the biggest lover of Abbey Road would have to admit is the real Beatles: an alive, energetic, top-of-their-game rock and roll band at the moment they forever changed American music.

Larry strikes just the right everyman tone to put the reader right on the plane with the band. Included is a CD of some of Larry’s taped interviews. The book is loaded with fun anecdotes, photos – and the inside scoop about which Beatle covered Larry’s face with mashed potatoes and gravy as the reporter slept.