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With the Beatles

By Lewis H. Lapham

Publisher: Melville House

Date Published October 1, 2005

ISBN-10: 0976658321

There are some marvelous photos of the Beatles, many taken by Paul Saltzman who published them in his own book, The Beatles in Rishikesh.

Available now at Amazon.com USA

With the Beatles

It was the ultimate 1960s scene: the ashram in Rishikesh, India, where the Beatles, Donovan, Mia Farrow, a stray Beach Boy, and other 1960s icons gathered along the shores of the Ganges-amidst paisley and incense and flowers and guitars-to meditate at the feet of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The February 1968 gathering received such frenzied, worldwide attention that it is still considered a significant, early encounter between Western pop culture and the mystical East.

But what went on inside the compound has long been the subject of wild speculation and rampant rumor. The Beatles, for example, have said they wrote some of their greatest songs there . . . and yet they also came away bitterly disillusioned.

While dozens of reporters from around the world flew to the remote location to camp out at the entrance of the retreat, only one journalist was allowed inside: Lewis Lapham, now the esteemed editor of Harper's Magazine, then a reporter for The Saturday Evening Post, who was seen-along with Tom Wolfe-as one of the progenitors of the hip "Journalism."

Lapham's wry take on what he found inside the ashram won acclaim at the time, but here he includes some surprising material he's never written about before-from hysterically funny descriptions of the Maharishi's daily press conferences, to the high style demands of certain stars upon the hapless local tailor, to impromptu jam sessions and the true story behind the scandal that drove the Beatles out of Rishikesh and led to Lapham's eight-hour cab ride with Ringo Starr.

In Lapham's deft and vivid prose, With the Beatles is an exhilarating and surprisingly intimate look at one of the pivotal moments of pop culture and some of its leading figures.

Also available on Amazon.com

The Beatles in Rishikesh

Lewis Lapham. Publisher: Melville House (October 1, 2005)
In February 1968 The Beatles came to Rishikesh to study TM with Maharishi. During this time they wrote songs that were later to become the White Album. More about the Beatles in Rishikesh