But'London Calling' is sort of his masterpiece, and although not historically perfect (some names are wrong, or the wrong artist with the wrong piece), he captures something more important, and that is the life blood of various countercultural youth movements from post-war London to now.

Miles has written biographies on American Beat Greats, as well as his own memoir of London life during the Sixties. He was also a close associate of Paul McCartney in the mid to late 1960's, as well as a co-writer on McCartney's interesting memoir. Which is American Beat/British Hippie/pop music cultural life. I guess one can consider him as a cultural historian, but he also witnessed many aspects of his own field of interest. There's a few promising new voices on the horizon but they tend to do podcasts.I'm a long term Barry Miles fan. I really wish young, new Beatles fans would tackle the subject. My issue with most Beatles biographers is that they have all sorts of personal baggage they bring with them (namely that they've been life-long diehard fans, have a firm favourite Beatle and are entrenched in some outdated ways of thinking) which unduly influences the way they present their subject. Other biographers either misrepresent the details or get them wrong (ahem.Norman!). He does manage to shed a little light on most subjects but ultimately, Paul has a tendency to gloss over the details. The other chapters that are well worth the read are those detailing his stay with the Ashers - absolutely fascinating with a good dose of humour, and a massive learning curve for Paul. He doesn't shy away from his 'reputation' either and gives you a pretty good idea of the free love vibe that was going on. He paints a compelling portrait of the cultural, social and political atmosphere of the time and the book is worth reading for that alone. One of the best aspects of MYFN is Paul's perspective of London in the early 1960s.

However, there isn't much else that can compare I'm afraid. It's part biography part autobiography so you're not going to get the balance you want. The best go-to McCartney biography is Many Years From Now. I happen to think he's misunderstood by many Beatles fans, too. Click to expand.I can't claim to have read them all, but from what I have read, there is no completely satisfactory Paul biography out there and certainly not one that manages a nuanced, sensitive, yet critical analysis of him.īiographers on the whole don't 'get' Paul.

Paul McCartney by Barry Miles