September 4-10, 2003

artpicks

Larry Kane

by Sam Adams

Books

Known as "the dean of Philadelphia television anchors" (it says so right there on the dust jacket), Larry Kane has been dining out on his experience covering The Beatles' only U.S. tour for close to 40 years. Now, it's time for dessert. Ticket to Ride (Running Press) bundles Kane's recollections of 1964 and '65, when, as a 21-year-old news director for a Miami radio station, he was invited to be the only American on The Beatles' press bus. More than an awestruck fan, Kane paints himself as a skeptical tyke in a gray flannel suit: Of his first meeting with John Lennon, Kane recalls being chided for dressing like a "fag ass," and retorting, "Well, it's better than looking scruffy and messed up like you." Such contentious moments are few and far between, though; comments from Kane's interviews (also excerpted on an enclosed CD) tend to be of the "good to be here" variety, not even displaying much of the famous wit the band often unleashed on unsuspecting journos. What you wouldn't give for more than a snippet of the anti-Vietnam War tirade loosed on Kane by a weary Lennon, rather than McCartney insisting, "We are The Beatles. That's what we are." Given that the band distinguished themselves early on by their ability to answer questions without actually answering them (thus paving the way for the likes of Thom Yorke), it's not surprising that Ticket to Ride doesn't get further below the surface, but the world needs more unrevealing Beatles tomes like Albert Hall needs another hole.

Larry Kane reads Thu., Sept. 4, 7 p.m., free, Free Library of Philadelphia, 19th and Vine sts., 215-686-5322.

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