Inside the dysfunctional last days of the Beatles, as they called each other ‘nasty’

All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words” (St. Martin’s Press), an illuminating page turner from former band aide Peter Brown and best-selling author Steven Gaines.The extensive oral history is made up of candid interviews with Gaines, captured in 1980-1981; a scheduled sit-down with Lennon never happened before his Dec.

8, 1980, assassination. Besides the surviving Beatles, the author spoke with the band’s wives, lovers, friends, business associates and hangers-on.“All You Need Is Love” is a sequel to the 1983 biography “The Love You Make: An Insider’s Story of the Beatles,” which gave an unprecedented look behind the curtain of their meteoric rise, groundbreaking run and toxic breakup — including drug use (amphetamines, marijuana, LSD, cocaine, heroin) and dalliances with prostitutes and groupies.This time around, the subjects paint a troubled portrait of how fame itself came to ruin the biggest band in the world.Starr offers a harrowing account of the Beatles’ 1966 tour in Manila where the band was “spat on” and nearly held hostage after turning down an invite by Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Imelda Marcos.“So we get to the plane, and there’s an announcement that our press man, Tony Barrow, and [road manager] Mal Evans had to get off the plane,” said Starr, adding a more disturbing layer to the often-told story.

“We thought, now they’re taking us off two by two to shoot us.”By the time the Beatles were done with the US leg of their ’66 tour they were cracking up.“We kept realizing we were getting bigger and bigger until we all realized we couldn’t go anywhere – you couldn’t pick up a paper or turn on a radio or TV without seeing yourself,” said Harrison. “It became too much.”The celebrated partnership of Lennon and McCartney is also examined, chronicling how the two close lads from Liverpool went from collaboratively penning such classics as “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “Eleanor Rigby” and “A Day In the Life” to waging an ugly battle over control of the group’s Apple company.“I suddenly had more Northern Songs shares than anybody,” admitted McCartney, referencing the duo’s song publishing company, “and it was like oops,