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Some of these anecdotes may be elementary to long-time fans, and none is particularly “mind blowing,” but I still find most of them fascinating and will continue adding.By the time the Beatles toured Europe and Japan in 1966, they’d grown tired of the constant travel and the screaming fans who made their concerts inaudible. John and George were especially sick of touring. Of the four, Paul remained most enthusiastic, and in the Tokyo concert pictured above, earnestly thanked the fans in halting Japanese, saying, “Domo. That’s what they say!” But I think the bored expressions on the faces of George, Ringo and John in this photo show what those three were thinking. Ringo, in particular, looks unhappy throughout the concert in the video of the show. Maybe it was the jet lag and the fact that the Beatles’ plane had to be diverted to Alaska for a few hours on the way to Japan due to a typhoon.The Beatles’ last appearance at the Cavern Club on Aug. 3, 1963, came after they’d recorded She Loves You, which ended up being one of their biggest hits, and after they’d hit number one on the British charts with two singles and an LP. They’d really outgrown the tiny Liverpool venue where they’d risen to prominence, but manager Brian Epstein had long ago made the commitment and felt the group had to honor it. The line formed for tickets days before they took stage (and the electricity went out in the middle of their performance, prompting John to say, “We should never have come back.”) Just six months later, the Beatles performed live on the Ed Sullivan show to an American TV audience of 73 million.When John spoke in concerts between songs, he often took a jocular tone. At Shea Stadium, he introduced a song and tried half-heartedly to identify the album it was on. “This one is off of Beatles VI or something,” he said (referring to the album by that name, a compilation record released only in the U.S.). “I don’t know what it’s off. I haven’t got it!” In Japan in 1966, he introduced a song as being from a specific album and then realized he’d got it wrong, saying, “I never know these things!” He once introduced a song by saying: “This is our latest single. Or our latest electronic noise, depending on whose side you’re on.” When Paul performed a beautiful solo version of Yesterday, John came back on stage afterward and said, “Thank you Ringo. That was wonderful.” Another time, while Paul introduced a song, John came up behind Paul and started massaging Paul’s shoulders. When the Beatles performed to a live studio audience on a British TV show in 1965 and girls started screaming John’s name between songs, John made a face at the audience, waved his fingers tauntingly and muttered into the microphone, “Shut up! I hear you!”Paul, on the other hand, was extremely polite when introducing songs. Typical is his stage patter on the Live at the Hollywood Bowl album, which includes: “The next song is from our first Capitol album. We hope you enjoy the song. The song is called, All My Loving.” Often, while Paul was making such remarks, John would be at the other microphone letting out hoots and other obnoxious noises as a send-up of Paul’s politeness. When Paul asked the fans to clap their hands and stamp their feet to the next song, John would go into his “cripple” impressions, comically stamping his feet and clapping his hands in a way that would seem very un-politically correct these days.When John’s friend - painter and reluctant bass player Stuart Sutcliffe - left the band in 1961, both John and George refused to take over on bass, so the role fell to Paul. Still, Paul always kept an electric guitar around the studio and frequently played it on albums. For instance, Paul plays the blistering lead guitar solos on Taxman and Good Morning Good Morning, and joins with George for the glistening dual lead on And Your Bird Can Sing. Other songs featuring Paul on lead guitar include Another Girl, Ticket to Ride, and the final medley of Abbey Road, in which McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon (in that order and then repeated) take turns on the lead-in to The End.John, normally the group’s rhythm guitarist, plays lead guitar on many tracks, including You Can’t Do That, I Feel Fine, Honey Pie, Yer Blues, I Want You (She’s So Heavy), You Never Give Me Your Money, The Ballad of John and Yoko, and Get Back. “There’s nothing I can do on guitar that George couldn’t do better,” John told Ray Coleman, his biographer. “But I’d go crazy playing chunk-chunk rhythm all the time.”When asked years later about the song Honey Pie, which was a Paul tune, John replied, “I don’t even want to think about that one!” However, George complimented John’s guitar playing on the song in a later interview, calling it brilliant. “It sounded like a little jazz solo,” George said.Timothy Leary said: “I declare that The Beatles are mutants. Prototypes of evolutionary agents sent by God, endowed with a mysterious power to create a new human species, a young race of laughing freemen.”Kurt Vonnegut wrote, “I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did'.The Beatles got their recording contract because George Martin’s boss at EMI was mad at Martin for having an affair with his (Martin’s) secretary and ordered Martin to sign and record the band as punishment. Martin’s boss was under pressure to get the Beatles signed because the company’s sheet music division was interested in the rights to a Beatles’ song called “Like Dreamers Do.” (This info courtesy of Mark Lewisohn’s book, Tune In). Ironically, the Beatles never ended up recording the song for EMI’s Parlophone label. The song was recorded at the Decca session that the Beatles failed. It’s a pretty good tune, though Paul later called it “very bad.” In another ironic twist, this all came after Brian Epstein had played Martin a recording of the failed Decca session and Martin found it unimpressive and had felt no need to sign them. His hand was ultimately forced, very luckily for the world.Paul suggested the “swampy” feel for John’s song, Come Together. John came up with the “I love you, I love you, I love you” verse for Paul’s song, Michelle. Paul added the line, “for nobody” in John’s Nowhere Man. The two didn’t socialize together all that much in the Beatlemania days, but met regularly for song-writing sessions. It was a professional partnership as much as a friendship. A journalist who watched the Beatles record the song, “A Hard Day’s Night” said it was amazing how quickly the track got recorded thanks to the two songwriters’ uncanny ability to be on the same musical wavelength. “John and Paul just seemed to hum at one another with their guitars, and it was done,” she said.The Beatles’ fame in the mid-1960s reached levels previously only seen for heads of state and royalty. In Tokyo, authorities closed off part of the highway from the airport to downtown so that the Beatles’ motorcade, accompanied by dozens of police cars with sirens wailing, could get to the group’s hotel. In the Beatles’ one tour of Australia, in 1964, an estimated 300,000 fans lined the road from the airport to downtown in Adelaide to see the Beatles go by in their limo. In the famous 1966 press conference at which John had to explain and apologize for his remarks comparing the group’s popularity to that of Jesus, a reporter asked the Beatles, “What’s the most enjoyable thing about this adulation; this almost godhood on earth you’ve achieved?” George leaned over to a microphone and said, “Shh! Don’t say that!”The Beatles’ sense of humor is well known, but the group also had a sarcastic streak that they frequently used with the media. When a reporter at one press conference asked the group, “What’s your excuse for that collar-length hair?” Ringo replied, “Well, it grows out of your head,” and John snapped, “We don’t need an excuse; you need an excuse!” In another press conference, when an overweight reporter told the group, “You ought to be able to handle a crowd of 30,000 without police protection,” John retorted, “Well, maybe you could. You’re fatter than us.” One reporter followed the Beatles around the U.S. during their 1964 tour, asking the same question at each press conference: “What will you do when the bubble bursts?” John usually responded, “Count our money,” or “Get jobs.” When a reporter asked Paul about a “stamp out the Beatles” campaign in Detroit, Paul responded, “We have a campaign of our own, to stamp out Detroit.”Though all the Beatles could be cutting and sarcastic in interviews, none surpassed John for brutal honesty. In a 1963 radio interview, just as the Beatles were enjoying their first wave of success, Lennon went off on a tangent, criticizing the media, and the reporter tried to steer him away from the topic, saying, "I just want to do a nice personality piece." Lennon shot back: “I don't have a nice personality!”As good as Lennon was delivering one liners to reporters and penning memorable song lyrics, he was also a delightful writer, as anyone who’s read his two small books of nonsense poetry knows. Consider the following from In His Own Write: “Dressed in my teenold brown sweaty, I easily micked with crown at Neville Club a seemy hole. Soon all but soon people acoustic me saying such thing as, “Where the charge man?” All of a southern I notice boils and girks, sitting in hubbered lumps smoking Hernia taking Odeon and going very high…puffing and globbering, they drugged themselves rampling or dancing with wild abdomen…” If you haven’t read the books, give them a try.George helped Ringo write his best-known Beatles song, Octopus’s Garden. There’s a scene in the movie Let It Be where they’re sitting together at a piano and George is helping Ringo with the chords. Neither is known as a piano player, but they were obviously multi-talented.The Beatles opened for both Little Richard and Roy Orbison early in their career.Paul wrote Paperback Writer because his aunt asked him why all their songs had to be about love. Couldn’t they write about something different?To get a sense of what the early Beatles sounded like live, listen to their first LP, Please Please Me (the mono version is best, by the way, but harder to find). There are practically no overdubs. The band simply picked up their instruments and played and sang live. About 75% of the album was recorded on the same day in one 12-hour session on Feb. 11, 1963, and some of the songs were recorded in a single take. The Beatles practiced through their lunch break, which shocked studio personnel, who’d never seen a band skip lunch before. George Martin at one point in the day shook his head and said, “I can’t believe it. The longer they go, the better they get.”As many know, Twist and Shout was the last song recorded in the 12-hour Please Please Me LP session on Feb. 11, 1963. But what isn’t so commonly known is that the song was a last-minute addition. It was determined late in the evening that they had room for one more song, so the group had a quick meeting and decided to do Twist and Shout. John’s voice was fading, so it had to be performed perfectly the very first take, and that’s what we hear today. John, who had a cold at the time, later said his voice didn’t feel right for weeks after that performance. But there was to be no rest. The Beatles, backing teen star Helen Shapiro, embarked on a tour the very next day, and performed 10 nights in a row.The Beatles almost repeated that “album recorded live in a day” feat a year and a half later with Beatles For Sale, for which they recorded seven songs in a single day on Oct. 18, 1964. Songs recorded that day were Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey, Words of Love, Rock N’ Roll Music, Mr. Moonlight, I Feel Fine (released as a single, not on the LP), I’ll Follow the Sun and Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby. They also put some finishing touches on the previously recorded Eight Days a Week during the same session. When you listen to Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey and Rock N’ Roll Music, you’re hearing first-take, live tracks. Again, they just picked up their instruments and played and sang. George Martin joined them on piano in Rock N’ Roll Music and Kansas City.When the producer of the Beatles’ first movie decided that A Hard Day’s Night - a phrase used by Ringo - should be the name of the film, he sheepishly approached John after a long day of filming and asked him if he could write an upbeat song with that title that could play during the film’s opening sequence. John, who was exhausted from the filming schedule that required the Beatles to be ready early each morning, looked irritated and walked away. When the producer heard the next morning that John wanted to see him, he feared the worst. Instead, he found John and Paul with their guitars, and they proceeded to play the new song. “Will that be all right, then?” John asked when they finished. The astonished producer could barely reply, but let them know it would work. “Good,” John replied. “Don’t ask for any more.” They recorded it the next day and it became a #1 hit worldwide.All four Beatles play solos on The End, with Paul, George and John switching off on the lead guitar solos three times in that order, and Ringo contributing a drum solo. The guitar solos were recorded together, live (John’s bold suggestion) and completely improvised as each member played. It was one of the group’s very last sessions together. According to Beatles’ engineer Geoff Emerick, the recording of the guitar solos was one of the few times during the Abbey Road LP sessions in which John asked the by then ever-present Yoko to depart to the control room so he could focus purely on the music.John came up with the fast-paced piano intro to Paul’s Obla Di Obla Da. John had stormed out of the session earlier, complaining about the song being another example of Paul’s “granny music.” John returned hours later, loudly proclaimed that he was stoned out of his mind, stumbled to the piano, yelled to the other Beatles: “Here’s how the f-ing song should go” and banged out that intro. Paul angrily confronted John, and they nearly came to blows, but the intro remained in the song. Apparently Paul was touched that despite John’s anger and stoned condition, he’d still taken the time to think up an appropriate start to Paul’s song. (Courtesy of Geoff Emerick’s book, “Here, There and Everywhere.”)Some songs on which Paul plays drums include Back in the USSR, Dear Prudence, Martha My Dear, and The Ballad of John and Yoko. Paul played all the instruments on his self-titled solo debut LP in 1970. Maybe I’m Amazed sounds like a really strong ensemble, but it’s all Paul.Classical music influenced the Beatles, three of whom had sung in church choirs as children. Many of their songs incorporate classical elements (the horn solo in For No One, the piccolo trumpet in Penny Lane, the baroque piano of In My Life). Paul later said J.S. Bach was their favorite classical composer, partly because they admired his music, but also because they identified professionally with Bach, who had to crank out new compositions quickly for his job as church cantor and organist. The Beatles also felt pressured to come out regularly with new songs to please their audience, and took pride in their ability to do so. John and Paul typically took two to three hours of working together to write a new song from start to finish. Sometimes one would joke to the other, “Let’s write a new swimming pool today,” obviously a reference to the money the song would make.George ranks 11th on the Rolling Stone magazine list of the 100 greatest guitarists, while John ranks 55th. Ringo rates 14th on the magazine’s list of 100 greatest drummers. Readers of Rolling Stone chose Paul as the third-best bass player of all time.Frank Sinatra called Something the greatest Lennon/McCartney song. He was wrong. It was written by George.London’s prestigious Sunday Times newspaper called Lennon & McCartney, “The greatest composers since Beethoven.”In 1967, an ultra-right wing American anti-communist group delivered the Beatles a backhanded compliment in an article, saying the Beatles’ most recent songs were too technically sophisticated to have been written by them and must have been written by some sort of communist think tank dedicated to the corruption of American youth. “Neither Paul McCartney nor John Lennon were world beaters in school, nor do they have any musical training,” the article said. “For them to have written some of their songs would be like someone with no training in physics or math inventing the hydrogen bomb.” (Courtesy of “Beatles Forever” by Nicholas Schaffner).A well-known psychic predicted the Beatles would die in a plane crash. They didn’t, but one of the private jets they used on a U.S. tour crashed two years later, killing all aboard.The home Ringo grew up in is slated for demolition.It came as a shock to children of both John and Paul that their fathers were Beatles. As a child, Paul’s son James knew who the Beatles were, and that his father was a musician. But for years, he didn’t put two and two together, and Paul never brought it up. Then one day, when he was about eight, James came up to Paul with an expression of astonishment and burst out: “You’re Paul McCartney!” John’s younger son Sean was only five when John died, but still has vivid memories of his father. John never told Sean he was a Beatle until Sean forced the issue. The movie Yellow Submarine came on TV one day, and four-year old Sean watched it, and then turned to John and said, “You were a Beatle!” He remembers John saying, “Yes, I was, but that was a long time ago and now I’m staying home to be with you.”Ringo generally sang lead on one song per album (excepting A Hard Day’s Night, Magical Mystery Tour, and Let It Be, where he doesn’t get a solo spot). But Ringo seldom sang back-up vocals, pretty much because his tuneless voice tended to overwhelm everything else in the song. The three songs in which Ringo does sing back-up vocals with the other Beatles are Flying (Magical Mystery Tour), The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill (White Album) and Carry That Weight (Abbey Road). It’s pretty easy to hear his voice high in the mix on the choruses of those tracks.If you listen closely to Beatles songs, you’re already familiar with some idiosyncrasies, such as John muttering, “Cranberry sauce” at the end of Strawberry Fields Forever and Paul using the “F” word pretty clearly during Hey Jude after he hit a bad note on the piano, a sequence John insisted on leaving in the final mix. A less well known, but also funny moment is on the song I’m Only Sleeping. Just before the second bridge, if you listen closely, you can hear a voice in the background saying, “Yawn, Paul.” And Paul does!Revolution 9 is many peoples’ least favorite Beatles song. But some music critics consider it a work of genius, and it’s full of intrigue and interest for anyone who gives it a chance, with each additional listen revealing new sound effects and voices. The song attempts to paint an audio picture of a revolution, and mass murderer Charles Manson considered the track one of many hints on the White Album that a revolution was on the way (of course the Beatles didn’t believe this at all; it was only Manson’s sick imagination). Just two Beatles (John and George) are featured on the recording, with John spearheading things and George lending a hand, both of them reading disjointed, nonsense passages that seem pretty meaningless but can be quite funny (“So, any road, he went to see the dentist instead, who gave him a pair of teeth, which wasn't any good at all. So ... instead of that he joined the bloody navy and went to sea.”) Yes, Yoko also appears. For a detailed outline of the song’s “lyrics,” check this site: The Beatles Anomalies List. It’s fun to read along while listening. Paul didn’t want it on the album, which is ironic since Paul is often considered the first Beatle to experiment with electronic sounds and non-traditional musical forms.The background singer on Ringo’s #1 solo hit, Photograph, is George (who also helped write the song). George also plays guitar on another big Ringo solo hit, It Don’t Come Easy. There’s a demo of that song available online with George handling the lead vocal. Again, George helped with the writing, and probably recorded the vocal as a “guide” to help Ringo with the singing. Both Paul and John wrote songs for Ringo to sing on his 1973 self-titled LP, and drawings of all four Beatles appeared on the album’s cover. George’s 1981 hit, All Those Years Ago, which turned into a tribute to the slain John, was originally written as a tune for Ringo to sing, but the focus changed after John’s death. The other Beatles were eager to help Ringo succeed as a solo artist after the group broke up, and indeed, in the early 70’s, it could be argued that Ringo was the most successful of the four.On the song, She Said, She Said, the bass playing is by George, who also contributes the background vocals. Paul recalls that recording as being one of very few he didn’t participate on, noting that he and John had an argument and Paul walked out of the studio.The individual Beatles continued supporting each other musically after the band broke up. George plays lead guitar on several tracks from John’s 1971 Imagine album. Ringo is the drummer on John’s 1970 Plastic Ono Band solo LP. Ringo plays drums and Paul sings background vocals on George’s All Those Years Ago. Ringo also drums on Paul’s 1982 hit, Take It Away, and appears with Paul and producer George Martin in the song’s video. George Martin also produced some work by the solo Beatles, most notably Paul’s excellent 1982 album, Tug of War. And of course, Paul, George, and Ringo recorded together in the mid-1990s for the Anthology albums. Paul and John were the only two never to work together after the break-up, though they came close to doing so in 1975 when Paul was in America recording Venus and Mars.Ringo, Paul and George spent several hours together reminiscing at a New York hotel a few weeks before George’s death in November 2001. I wonder what they talked about.An update to that last point. One detail has emerged from the final meeting between the three remaining Beatles in November 2001. Ringo told George he had to fly back to Europe to be with his daughter, who was having an operation on a brain tumor. George, just weeks away from death, replied to Ringo, “Do you want me to go with you?”

No, the authors were established within the first century, and while there is some dispute over authorship, there is also a good bit of support for the traditional authors being correct.There are not a lot of references going back that far, but there are a few. Jesus died about 30 AD, and most scholars agree the New Testament texts were written between 30 and 60 years after that. The writings of the church fathers dating to the turn of the second century make references to the gospels and their authorship as though it was already commonly known.Papias of Hierapolis provides the earliest account of who wrote the Gospels. He was a historian who wrote a history of Christianity in 5 volumes. His books survived into the late Middle ages (1300–1400) but are now lost. Extracts from Papias’ work appear in a number of other writings, some of which cite a book number.Papias lived sometime between 60 AD and 100 AD. Eusebius, the church historian who lived in the late third and early fourth century, refers to Papias in his third book, which seems to date Papias before 109.This time frame would make him either a second or a third generation Christian. He’s described by Polycarp's disciple Irenaeus (c.180) as “ancient” referring to the time Papias would have lived.Papias’ work was informed by his acquaintance with some of the twelve apostles, John the Evangelist, the daughters of Phillip, and many "elders" who had heard the Twelve Apostles speak and teach.He lived at a busy crossroads and interviewed people who came through. By the ancient standard of good scholarship, he only interviewed people who could testify to what they knew for themselves and were therefore qualified as “living voices.”Papias indicates knowledge of several New Testament books already in existence by the time he is writing toward the end of the first century.Eusebius preserves two (possibly) verbatim excerpts from Papias on the origins of the Gospels, one concerning Mark and another concerning Matthew. The information is limited and intriguing.On Mark, Papias cites John the Elder:The Elder used to say: Mark, in his capacity as Peter’s interpreter, wrote down accurately as many things as he recalled from memory—though not in an ordered form—of the things either said or done by the Lord. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied him, but later, as I said, Peter, who used to give his teachings in the form of chreiai (anecdotes), but had no intention of providing an ordered arrangement of the logia of the Lord. Consequently Mark did nothing wrong when he wrote down some individual items just as he related them from memory. For he made it his one concern not to omit anything he had heard or to falsify anything.Eusebius goes on to say that Papias also cited 1 Peter, where Peter speaks of "my son Mark." Within the 2nd century, this relation of Peter to Mark's Gospel is alluded to by Justin and expanded on by Clement of Alexandria.One of the difficulties with this lies in understanding the relationship between Mark and Peter—when was Peter in Rome with Mark, and were they there once, or twice? Did Mark translate for him when he preached publicly or just later in writing the gospel? Does this reference Peter remembering, or Mark remembering?In what early church records there are, there is no disagreement that Mark wrote the gospel of Mark after the “exodus” of Peter, but there is disagreement on what exactly that means: does that refer to Peter’s death? “Exodus” doesn’t necessarily mean death. It could refer to Peter simply leaving Rome, which he may have done at least once. External evidence places Peter originally going to Rome in the 40s and dying under Nero in the 60s. During that twenty year period, he might have gone home for a time and then gone back to Rome. He was married. He had a family. There are reasons to think Peter made two trips to Rome and not just one. Mark could have written the gospel in memory of Peter after his death—or he could have written it as an aid to the work in Rome while Peter was otherwise absent.Chances are high Peter was not literate, but Mark was, being able to speak and write in at least three languages. Did Mark write Mark? Tradition from the first century says yes. It is referred to as an accepted fact back as far as we are able to go. Contemporary scholars are about fifty-fifty on it.Papias also refers to Matthew as the author of Matthew. Matthew would most certainly have been literate. Not only his career choice indicates that, but his name does. Comparing Mark 2 and Matthew 9 tells us Matthew’s given name was actually Levi. The descendants of Levi were taught and trained for the priesthood. He would have been taught from early childhood to read and write Hebrew; he would also have spoken the common Aramaic of his people; and since Greek was the language of business—as English is today—he would have needed to read and write at least some in Greek as well.The excerpt regarding Matthew says:Therefore Matthew put the logia in an ordered arrangement in the Hebrew language, but each person interpreted them as best he could.(Not everyone could read and write Hebrew. It was the sacred language.)The claim Matthew wrote an early gospel in Hebrew—which could possibly refer to either Hebrew or Aramaic—is echoed by other ancient authorities besides Papias. However, it is, at this time, the prevalent view of linguistics that the book of Matthew—the one we have in the canon of scripture right now—this version of Matthew—was composed in Greek and not translated from Semitic. That doesn’t, however, prove an earlier version could not have existed.Most modern scholars assert Mark was written first and that Matthew and Luke took parts of it when writing their own gospels, yet traditionally, Matthew was said to have been written first. If Matthew wrote a version in Hebrew early on, that might have gotten him the placement of having written first, technically, while a later translation into Greek using his early Hebrew version and also using Mark’s Greek version could have occurred after Mark was written. Both things could be true. That would make it possible/probable that Matthew’s early Hebrew gospel is the Q source, which nearly all modern scholars identify as a second source for both Matthew and Luke. The Q source is a source of sayings; Matthew’s Hebrew gospel was a collection of logia: words of Jesus.Other scholars say it is entirely supportable from linguistics that Matthew was originally written in Hebrew and translated into Greek. That translation might have used the Septuagint, (which was in Greek written by Hebrews), as a language guide since there are many things in common between them. This can be seen as evidenced by the fact the New Testament is filled with many Semitisms—which is the term for Greek written in Hebrew style.The Hebrews had several unique and identifiable forms of writing, and these styles are found in the gospels—especially in Matthew. For example, Matthew begins with a Hebrew gematria (a method of interpreting Hebrew by computing the numerical value of words). In Matthew 1:1, Jesus is called "the son of David…" The numerical value of David's name in Hebrew is 14; so this genealogy has 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 from David to the Babylonian exile, and 14 from the exile to the Christ (Matthew 1:17). The New Testament is full of these type of Semitisms.Whether it was through use of the Septuagint or a Hebrew gospel of Matthew, semitisms are linguistic evidence of the presence of a Hebrew influence somewhere in the process. It is most probable that was in the source material used.One theory is Matthew himself produced a Semitic work first, then a recension of that work in Greek. The book of Matthew is structured by someone with an orderly mind—the way someone Levitically trained, who kept tax records for a living, might think. Circumstantial evidence allows for the possibility Matthew wrote both a Hebrew and a Greek version of his gospel.However, another possible explanation is that others translated Matthew’s Semitic gospel into Greek. This is probably slightly more likely since the gospels do have some literary characteristics in common with Greek biographies of the time and a scribe would have been likely to know that form and it seems more likely Matthew would not.In ancient days authorship is attributed to the one who commissioned the writing—the one who authored the ideas. Scribes did not take credit for writing what they were told to write in a time when at least half the population was illiterate. If you commissioned a piece of writing, it contained your thoughts and words, and you were its author even if you never set pen to paper.There is evidence of eye-witness testimony in the gospels, but that doesn’t prove Matthew did the actual writing. Matthew could have been sitting there telling the scribe his story, even while the scribe wrote. Or he could have given the scribe his Hebrew gospel and Mark’s gospel and told the scribe to put it into the proper form of the time. That’s possible—maybe squeaking over into probable just a little.Yet another possible theory is that Papias was simply mistaken. This seems least likely among the options since he spends a good bit of time describing his method and the care taken with obtaining information.Some have claimed Papias’ reference to Matthew is not about the apostle Matthew—it’s some other Matthew—who is never before or again referred to anywhere in history and whom Papias makes no effort to identify as he does John as the Elder and others. That theory seems downright absurd.Clement of Rome. Was born about the time Jesus died, and died at the end of the first century. He is one of those early church Fathers we call a second generation Christian who would have known the first generation Apostles but not Jesus.Origen of Alexandria (AD 185—284) and Eusebius of Caesarea (AD 260—340) maintained that Clement of Rome was the same Clement mentioned by the apostle Paul in Philippians 4:3, although their claims cannot be positively confirmed.Persuasive evidence does exist that Clement had personal contact with Simon Peter and studied under the apostles.Irenaeus of Lyons (AD 130—200) wrote that “this man [Clement of Rome], as he had seen the blessed apostles, and had been conversant with them, might be said to have the preaching of the apostles still echoing [in his ears], and their traditions before his eyes” (Against Heresies3:3).Clement is best known for a letter that he wrote from Rome to the church at Corinth.This letter is referred to as 1 Clement or the First Epistle of Clement and is typically dated to about AD 96 though many date it much earlier. Clement’s letter contains citations from both Matthew and Luke.Therefore, these two gospels have to have existed by the time Clement references them.Clement never questions who authored the Gospels. He knew. He apparently assumed everyone else knew as well. The same kind of information is found in the writings of:Ignatius of Antioch.Polycarp of Smyrna.Clement of Alexandria.Origen of Alexandria.This pretty well establishes a “chain of evidence” for the most likely authors as the traditional authors, and nails down that whoever recorded them, did so in the first century. There are no real biblical scholars who don’t date the gospels to the First century.

Here are some detailed breakdowns of some of my recent books on entrepreneurship. I try to not only give you a brief idea of the book but also who would be a good fit for it.The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben HorowitzBen helps run one of silicon valley’s most successful venture capital firm’s Andreessen Horowitz. He is a thought leader in the space of entrepreneurship, management and start-ups. I found the book one of my go-to recommendations for people looking to understand how to grow a tech company and what lies behind galvanizing leadership, from someone who works with many of the up and coming tech companies in the industry. He also helps paint the picture of what types of leaders are needed at what times in an organization, famously painting the dichotomy between “war-time” and “peace-time” CEOs.Who would like it: I think this a great read if you are looking to better understand what goes behind management, if you are looking to understand that it is not one-size-fits all when it comes to leaders, and you are looking for a no-fluff look at what it takes to be successfulMy rating: 9/10The Lean Startup by Eric ReisEric details a handful of vital lessons for early start-ups, and discusses everything from the importance of the MVP (minimum viable product) to accentuating on the metrics that matter and not “vanity stats”. He also expounds on the importance of making customer oriented pivots and the pitfalls of thinking you are smarter than the customer during the design process.Who would like it: Anyone who is in an early stage start-up and wants to understand the new, agile environment that we live in. The Lean Start-up is a seminal work in understanding what to focus on, when to switch and how to pivot effectively.My rating: 8/10Tools of Titans by Tim FerrisTim Ferris catapulted to fame with the The Four Hour Workweek. Later, he wrote Tools of Titans where he interviewed many of the industries giants, from the king of the self-help world, Tony Robbins to silicon titans like Marc Anderseen. To me this book fell a bit flat. It had a lot of general wisdoms, templated questions and not a whole lot of direct, actionable wisdoms.Who would like it: Less for someone looking to change something in their processes and business and more for someone looking at a peak into the minds of some hyper successful leaders in their space.My rating: 5/10Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School by Richard BransonRichard Branson is one of my favorite entrepreneurs and as such perhaps it paints a bias in my reviews of his work, but his account on business and how he has effectively grown dozens and dozens of companies under the Virgin brand was remarkable. Branson here is not only discussing business insights, but also the value in your brand, what it means and how to protect it’s sanctity. This book also focuses on people, how to manage them, how to inspire them and how to properly reward desired behavior. He highlighted a great example where an employee broke policy and procedure but in the name of best taking care of a customer. He lauded and supported the employee fully and in doing so sent a message to the company: “Value the customer and customer experience first”. This book is less weighty data and actionable pull-aways and more a reminder that the fundamentals matter to: Elevate and support your team, take accountability as a leader, do things differently (don’t be burdened by precedent” etc..Who would like it: Anyone looking for a light read or who feels a sort of disconnect between themselves and their employees, or feels like things at their company have gotten too rote and need innovation.My rating: 9/10Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey MooreCrossing the Chasm is an exceedingly rare example of a book that holds actionable wisdom and insight in the tech world despite being several decades old. Crossing the Chasm chronicles the different stages that early tech companies go through with customer acquisition, from the fervent visionary customers, excited about what a technology can do and lenient with the bumps in the road, to the late adapters, who want a refined and polished product that accomplishes a specific task for them. Crossing the Chasm is also chalk full of actual tangible examples of businesses at various phases and what they did effectively to scale.Who would like it: This is another must-read for anyone who is at a growing tech company and is looking for what is needed as the company transitions to the next phase of their business.My rating: 7/10Lean Analytics by Alistair Croll and Benjamin YoskovitzIf you started with Eric Reis’s The Lean Startup, it may of whet you pallet for a deeper dive into the data and statistics. Lean Analytics is a more hands-on, analytics focused look at what data is important, how to look at it and when. Although a bit dry at times, I think it serves it’s intended purpose.Who would like it: This is a great book for anyone looking to take some notes and pull away some actionable insights they can use for themselves or where they work, as they continue to grow.My rating: 6/10Zero to One by Peter ThielZero to One is a look at the the most innovative businesses in the world and what it took them to grow. He talks about how it is immensely more difficult to start something truly pioneering than it is to simply repurpose and reiterate on existing technology. But he argues it is also more worthwhile. He talks about some of his businesses, like Paypal, and talks about innovation and how they came to be. Often times the books references the importance of being contrarian, and I remember finding his insights on differentiation interesting (he recommends having virtually nobody have the exact same job. He says people are obsessed with competition but the most successful companies allow their employees to gain ownership and pride in a specific duty and that breeds more productivity. I tend to agree with that).Who would like it: This is a great book for anyone looking to create something fundamentally different then what is out there. It is also an important book for management to read in understanding the vital importance of not getting swept up in the crowd mentality and looking to do things in an innovative and unique way.My rating: 8/10The Sales Acceleration Formula: Using Data, Technology, and Inbound Selling to Go from $0 to $100 Million by Mark RobergeWritten by the old Hubspot SVP of sales, Mark details in stunning clarity, the sales journey from understanding what matters in hiring, to what matters in keeping talent around. The book is chalk full of tangible and executable insights from a leading player in the inbound marketing space. You leave reading this book with solid ideas of how to navigate the process of growing your sales team, what attributes really matter and a tested roadmap.Who would like it: Anyone in management at a sales organization that is looking to make sure they are selecting on the right criteria and growing their team in a sustainable way. Great book.My rating: 8/10Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days by Jessica LivingstonThis book’s interview style back and forth catalogues a handful of early companies, from Hotmail and Paypal, and the people behind them. The interviews highlight the incredible risks, the grinding hours and the vision required to see these companies grow and expand. Some of the companies grew to be more successful than others, but the book to me was really more focused around getting to know how these ideas come to be and the execution in turning them into reality.Who would like it: Anyone looking to learn about the early tech pioneers and what went into their journeys will likely find it interesting. The style of writing and format was a bit dry for me, and I took quite some time to make it through this one but it had some interesting perspectives.My rating: 5/10Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works by Ash MauryaThis books starts from ground zero, assuming you are surveying a new business idea and wondering where to start. It takes you through a series of tangible steps, like addressing product market fit and running tests to make sure you are going in the right direction. This book is filled with open areas where you can write in answers for your own business. Ash tries to help entrepreneurs eliminate wasted time and resources by giving them a tightly actionable roadmap. I want to be careful with this review as my take might not be indicative of the general response on this one. I read a lot about this space, growing companies, the importance of being lean, product/market fit, testing and iterating etc.. So to me this book felt a little recycled and like not a whole lot of startling new info, but I can definitely see as a person looking for a path and not sure where to start, this book could really help.Who would like it: Anyone newer to entrepreneurship or tech or pre-business and looking to do things the right way when they kick off I think can really benefit from this book. Do you like the accountability of writing and recording goals? If so, this book as those fill in areas.My rating: 6/10Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary VaynerchukAlthough Gary Vaynerchuk is a polarizing figure with his “hustle 15 hours” a day mantras, he is also a respected resource when it comes to social media marketing. This book is essentially a collection of social media ads on various platforms (Facebook, Insta, Twitter etc. ) and a look at ones that were successful and ones that flopped. The book is about storytelling, how to create excitement and how to use simplicity in your work. I was pleasantly surprised by it.Who would like it: Anyone trying to learn social media who isn’t sure what type of ads are best on what mediums or what will really perform. This is a great guide to that.My rating: 8/10The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything by Guy KawasakiGuy was a leading Apple evangelist and now works with Mercedes and Canva. This book is about detailing the process of growing a business, from picking a name to navigating the common pitfalls and traps. Guy just says it like it is. He doesn’t sugar-coat things and he isn’t the guy to get advice from if you want to build a widget. Guy talks about building things that really matter, that bring purpose, that have the ability to 10x the existing industry competition. In typical silicon valley style he also talks about funding, how to pitch your product and that realm of business growth as well.Who would like it: Anyone looking to get business building insight from a genuine industry thought leader, who will provide you actionable advice and knows the story. Also a great book for people looking to better understand social media, the changing tech landscape and how it all intertwines.My rating: 7/10The Innovator’s Method by Nathan Furr and Jeff DyerThe Innovator’s Method is a treatise on modern business and the dire need to maintain agile at any stage of business maturity. The book moves through a series of anecdotes that look at various businesses and reflect on how they turned around declining growth by implementing new management and incentive structures to reward innovation. The book cautions that the new business world is one of uncertainty and rapid technological advancement, and a conventional focus on execution and order, over innovation and risk taking, is likely to lead to a slow (or maybe fast) death.Who would like it: This book flows like a business school textbook, with deep analysis, lots of models and profuse data. I found the general concepts sensible, although it seems at several points they spent a long time to say the same thing in different forms. It seemed to me the book was more geared towards the twenty year career veteran, looking to not lose his edge, more than the up and coming millennial but I suppose the lessons were cross-functional. Overall, a useful, if not a bit dry, read.My rating: 6/10Extreme Ownership: How Navy Seals Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif BabinThis book is a leadership book by two navy seals who have since turned to consulting management in the corporate world. The book follows a structured flow with each chapter following a story from the battlefield, then the principle at play they want to discuss and closing with a real world example of it’s execution in the corporate world. This is the type of book I honestly expected to dislike. I tend to like books with actionable, tangible steps and find management and leadership books tend to have a lot of psychology and cliche ideas, but not a lot of substance. I was pleasantly surprised with this book. The principles presented gravitated with me and showed the importance of leadership, team and how to embrace accountability in any role.Who would like it: This is a great book for anyone leading a company or in management who is looking to understand how to better connect with and draw out better results from their team. I would recommend this to anyone who feels a sense of disconnect with their employees or anyone who feels there is some external factors, or team members, who are at fault for their failure (spoiler alert: as a leader the buck ends with you).My rating: 7/10Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World by Rand FishkinThis book follows the story of Rand, the founder of SEO company, Moz, in a painful, honest and deeply revealing journey through start-up life. It debunks many of the glorified myths of Silicon Valley and humanizes the reality of running a tech company, with all its trials and tribulations. It also speaks in a practical sense about things to be aware of, how to lead, how to hire and how to navigate getting funding. In this first person account Rand comes across as vulnerable, open and genuinely looking to help.Who would like it: Anyone with aspirations to run a technology/SaaS company needs to read this book. People need to understand that the journey to growing a technology business is more than just chasing the unicorn exit or basking in media fame. The book also contains many practical takeaways to help founders as they are structuring their teams and figuring out how to sustainable grow. It’s a great mix of qualitative and quantitative analysis.My rating: 8/10Originally posted on my blog: Short Business/SaaS Book Reviews