Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties |  | Author: Ian MacDonald
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
Buy New: £5.99
as of 3/9/2010 13:54 BST details
You Save: £3.00 (33%)
New (25) Used (6) from £3.09
Seller: Amazon.co.uk
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 7420
Media: Paperback
Pages: 544
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5 x 1.5
ISBN: 0099526794
EAN: 9780099526797
ASIN: 0099526794
Publication Date: December 4, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
| |
| Features:
| • | New | | • | Mint Condition | | • | Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon | | • | Guaranteed packaging | | • | No quibbles returns |
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
As dazzling as the decade they dominated, The Beatles almost single-handedly created pop music. Eloquently giving voice to their time, The Beatles quite simply changed the world. This book goes back to the heart of The Beatles - their records, offering a criticism in which the extraordinary songs of The Beatles remain a central presence.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
Superb but... June 16, 2010
G. V. Cherian (U.K.)
I dont expect there will a better book about the Beatles because when all is said and done, and as much as their albums are landmarks, it's the induvidual songs that have worked themselves into our DNA! and which we want to read about and obsess about! To that end, this book will get taken off the shelf more often to dip into at pleasure.
But my brief review is only state the difference of opinion fans will have regarding induvidual songs, as distinct to the opinion of Mr.Macdonald's. In my case its with Lennon's ACROSS THE UNIVERSE which the author is utterly dismissive of, calling it insipid and lethargic. For me its one of my favourite Lennon songs! Sadly MR.Macdonald is not around anymore to have a gentle argument with! His opinion wont change mine, or my pleasure every time I hear that song, nor does it detract from the merits of this marvellous book!- but if you dont like hearing contrary opinions about songs you love, be warned!
All you need is... this book February 19, 2010
Eileen Shaw (Leeds, England)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I am a lifelong fan of popular music, not obsessed, but obviously adhering to my roots in the 1960s, I still follow the trends and look out for new bands and singers to add to my mp3 favourites. This book is a thrilling addition to anyone's knowledge about The Beatles, but if they never appealed to you, stop reading this review here. I don't want to argue with fans of other music - my tastes are eclectic, but I'm not a relativist and remain unconvinced by comparisons.
This was music I grew up with, music that chimed with my life in a fundamental and unforgettable way. The Beatles were very much of their time and something might have come along after them to displace them in the musical canon. Nothing did, which leaves their music in a unique position. It is now iconic. Whether or not you enjoyed it, you cannot deny its enduring influence on the shape and form of music today. Leaving aside the hysteria that dogged their early years and the violent dissonance of their eventual break-up, they changed the world of music forever.
In this fascinating book Ian MacDonald has put together the musical history of The Beatles as writers and musicians. Not who slept with who, and how Yoko Ono broke them up, such details are relegated to footnotes. From the enormously knowledgeable introduction, perhaps the best essay on The Beatles as a social phenomenon that you will ever have the good fortune to read, Ian MacDonald puts The Beatles in their musical context. It's a gloriously fascinating book and if you still listen, you will listen with more insight afterwards.
 Fascinating but flawed January 26, 2010
R. J. Meeks (UK)
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
For any Beatles fan this is almost an essential purchase. The detail that MacDonald devotes to each and every song recorded by the Fab Four is astonishing. Often relating every chord, key change and tempo variation, the approach can be criticised as overly intellectual in places - he points out elements of which I'm sure the Beatles themselves were unaware - but without such attention the book would not be so valuable.
Brief history and events link some of the sections of songs which help maintain the narrative and, together with the eminently readable prose, allow the book to be read in sequence, rather than used simply for reference.
However there are a number of flaws in the work:
1) The Introduction attempts to set the music in its context, but misfires badly, being both over-analytical in some parts and over-simplistic in others. The rest of the text details how it was music itself that most inspired the Beatles, whereas the introduction pretentiously tries to plant all this on socio-economic reasons and wanders off-topic to deal with the new right.
2) Likewise the introduction to the final section is just a laughably prejudiced criticism of any music made since the sixties. MacDonald doesn't actually write "it was much better in my day", but he may as well have done.
3) Sometimes making huge assumptions (at least once making an assumption based on another assumption), the author stretches his credibility a little thin, which causes the reader to wonder about his reliability of his confidently stated deductions.
4) Especially considering there are factual errors present, such as the statement that McCartney did not appear on Harrison's Lennon tribute "All Those Years Ago", whereas most other sources report McCartney as singing backing vocals.
5) The endless notes at the bottom of the page wear thin very quickly. Especially since many could be contained in the text itself and others (lists of songs for example) would be better placed in an appendix.
6) As a book which is essentially a comprehensive review, it comes as no surprise that there are opinions expressed which differ from the accepted wisdom. However some of MacDonald's views tend to the bizarre - ranking Long, Long, Long above "While my Guitar Gently Weeps" and some of the filler on Rubber Soul above "Nowhere Man". Here his prejudices come to the fore: anything approaching the hated style of rock is dismissed. A more considered approach would have been welcome.
All of the above have the capacity to irritate but the book succeeds despite these flaws and I read it almost without a break. If you can put up with the above defects, it comes recommended.
Utterly Brilliant! January 13, 2010
John Woodcock
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is one of the best three books ever written about The Beatles and my favourite. Once you have read it you will listen to their songs with new ears. Maybe I'm cloth eared, but I never noticed the intricacy of the bass playing in "Taxman" until Ian McDonald pointed it out, and that's just one of many examples. The guy was a master of his craft.
Highly recommended.
a great book! December 18, 2009
Vehid Ammary
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
i thought i was a really great book, because it was written well and also you got all the details you need about the beatles. great for writing an assignment!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
|
|
|
