Revolution In The Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties by Ian Macdonald

May 27, 2009 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: any fan of pop music

Shelves: essential-music-books, semolina-pilchards

There's a generalised kneejerk cultural reaction against the Beatles by some members of the popular music audience and it's quite understandable. What a pain in the ass to have the giant four-headed shadow of the perfect pop monster forever looming over today's epigones, like looking up out of your window in the fresh morning of your youth and in the clear blue sky someone has skywritten "we did it first, we did it bigger, and we did it better" every fooking day. Then all these books pour forth...more

like 19 likes · see review

Jan 09, 2013 David rated it 5 of 5 stars

A life-changing book. I'm not exaggerating-- it changed the way I listen to music. Brilliant not only as an examination of the Beatles' songs but also the culture of the 1960s and the state of popular music since. Whether one agrees with MacDonald's conclusions or not (chiefly that pop music has steadily declined in quality since the late 60s), they're always exceedingly well-formulated and eloquently argued.

like 2 likes · see review

May 08, 2010 Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A must read for any Beatles fan. MacDonald is very objective in his analysis of the band's discography and doesn't shy away from calling bullshit; but he also points out a lot of subtle details I wouldn't have noticed myself. I definitely gained a deeper appreciation for the band's music.

like 3 likes · see review

Aug 06, 2011 Michael D rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Impressive piece of scholarship and cultural criticism. MacDonald definitely does not follow the party line and is not afraid to slaughter what he sees as sacred cows in The Mop Tops catalog and sometimes he comes out with, for me, astonishingly wrong-wrong-WRONG headed opinions but still, this is one of the finest books you will read about popular culture and pop music in general. Non-Beatle-interested parties may not care much about the main bulk of the book which discusses the Beatles' record...more

like 1 like · see review

May 12, 2008 Monica marked it as to-read

Shelves: music

I'm interested because MacDonald writes: "Like the Rolling Stones, Led Zeplin and other pop rock artists of the time, The Beatles became fascinated by the multi-instrumentalist Scottish folk duo, "The Incredible String Band," whose album "The 5,000 Spirits " emerged in 1967 as an acoustic equivalent of The Beatles own "Sgt. Pepper" album. The duo Robin Williamson and Mike Heron, at the height of their creativity, were amongst the most imaginative of British songwriters." Revolution probably won'...more

like 2 likes · see review

Jul 06, 2012 Scott Collins rated it 5 of 5 stars

Beatles fan? Stop worrying about why Paul's barefoot on the "Abbey Road" cover ("28IF! Ooooh!") and get this into your life now. There's some hard sledding at the top, with a long-ish essay on how the group's music changed the culture. MacDonald's main point is that the music was a revolution in the head in more ways than one - specifically, that The Beatles used a lot of drugs to create some truly innovative music (and, he argues, some truly sloppy lyrics - a point that becomes depressingly per...more

like · see review

Jan 01, 2012 Iain rated it 5 of 5 stars

The story of the Beatles, told through analysis of their songs in the order they were recorded. This book is just wonderful. The format allows MacDonald to jump smoothly from keen observation of musical details to events of the day to tracing lyrical allusions to stark psychological insights. This is as close as we can possibly get to understanding the influences that pulled this group together and enabled them to record such amazing music.

A couple of warnings (which should definitely not stop y...more

like 1 like · see review

May 07, 2010 Tyler Jones rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-beatles, pop-music

One should not read this book the way I read it - from cover to cover without having the Beatles albums at hand to listen to along the way.

The bulk of the book is an examination of every Beatles song in the order in which they were recorded. MacDonald goes into incredible detail ,noting the exact time of every mistake, and as read I wished I could listen to each song as I read about it. But Revolution in the Head goes far beyond technical critique- MacDonald goes into the influences of the song...more

like 1 like · see review

Nov 02, 2011 David Manns rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: music

What a book.

Ian MacDonald has written the definitive book on the music of the Beatles, but more than that, he manages to put their music back in the context of 'The Sixties'. Every song The Beatles recorded is written about in the order that they began recording them. This gives the book a clear story to follow, from the tidal wave of Beatlemania, to the creative peaks of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper, to the slow decline as division and acrimony set in.

The book begins with a fairly heavyweight essay...more What a book.

Ian MacDonald has written the definitive book on the music of the Beatles, but more than that, he manages to put their music back in the context of 'The Sixties'. Every song The Beatles recorded is written about in the order that they began recording them. This gives the book a clear story to follow, from the tidal wave of Beatlemania, to the creative peaks of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper, to the slow decline as division and acrimony set in.

The book begins with a fairly heavyweight essay about The Sixties and The Beatles place within that decade, and the influence they had upon popular culture. MacDonald's arguments are well thought out and his reasoning sound. Truly the seeds of the modern world were sown in the Sixties, for good or ill. But his take on what those seeds grew into is quite refreshing and gives a different perspective on the legacy of that most turbulent decade.

Then we get into the meat of the book: the songs themselves. MacDonald writes fluently and revealingly about each song, who did what, the genesis and creative process, even down to an analysis of chord structures (which I must admit went a bit over my head, but will be enlightening to you muso's out there). What comes across is that The Beatles were a unit, four heads that made up one whole. Songs that we think of as 'Lennon' or 'McCartney' or even 'Harrison' turn out to have been much more collaborative affairs.

By following the order in which the songs were recorded, rather than released, we get a feel for how The Beatles changed over time. What comes across most is that, after Revolver (to my mind their best album), McCartney became the driving force, keeping the band going at times by risking alienating his bandmates. We also see that after Sgt. Pepper a drug-induced malaise set in and they lost focus. Though they would write great songs in the years after, they never again achieved the controlled focus of Revolver and Pepper, as they began taking longer and longer to work out songs in the studio, believing that everything they touched was gold. It wasn't (Maxwell's Silver Hammer anyone?).

The slow falling apart is documented through the sessions for The Beatles, Let it Be and Abbey Road. Half ideas and underwritten songs were polished in the studio and their albums became patchy affairs, with moments of genius. They could still work the magic when the mood took them, but they were pulling in different directions and inevitably the cracks became fissures, until they fell apart completely.

What this book does most of all though, is make you listen to the songs again with fresh ears. This is the enduring legacy of The Beatles: a decades worth of songs that are unmatched by any of their contemporaries or the pretenders who came after. The solo Beatles never reached these heights again because in this case, Four heads were better than One.

If you love The Beatles, read this book. If you only have a passing interest in them, read this book. If you think they are overrated and a bit rubbish, read this book, it will change your mind.

Very highly recommended. The best Beatles book ever. (less)

like 1 like · see review

Aug 10, 2010 Welbeck Kane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In a way this is quite an odd book for me: I find I disagree with a fair amount of what the author says and yet I come back to it often. Ian MacDonald presents quite a lot of opinion as irrefutable fact and also throws in some ridiculous guesswork as fact too (we are told at precisely which second in "When I'm 64" you can 'hear' Paul McCartney smile... really? Is that a fact or just a nice idea?) His dismissal of some songs is written in a style that suggests a contradictory opinion would be emb...more

like · see review

Feb 14, 2013 Amy Laurens rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm not up to writing a detailed review on this. It's been years since I read it. But I couldn't sign up to Goodreads without rating the book that basically taught me what it means to think critically about pop music.

Back in the day, I leafed through this book so often that the spine broke. It was the track-by-track analysis that kept bringing me back; I never re-read the opening essay. It's not that it wasn't good, but I take **MAJOR ISSUE** with his declinist view of pop music since the 1960s...more

like · see review

Oct 10, 2012 Jeroen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wat een fantastisch boek! Ik kocht het ooit en passant en lichtjes twijfelend in een Londonse boekenwinkel. Had ik wel zin om een boek te lezen dat gewoon de discografie van een groep bespreekt en commentaar geeft per opname.
Maar wat een topper... Om te beginnen mooie referenties rond de muziekscene in de sixties, bands rond de Beatles. Daarnaast ook de interne werking van de Fab Four. Hoe werkten ze samen, hoe maakten ze muziek (wat voor mij als huis-tuin muzikant ook vaak verhelderend was).
Ge...more

like · see review

Aug 26, 2011 David Gallin-Parisi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: halfway

One of the greatest Beatles books, and a superb ready reference book. MacDonald uses each song written chronologically by the fab four to structure the book. Reading this feels somewhat daunting, and also hearty - serving well-researched information in song-sized portions. Great fast reading during individual songs. The introduction twists and turns through social, cultural, and LSDical influences on the Beatles. Why and how drugs effected the band is explained as an important part of the Beatle...more

like · see review

Mar 15, 2013 Carter rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: great

As a Beatles freak, I have read a lot about the band. A lot a lot. And this is the best. McDonald reviews all 240+ songs without insulting us or the topic with saccharine assessments seen through rose-colored glasses. No--he calls out the crap, the lazy songs, and doesn't fawn all over the great ones (Something, Eleanor Rigby, etc.) either. And he does an outstanding job of putting the band and their music in the context of the times. It's incredibly rigorous, well documented and footnoted, and...more

like 1 like · see review

Sep 04, 2011 Simon Reid rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've long been interested in the details of The Beatles' music - who wrote what, how the chords work, how the tune is typical of its writer, what they were ripping off, how the arrangement evolved in the studio, and so on. This book rewarded my time with plenty of fresh observations along those lines.

Ian MacDonald presents his opinion on each recording as a firm fact, and although there's much I disagree with, it's oddly compelling to see some fine Beatles songs so confidently trashed or quickly...more

like 1 like · see review

May 30, 2011 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: tomorrow-never-knows

Real nice essay combined with well-researched, well-written, deep-intel actually-critical capsules on every song the Beatles ever recorded. Actually Critical! As in I almost had my feelings hurt before realizing that that would be pathetic. Besides just (JUST) thoroughly researching the recording/background/context of every Beatles song ever written, provides actually insightful and thought-throttling analysis of the work. Take it or leave it but pretty much always spot on or at least a valid op...more

like · see review

Aug 02, 2012 Matt Durrant rated it 5 of 5 stars

A fantastic, multi-angled assault on the Beatles' lives, music, politics, religion, philosophy ... all delivered, song by song, in a prosaic, down-to-earth way by the late MacDonald. The bulk of the book is an individual review for every single recorded song, released and unreleased, ranging from one sentence ("A throwaway based on a Rishikesh singalong, "Wild Honey Pie" was taped at the end of the second session for "Mother Nature's Son.") to several pages for the most groundbreaking (not neces...more

like · see review

Apr 03, 2011 Iris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: music

What better way to kick off your springtime than with a rediscovery of the band you've known since your fetal years, the Beatles?
Upon hearing Stephen Metcalf (on the Slate Culture Gabfest) praise "Revolution in the Head" as one of the all-time greatest pieces of music criticism, I nabbed this book at the library. It's nothing more than a list of every Beatles song, each one with a few paragraphs of history, analysis and info (including exactly when and where it was recorded, who wrote it and per...more

like · see review

Apr 17, 2012 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars

I spent spring break falling in love with The Beatles all over again. I grew up with them and saw them perform live. This book gives a short background history of every Beatles song chronologically by album (and the singles that didn't make it on an album). Lots of interesting trivia, especially about what you can hear in the music if you listen really carefully. This means it took me a while to get through the book as I had to stop and listen to every song after I read about it. The Beatles sti...more

like · see review

Jul 07, 2012 Durdles rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: obsessions

One for the true fan and probably aimed at boys who never grew up. Great to read standing up (for some odd reason) with the full back catalogue of Beatles numbers on the iPod so that you can listen for McCartney's laugh at Lennon's poor bass playing (Lennon played bass!) on "The Long and Winding Road" (at 1 minute 59 secs) and compare and contrast the Fab's and The Miracles' versions of "You['ve] Really Got a Hold On Me". Full of fascinating facts for he obsessive and fans like me who still cann...more

like · see review

Oct 08, 2012 Christopher rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head is a curious work in that it is not only an exhaustive catalog of every single song that the Beatles recorded, but it also presents a fascinating thesis on late 1960s British society and the Beatles' place in it.

The catalogue of Beatles songs really is complete, including not only their classic albums and singles, but also the various obscure discs cut by Lennon and McCartney before the Beatles, the unreleased "Carnival of Light", and the tracks on the Ant...more Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head is a curious work in that it is not only an exhaustive catalog of every single song that the Beatles recorded, but it also presents a fascinating thesis on late 1960s British society and the Beatles' place in it.

The catalogue of Beatles songs really is complete, including not only their classic albums and singles, but also the various obscure discs cut by Lennon and McCartney before the Beatles, the unreleased "Carnival of Light", and the tracks on the Anthology albums. For each song, MacDonald lists the recording date, personnel (musicians, producer and engineer), and the US and UK release dates. These recording facts are followed by his commentary on the given song. Don't expect adulatory fandom like one finds in most books on the Beatles; for all his respect for certain songs, MacDonald thinks a lot of the Beatles' output is rubbish and isn't afraid to say so.

The catalog makes up the bulk of the book, but the theoretical contribution comes with the 40-page introduction, an essay entitled "Fabled Foursome, Disappearing Decade". Here claims that late 1960s Britain was marked by the tension and occasional convergence between three cultural trends: a materialistic individualism that was the mainstream; the radicalism and revolutionary movements of the New Left; and finally the psychedelic peace and love of the "hippies". The collapse of society in the 1960s, he feels, was caused in fact by the mainstream, while the New Left and the hippies, always marginal, were marginalized even more and had little lasting effect. Ironically, says MacDonald (and I would agree) those who sought to react against the Sixties by supporting Thatcher a decade later, were really those responsible for its failures.

MacDonald writes of how the Beatles's music and the personality of its four members fit into this. Lennon was the Beatle most in tune with the mid-1960s counterculture and with the New Left, but he didn't have a chance to participate in it due to his marriage and a baby. Meanwhile Paul McCartney, who did actively participate in the underground, nonetheless was closest to mainstream society. George Harrison's interest in eastern philosophy represents a sincere reaction against the materialist mainstream and, unlike the New Left, a peaceful one.

While the two parts of the book does not entirely cohere in my opinion, both of them are major contributions to scholarship, whether musical or historical. Anyone interested in the Beatles, the late 1960s or both would do well to read this book.(less)

like · see review

Nov 25, 2012 Darren rated it 5 of 5 stars

I gave this 5 stars without a cover-to-cover read, but am happy to say that now I've read it completely those 5 stars are well deserved. I don't always agree with MacDonald's opinions on some songs, but since when did that matter when something is well argued and reasoned? His research is impressive, his reading of the cultural context even more so, and if you love the Beatles then I can't think of a better book on the subject.

I've gone back to the albums to listen as if afresh - even early era...more

like · see review

Oct 05, 2012 Austin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've read a lot of books about The Beatles. I have an entire shelf devoted to them. And I can say without hesitation that this is the best of them all.

The band's songs are addressed in chronological order, based on the date they began recording -- a strategy deemed "a fallacy" by the similarly detailed song-by-song appreciation Tell Me Why: The Beatles: Album By Album, Song By Song, The Sixties And After. But while this decision takes the songs out of the order in which the band chose to present...more

like · see review

Jan 19, 2012 Nick Butler rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-5, nonfiction, music

A game changer. There will, of course, never be a Revolution in the Head written about every band in existence, not even every good band or every important band, but MacDonald's writing, his attention to detail, and his obvious love of his subject matter will make you want to read similar books about every band you love - and in turn, it will probably make you never want to read another book about The Beatles again. None of them stack up.

Over the course of Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald g...more A game changer. There will, of course, never be a Revolution in the Head written about every band in existence, not even every good band or every important band, but MacDonald's writing, his attention to detail, and his obvious love of his subject matter will make you want to read similar books about every band you love - and in turn, it will probably make you never want to read another book about The Beatles again. None of them stack up.

Over the course of Revolution in the Head, Ian MacDonald goes bullet-point through every Beatles song, ever. Each track has at least one paragraph dedicated to it, with some of the most interesting ones given multiple pages; further writing is dedicated to an introductory essay on the importance of The Beatles to '60s culture and their impact on it since, and brief overviews are given to their studio albums (mostly contextual information - what was happening to both The Beatles, and music as a whole, when they were released, as well as a few relevant policial or newsworthy events). It's a basic format, and MacDonald takes advantage by doing the basics right; his feel for which songs deserve more analysis than others sometimes looks a little askew at first, but is always well-judged. Luckily for me personally, he saves his best and most expansive writing for my favourite Beatles songs, "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "Revolution #9" in particular. He's probably a little too effusive in his praise for the latter, but it becomes hard not to agree with him as you're reading what he says.

The sheer scope of this book, not just in the detail and the minutiae it takes in but also in the way it paints a fuller picture of The Beatles and their work than anybody else ever has (MacDonald is certainly not afraid to criticize them, which is both greatly appreciated and a vital reason why this book is so great), is breathtaking. As valuable as a bedtime read as it is an academic source, it's one of those works that everything else in its genre must be compared to. Just a brilliant, brilliant book.

Oh, and as a final point, I should probably address the perfectly sensible idea that you have to be a fan of The Beatles to enjoy reading this. There's some truth to it, in the sense that there's no point in forcing yourself to read it if you hate their music, but I enjoyed all of it and not only are there large swathes of The Beatles' back catalogue that I couldn't care less about (pretty much everything earlier than Help!, most of The White Album, the second side of Abbey Road, Let it Be and Sgt. Peppers in general), but there are songs they released that I actively despise ("Act Naturally", "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da", "When I'm Sixty-Four", "Wild Honey Pie"). Yet still, I happily read about them - in fact, the book encouraged me to revisit a few tracks (memorably "Glass Onion"), because it just about convinced me that my opinion was probably wrong. It wasn't, but the fact that this book even has the power to make you doubt yourself is a hell of a recommendation.(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Jan 24, 2013 Eric Gilliland rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ian MacDonald's sweeping history of The Beatles, Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties is encyclopedic. MacDonald writes with a detached irony laced with flashes of humor, and a sneaking sentimentality as the book progresses. Few writers will surpass Revolution in the Head when it comes to Beatles criticism.

After an introductory essay, a tour de force in itself, MacDonald wrote short entries for every Beatles song. At times he goes on at length on the technical details of t...more Ian MacDonald's sweeping history of The Beatles, Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties is encyclopedic. MacDonald writes with a detached irony laced with flashes of humor, and a sneaking sentimentality as the book progresses. Few writers will surpass Revolution in the Head when it comes to Beatles criticism.

After an introductory essay, a tour de force in itself, MacDonald wrote short entries for every Beatles song. At times he goes on at length on the technical details of their like music such as their unorthodox chord changes or their refusal to read music. Instead the Beatles relied on the spontaneity of the recording process. Their uncanny knack for inspiration consisted of inspiration from TV jingles, newspaper clippings, their fellow pop groups, drug experimentation, mysticism, and childhood. McCartney and Lennon are portrayed as equals with John leading them through their early period. Eventually Paul, who was far more grounded and devoted to the band, carried them through tough times. According to MacDonald the main difference between them came down to John's mistrust of "objective" art; pure art is always subjective in John's world. Nevertheless, each influenced the other and Paul showed just as much interest in the avant garde as John. For example, in "Carnival of Light," one of the few Beatles tracks locked in the vaults is an experimental sound collage of McCartney's predating Lennon's abstract recording, Revolution #9. George Harrison also evolved as a songwriter, adding a whole new spiritual dimension to their music.

MacDonald argues post-Beatles pop music lacks one crucial ingredient - the unexpected. That's why their music continues to inspire. Their creative process relied on spontaneity and whim - a spirit apparent on their later albums. By the time the Beatles recorded their first hit single "Love Me Do" in 1962 they were a well honed live act with sets dominated by American rock and roll standards. The addition of Ringo Starr as their drummer and producer George Martin set the foundation for the Beatles to revolutionize the studio. Their songwriting grew by leaps and bounds with hit after hit topping the charts. The year 1964 took a serious toll on them as they reached a pinnacle of stardom few attained in the 20th century. Under constant pressure to perform and write new material, their place in the culture changed from teen idols to New Age prophets.

The best part of the book is MacDonald's writings on Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and the White album. At the height of their powers When the four assembled to record Lennon's "Tomorrow Never Knows" they took studio technology to the limit with the use of tape loops, overdubs, double tracking. The Eastern mysticism in the song, inspired by Lennon's reading of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, challenged the very ethos of 1960s Western civilization with its motifs of "anti-materialism, rapt passivity, and world skeptical focus on visionary consciousness." After Revolver they embarked on a disastrous tour in the midst of Lennon's "Jesus" statement and hordes of screaming fans indifferent to their music. For a time they considered going their separate ways, but they found new inspiration in the studio under McCartney's idea of performing albums like a live show - the result being Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "a work which surpasses Revolver not in form, but spirit" and created a cultural "contact high." The high point of Lennon-McCartney partnership is on the concluding track, "A Day in the Life." By blending images based on reality and fantasy, the song is a triumphal statement about humanity's potential to make to refashion reality.

Personally my favorite Beatles LP is The Beatles (White album). MacDonald compares listening to the album like watching the long afternoon of the Beatles career pass by. After a trip to India Lennon and McCartney had written lots of songs, but were going in different directions in their art and personal lives (which is all too apparent when listening to the album) Recorded from May-October 1968, in the midst of personal tensions over the direction of the band, the album remains controversial for many reasons. Many find it excessive - arguing the it would've worked better as a single album. Granted there a tracks with distinct feel and others feel like they belong somewhere else, but that's part of the magic. Throughout the album is a creative angst leading the listener on a hectic journey with no destination. The anything goes ethos of the album gives it a dangerous, anarchic quality. The optimism of Sgt. Pepper gave way to a "disturbing, dreamlike darkness" on the White album. So much legend surrounds the album over the years ranging from debates over hidden messages to its role in Charles Manson's rampage. Few rock albums manage to achieve such a claustrophobic relationship with the listener. A strange effect; but endlessly compelling.

The book argues pop music and the arts in general have failed to match the creativity of the Beatles and the 1960s. I partly agree with MacDonald's argument as clearly no one has duplicated the power of the Beatles. Now in the doldrums of the early 21st century with economic despair everywhere and an even harder edged capitalist society perhaps we all must look inward for salvation. But their records are still there and not just for nostalgic reasons, but to listen, learn, feel, and think.
(less)

like · see review

Jan 14, 2010 Luke rated it 5 of 5 stars

FANTASTIC. You can actually read a paragraph or two a day, because it's basically a long list of Beatles tracks with all the details of how/when/why each one was recorded. I always thought they cut an album and then hung out for a while, but hells bells, their whole catalog now seems like one long continuous spew of music. And MacDonald's tone thru most of this is decidedly NOT reverential. I confess some annoyance when he called While My Guitar Gently Weeps a "lazily strummed throwaway" or some...more

like 3 likes · see review

May 05, 2008 Bruce rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Beatles aficionados, fans of books about music and culture

I'd really like to give this book 3 1/2 stars, and need to point out that this reading follows my consumption in the summer of 2007 of Lewissohn (Chronicles), Hertsgaard (A Day in the Life, Turner (A Hard Day's Write), and the incomparable Pollack (whose work on the Beatles can be found online at http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/D...). I think this covers the landscape of serious, published track-by-track analyses of the Beatles' output circa 2008 and would like therefore to propose a hierarc...more

like 2 likes · see review

Bruce I don't mean to discredit the idea of album continuity, and am aware that the Beatles especially (chiefly with Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and Abbey Road)...more I don't mean to discredit the idea of album continuity, and am aware that the Beatles especially (chiefly with Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, and Abbey Road) invested a great deal of time and effort on it. Heck, Pollack argues that a veritable loss of symphonic unity is suffered from a treatment of "The Long Medley" as individual songs. Of course, this doesn't stop classical radio from butchering Beethoven out of commercial necessity, nor diminish the pleasure from taking in multi-movement works in discrete sections at a time.

In any case the Beatles weren't for the most part the prog rockers that contemporaries like the Floyd, Yes, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer would evolve to become and their works can easily be enjoyed independently. They emerged at a time when songwriting was a separate discipline from performance and recording art and the 45 dominated the marketplace the way that the MP3 is taking over now.

Give them credit for changing the industry: making non-performing/recording songwriters all but obsolete, encouraging recording experimentation (thanks to the permissiveness and primitive nature of Abbey Road and the need to escape the deafening roar of their fans), taking advantage of the advent of the LP to not just cram 14 tracks willy-nilly onto vinyl, but to try to strive for some thematic and harmonic contrast. But let's recall that these were Schubert-like song composers (McCartney has looked back on his career to consider himself a master of the short story, a learner at the novel), always honing their art, and returning from India with so many songs that -- lacking any other satisfactory ordering technique -- they apparently decided to throw together a side of the White Album on the basis of the fact that a bunch of the songs had names of animals in the title (Blackbird, Rocky Raccoon, Piggies, etc.).

I don't want to oversell my semi-throwaway "shuffle" comment, but from a practical standpoint, the Beatles recorded over 200 songs. By all means listen to the Yellow Submarine EP and Beatles for Sale from start to finish, but if you don't hit shuffle, you'll invariably miss out on the opportunity to hear rarer tracks. And, given that we're talking about an ouerve spilling from one of but four minds (such that one would expect to see both self-similarity and chronological development), think of all the interesting accidental juxtapositions that shuffle makes possible?(less)
24. Juni, 05:09 Uhr

Trevor A breathtaking review - thank you
27. Mai, 23:16 Uhr

Bruce Thank you very much for the kind words! I just re-read this. Must have had a lot of time on my hands last year and was clearly deep into a re-explorat...more
28. Mai, 05:10 Uhr

Jul 04, 2012 Robert Morrow rated it 3 of 5 stars

Definitely a useful encyclopedia for Beatles fans, as it describes the recording process for every song in their catalogue. The author's opinion are often colored by personal taste contaminated with the arrogance of an expert, which does get irritating after a while. His facile explanation that most of the songs in the peak years were driven by LSD detracts from the musical accomplishments during that period, as does his questionable comments on a song's origins. Lewinson's book on the subject w...more

like · see review

Jan 27, 2013 Sean rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, music-related, geek, reviewed

Both fascinating and terribly flawed, Ian MacDonald's book seems like an attempt at exorcism rather than chronicle. He creates a valuable resource by packing together several sources of information on the Beatles songs but ruins it with his own mythologising.

The Chronology is very useful however, and he does make the worthy point that we are too close in time to the 1960's to see it or the Beatles contribution to it with any sense of objectivity. Do not make the mistake of crediting MacDonald w...more

like · see review

Aug 13, 2012 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Absolutely indispensable for any die-hard Beatles fan. The late Ian MacDonald dissects the Beatles entire recorded output in great detail, song by song, providing little-known facts and astute criticism. He was clearly a huge fan of the band, and his love for the music and attention to detail are wonderful. A great read (and a great reference book), as well as a wonderful companion to The Complete Recording Sessions.

like · see review

title link	preview: Revolution In The Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties
avg rating	preview: Revolution In The Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties Goodreads rating: 4.35 (1226 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288550.Revolution_In_The_Head?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1330862014l/288550.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/288550.Revolution_In_The_Head?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Revolution In The Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties by Ian Macdonald[/url]

Revolution In The Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties

Friend Reviews

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

combine
Other Editions (10)

Genres

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Ian Macdonald

Books by Ian Macdonald

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website

Trivia About Revolution in the...