false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168608350m/35602.jpg 35602 5 They are the most popular and accomplished musical artists of this century. But for more than three decades, the secrets behind the Beatles' unparalleled artistic evolution were beyond reach--sealed in a locked room at London's Abbey Road Studios.  In this comprehensive and brilliantly rendered book the only "outsider" to gain access to these invaluable musical archives provides a new, fascinating look at the music and artistry of the Beatles, revealing how four untrained musicians merged their collective genius into a single creative force, how they came together to paint pictures with sound...and how album by album, the Beatles transformed the landscape of popular music forever.<br><br>Combining literary analysis and investigative reporting with page-turning storytelling and musical explication, author Mark Hertsgaard has written the first serious biography of the music of the Beatles.  <i>A Day in the Life </i>takes readers inside the Beatles' creative process as never before, from the first tentative run-throughs in the studio of such classics as "Eleanor Rigby" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to the final master tapes.<br><br>Here we learn how George Harrison's stirring composition "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was completely transformed from an achingly meditative acoustic masterpiece to a hard-rocking hit--in forty-four takes.  We recall how the fantastic final mix of "Strawberry Fields Forever" opens the door to a psychedelic utopia, but discover it is the haunting solo version that takes us down to the core of John Lennon's disillusioned soul.  And only here do we see how the Beatles' audacious ability to reinvent themselves stamped the group's unfolding ingenuity on each album like a fingerprint.<br><br>With rare insight, Mark Hertsgaard unlocks the mystery of the century's most dynamic musical collaboration: the competitive and creative partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.  <i>A Day in the Life </i>traces the way Lennon and McCartney worked together and paints an intricate picture of the composers as we have never seen them before: Paul, the optimistic foil who made John's ominous fragments whole...John, the natural poet who injected raw sexuality into "I Saw Her Standing There" by making a simple five word change.<br><br>Smart, fresh, compulsively readable, <i>A Day in the Life </i>reveals John, Paul, George, and Ringo not as celebrities or cultural icons but as musicians whose work will be remembered as some of the most important art of the twentieth century. 35535 1995 A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles total:128|5:42|4:58|3:26|2:2|1:0| 128 524 163 20 5 1 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1995 Thu Sep 18 07:38:03 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 18 07:40:00 -0700 2008 Biography impinges only tangentially. This is written at a very high level of analysis, but written with a graceful tone and suppleness of
thought.
...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 26 13:15:06 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 08 16:48:18 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Apr 24 10:52:04 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 24 11:35:21 -0700 2008 Hard Day's Write, which I read simultaneously with this book for my overview of Beatlesologies. Hertsgaard makes a strong case for the Beatles' influence on pop music, both its significance in the context of the '60s and also on everything that came after. This is a well-written a...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon May 18 16:22:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 16:23:05 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Tue Aug 14 13:27:36 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 23 11:29:42 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jun 03 19:09:45 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 19:10:02 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1996 Tue Feb 05 08:57:32 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 05 09:29:33 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jul 20 20:33:34 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 20 20:33:34 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Wed Sep 03 12:25:26 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 12:26:22 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Wed Jan 16 10:38:05 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 18 06:40:57 -0800 2008 focus on the music. Fascinating and insightful stuff for any music fan.]]> 5 0 false false Sat Sep 20 06:34:01 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 20 06:50:23 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1996 Fri Nov 30 08:23:55 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 30 08:24:56 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Sat Jan 19 10:49:12 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 19 10:56:18 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Wed Oct 03 14:59:29 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 03 15:00:17 -0700 2007 3 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Feb 15 21:40:32 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 15 21:41:19 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Fri Jul 25 14:46:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 14:46:32 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Thu Apr 24 15:05:38 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 24 15:06:11 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Thu Dec 06 16:24:02 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 06 16:29:58 -0800 2007 4 0 false false Tue Sep 16 19:52:32 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 16 19:52:50 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Wed Aug 06 16:30:18 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 06 16:30:29 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=35602