GraceAnne's review
A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles by Mark Hertsgaard
Hertsgaard examines the Beatles' music chronologically, and places it within its time, its musical context, and its level of innovation.
Biography impinges only tangentially. This is written at a very high level of analysis, but written with a graceful tone and suppleness of
thought.
Even though he is talking about chord changes, etc, a nonmusician can follow.What he tries to illuminate is the powerful joy the Beatles music radiates.
He is unabashedly a fan, but never lets his love for his subject permit him to sentimentalize his analysis. He is clear in teasing out the contributions of all four guys, and sends one running back to the recordings to hear this or that part. He does a wonderful job of pinpointing all the musical innovations that began with the Beatles,
and describes in soaring prose the combination of sheer pleasure, eroticism, and straight-ahead rock and roll that was their music.
Hertsgaard sticks to primary sources and material closest to the four, trying to pre...more
Biography impinges only tangentially. This is written at a very high level of analysis, but written with a graceful tone and suppleness of
thought.
Even though he is talking about chord changes, etc, a nonmusician can follow.What he tries to illuminate is the powerful joy the Beatles music radiates.
He is unabashedly a fan, but never lets his love for his subject permit him to sentimentalize his analysis. He is clear in teasing out the contributions of all four guys, and sends one running back to the recordings to hear this or that part. He does a wonderful job of pinpointing all the musical innovations that began with the Beatles,
and describes in soaring prose the combination of sheer pleasure, eroticism, and straight-ahead rock and roll that was their music.
Hertsgaard sticks to primary sources and material closest to the four, trying to pre...more
