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8.15pm
14 April 2010
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I just finished it and really enjoyed it. If you've read any Beatles books that cover their childhood(s) up to the breakup (i.e. "Anthology"), you won't learn any new earth-shattering facts you did not already know. However, you will learn how their actions were influenced by society/culture and how society/culture in Britain and the US and was influenced by them. It really is an interesting angle.
Mr. Gould, being a musician himself, also did a nice job of dissecting each album and most of the songs on them. Some of that was a bit dry for me when he started talking about keys and chords and what-not as I am not a musician and could not possibly care less what key was being played or sung. But I know there are many of you here in the Forum that get all of that so you will probably get more out of it. His take on some of the songs' meanings was interesting as well.
I also enjoyed his style of writing, although there were times when I thought he owned stock in the company that publishes "Roget's Thesaurus". He seemed to strive for the rarely used word versus the simple one. That still did not stop me from enjoying this fine opuscule…I mean, book.
I know I will read it again sometime because there was a lot of info (606 pages) and I'm sure I may have glossed over some of it. If I did not like it all, I wouldn't bother with a second read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, Let it roll for all its worth.
2295 6972
8.27pm
1 May 2011
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Its a book i had to keep putting down, not because it was difficult reading, far from it, but to utilise a theasaurus/dictionary to know what the hell he was talking about. Thank goodness for ipods and free apps.
Certainly the highlight for me was putting the albums into context with what was happening in the UK and US at the time of their releases, gave a greater appreciation of how much impact they had on society but also how much the changing times influenced the Beatles and their output. Its easy to separate the Beatles music from the times so to have some of them linked up was quite something. Pepper is an obvious example, Gould really made me understand just how huge the album was aside from the music contained.
12.44am
5 November 2011
Online
I got Can't Buy Me Love this summer, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I heard some bad things about it, and that made me lose my interest in getting around to it.
5.13pm
14 April 2010
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Give it a go, unknown. I think you will be glad you did.
Just keep a dictionary handy!
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, Let it roll for all its worth.
2295 6972
7.38pm
14 December 2009
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Yes, read this around last Thanksgiving and liked it a lot – the 2nd-best Beatles book I've read in recent memory, after Doggett's YOGMYM. Extraneous as it may seem to some, I really enjoyed his take on such things as the psychology of groups and the mini-history of U.S. radio.
One anomaly, considering how obsessively he seems to cover practically EVERY other Beatles track, is his almost total-avoidance of the "Yellow Submarine" material. It's as if he felt that the Beatles' semi-disposal of those tracks made them unworthy of his time.
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