The Beatles Bible - Topic: “Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America” by Jonathan Gould

Von Bontee on “Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America” by Jonathan Gould

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 19:38:59 +0000

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.

Zig on “Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America” by Jonathan Gould

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:13:39 +0000

Give it a go, unknown. I think you will be glad you did.

Just keep a dictionary handy!

unknown on “Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America” by Jonathan Gould

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:44:28 +0000

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.

meanmistermustard on “Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America” by Jonathan Gould

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:27:02 +0000

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 ...

Zig on “Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America” by Jonathan Gould

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:15:53 +0000

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 ...