Revolution in the Head
If you have ever loved a song by The Beatles you will probaby love Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties by Ian MacDonald. It has one article about every song The Beatles recorded, from LOVE ME DO recorded in 1962 to the "reunion" singles of 1995. Entries range from half a page to several pages in length, making it an ideal book for dipping.
Let's open it at random.
Here's TICKET TO RIDE, recorded in 1965, at Abbey Road Studio, while EIGHT DAYS A WEEK was No. 1 in the charts and a week before The Beatles were to take a vaction in the Bahamas. MacDonald writes: "The title arose from a pun on Ryde, the ferry port in the north of the Isle of Wight" — a daytrip by ferry from Portsmouth.
We read that Lennon considered TICKET TO RIDE to be the first "heavy metal" song, and wrote it to compete with evolving music by The Who, The Animals, The Kinks and The Yardbirds. It was considered a risky choice for a single, but shot to the top on the charts on release and was praised as a brave departure.
Advisory: This book is highly addictive. You can open it to dip in and not look up for twenty minutes.
4 thoughts on “Revolution in the Head”
I thought I had every Beatle book! Love your post – I had to hunt up my old cd and listen to Ticket to Ride. John was right! Have you seen the film, ‘Nowhere Boy’? I recently did, and it’s fabulous.
That book made me head to iTumes to download selected singles for blasts from the past. Thanks for the movie recommendation as well. Other people have recommended “Nowhere Boy” to me. I look forward to seeing it.
Actually sat down and watched Nowhere Boy last night, once the kids were out, great flick. Highly recommend it.
Jenny
I enjoyed it too. Thanks for taking the time to comment, Jenny!