Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties

Ian MacDonald
4.25
5,721 ratings 353 reviews
'No book has taken us closer to the music of the Beatles' Tony Parsons 'Consistently brilliant' SUNDAY TIMES 'Essential' Q The Beatles achievement was so dazzling, so extraordinary, that few have questioned it. Agreement that they were far and away the best pop group ever is all but universal. And nowhere is the spirit of the Sixties - both in its soaring optimism and its drug-spirited introspection - more perfectly expressed than in the Beatles' music. Taking all the elements which combined to create each song as it was captured on vinyl - the songwriting process, the stimuli of contemporary pop hits and events, the evolving input from each of the Four, the brilliant innovations pulled off in the studio and, ultimately, the twisting grip of psychedelic drugs - the Beatles are pinpointed, record by record, in precise and fascinating detail against the backdrop of that vibrant era.
Genres: MusicNonfictionHistoryBiographyArtReferencePop CultureAudiobookCulturalRock N Roll
387 Pages

Community Reviews:

5 star
2911 (51%)
4 star
1741 (30%)
3 star
772 (13%)
2 star
175 (3%)
1 star
122 (2%)

Readers also enjoyed

Other books by Ian MacDonald

Lists with this book

No One Here Gets Out Alive
The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star
Best Books on Rock and Roll
872 books1275 voters
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
Just Kids
Chronicles, Volume One
Best Non Fiction About Music
1423 books1329 voters
The Beatles Anthology
Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties
Tune In
Best Books about The Beatles
188 books52 voters
The Beatles Anthology
Love Me Do!: The Beatles' Progress
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles
Beatles Essentials
84 books8 voters