Revolution In The Head
The Beatles' Records and The Sixties

There's a generalised kneejerk cultural reaction against the Beatles by some members of the popular music audience and it's quite understandable. What a pain in the ass to have the giant four-headed shadow of the perfect pop monster forever looming over today's epigones, like looking up out of your......more

I'd really like to give this book 3 1/2 stars, and need to point out that this reading follows my consumption in the summer of 2007 of Lewissohn (Chronicles), Hertsgaard (A Day in the Life, Turner (A Hard Day's Write), and the incomparable Pollack (whose work on the Beatles can be found online at ht......more

Remember the scene in Dead Poets Society where Robin Williams asks his students to rip pages out of a book that explains how to measure the quality of poetry? Well, Revolution in the Head is exactly the kind of book that Robin Williams would have a ball ripping to pieces as it tries to measure the m......more

Whenever a list of best books about The Beatles appears some titles are immovable: Hunter Davies' early biography, Jann Wenner's Lennon Remembers, Michael Braun's vigorous (and sadly out of print) Love Me Do. This book seems to stand among the tallest. It seems revered as much a work of cultural his......more

I first received this book as a birthday present from my Dad, three years ago. It was one of the best presents I’ve ever gotten. That summer, I devoured it. What a perfect excuse to go through The Beatles’ repertoire, song by song, listening to them with new and sharpened ears. It was a revelation. I......more