Experiencing the Beatles: a listener's companion PDF
Preview Experiencing the Beatles: a listener's companion
EXPERIENCING THE BEATLES The Listener’s Companion Gregg Akkerman, Series Editor TitlesinTheListener’sCompanionprovidereaderswithadeeperunderstandingof keymusicalgenresandtheworkofmajorartistsandcomposers.Aimedatnonspecial- ists,eachvolumeexplainsinclearandaccessiblelanguagehowtolistentoworksfrom particular artists, composers, and genres. Looking at both the context in which the musicfirstappearedandhassincebeenheard,authorsexplorewithreaderstheenvi- ronmentsinwhichkeymusicalworkswerewrittenandperformed. ExperiencingtheBeatles:AListener’sCompanion,byBrookeHalpin ExperiencingBeethoven:AListener’sCompanion,byGeoffreyBlock ExperiencingBessieSmith:AListener’sCompanion,byJohnClark ExperiencingBillyJoel:AListener’sCompanion,byThomasMacFarlane ExperiencingBroadwayMusic:AListener’sCompanion,byKatSherrell ExperiencingCarlMariavonWeber:AListener’sCompanion,byJosephE.Morgan ExperiencingChopin:AListener’sCompanion,byChristineGengaro ExperiencingDavidBowie:AListener’sCompanion,byIanChapman ExperiencingFilmMusic:AListener’sCompanion,byKennethLaFave ExperiencingJazz:AListener’sCompanion,byMichaelStephans ExperiencingLedZeppelin:AListener’sCompanion,byGreggAkkerman ExperiencingLeonardBernstein:AListener’sCompanion,byKennethLaFave ExperiencingMozart:AListener’sCompanion,byDavidSchroeder ExperiencingPeterGabriel:AListener’sCompanion,byDurrellBowman ExperiencingtheRollingStones:AListener’sCompanion,byDavidMalvinni ExperiencingRush:AListener’sCompanion,byDurrellBowman ExperiencingSchumann:AListener’sCompanion,byDonaldSanders ExperiencingStravinsky:AListener’sCompanion,byRobinMaconie ExperiencingTchaikovsky:AListener’sCompanion,byDavidSchroeder ExperiencingVerdi:AListener’sCompanion,byDonaldSanders ExperiencingtheViolinConcerto:AListener’sCompanion,byFrancoSciannameo EXPERIENCING THE BEATLES A Listener’s Companion Brooke Halpin ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD Lanham • Boulder • New York • London PublishedbyRowman&Littlefield AwhollyownedsubsidiaryofTheRowman&LittlefieldPublishingGroup, Inc. 4501ForbesBoulevard,Suite200,Lanham,Maryland20706 www.rowman.com UnitA,WhitacreMews,26-34StannaryStreet,LondonSE114AB Copyright©2018byRowman&Littlefield Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorby anyelectronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretriev- alsystems,withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewer whomayquotepassagesinareview. BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Names:Halpin,Brooke. Title:ExperiencingtheBeatles:alistener'scompanion/BrookeHalpin. Description:Lanham:Rowman&Littlefield,[2018]|Series:Listener'scompanion|Includes bibliographicalreferencesandindex. Identifiers:LCCN2017006659(print)|LCCN2017009194(ebook)|ISBN9781442271432 (cloth:alk.paper)|ISBN9781442271449(electronic) Subjects:LCSH:Beatles.|Rockmusic—England—1961–1970—Historyandcriticism. Classification:LCCML421.B4H3252018(print)|LCCML421.B4(ebook)|DDC 782.42166092/2—dc23LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2017006659 TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsof AmericanNationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaper forPrintedLibraryMaterials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992. PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica CONTENTS SeriesEditor’sForeword vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi Timeline xiii 1 BeatlesRoots:CoveringAmericanSongs 1 2 InTheirOwnWrite:Rock-and-RollOriginals 17 3 NeverTooMuch:MoreRock-and-RollOriginals 41 4 PlayingAmerica’sHeartStrings:LoveSongs 59 5 LiveBeatles:TheEdSullivanShowandLiveConcertSongs 73 6 ALighterSide:Folk-RockandCountry-RockSongs 89 7 ActingNaturally:MovieSongs 109 8 BroaderHorizons:WorldMusicSongs 139 9 RecordingStudioWizardry:PsychedelicandElectronic Songs 149 10 OrchestralDimensions:Strings,Woodwinds,andBrassSongs 167 11 GiftedExtras:GuestMusiciansRevealed 185 SelectedReading 195 Index 197 AbouttheAuthor 209 v SERIES EDITOR’S FOREWORD T hegoaloftheListener’sCompanionseriesistogivereadersadeeper understanding of pivotal musical genres and the creative work of their iconic composers and performers. This is accomplished in an inclusive manner that does not necessitate extensive music training or elitist shoulder rubbing. Authors of the series place the reader in specific listening experiences in which the music is examined in its historical context with regards to both compositional and societal parameters. By positioning the reader in the real or supposed environment of the mu- sic’screation,theauthorprovidesforadeeperenjoymentandapprecia- tion of the art form. Series authors, often drawing on their own exper- tise as both performers and scholars, deliver to readers a broad under- standingofmajormusicalgenresandtheachievementsofartistswithin thosegenresaslivedlisteningexperiences. The Beatles was one of the first topics considered when the Listen- er’s Companion series was originated. Beethoven, the blues, and the Beatles: those “three Bs” would cover great swaths of the most impor- tantmusical territoryof thelast twohundred years and were at thetop of the list for the series. But topics get jostled, book proposals stall, authors come and go, and even the Beatles had to wait their turn until the right time and place. Fortunately, Experiencing the Beatles by BrookeHalpinnowstandsreadytowalkthereaderthroughtheexpan- sive and highly creative recorded catalog from, as Ringo Star puts it,“a greatlittlerockband.”Thatlittlebandformedwhentherockgenrewas still a candidate for “temporary fad” and hardly seemed likely to alter vii viii SERIESEDITOR’SFOREWORD music history. How obvious it all seems now. Of course the Beatles were going to be the most famous band ever. Of course their music wouldinfluencedecadesoftheworld’sgreatestmusiciansandcompos- ers. This sense of manifest destiny for the Beatles makes discussing theirmusicexceedinglychallenging.Placingthereaderintoanenviron- ment where the magnitude of the Beatles was not so apparent is a delicate matter. Take “Yesterday” as just one example. Here is a song that now lives in the pantheon of rock legend. Its poetic potency and gravitas in the Beatles’ oeuvre is now viewed as undisputed. But in the context of the time, it was an out-of-place acoustic song with a nice melody but no discernable chorus. For all practical purposes, it was a PaulMcCartneysolofeatureratherthanaBeatlesensemblepiece.The point being that the music of the Beatles needs context to be under- stood and enjoyed to the fullest extent. This is where Brooke Halpin is able to make his palpable contribution. As the host of his weekly radio show,Come Together withthe Beatles,Halpinregularly delvesintothe people, places, and events surrounding the Beatles catalog, giving him anastuteappreciationforthemusic.Byspeakingtohundredsofpeople who “were there” when the music was being conceived, recorded, and first enjoyed, Halpin has just the kind of insight that is so right for the Listener’s Companion series. Reading Halpin’s words will give you the benefit of his lifetime of study and surely motivate you to revisit your Beatles recordings with a heightened comprehension of not only your oldfavoritesbutafewofthelesser-knowngemsaswell. GreggAkkerman
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