Experiencing the Beatles: a listener's companion

227 Pages·2018·1.241 MB·English

by  Beatles.;Halpin, Brooke

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
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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