Shout!
The Beatles in Their Generation
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4.0 • 55 Ratings
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
Updated to include Paul McCartney’s knighting and the deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison.
Philip Norman’s biography of the Beatles is the definitive work on the world's most influential band—a beautifully written account of their lives, their music, and their times. Now brought completely up to date, this epic tale charts the rise of four scruffy Liverpool lads from their wild, often comical early days to the astonishing heights of Beatlemania, from the chaos of Apple and the collapse of hippy idealism to the band's acrimonious split. It also describes their struggle to escape the smothering Beatles’ legacy and the tragic deaths of John Lennon and George Harrison. Witty, insightful, and moving, Shout! is essential reading not just for Beatles fans but for anyone with an interest in pop music.
Customer Reviews
Good read
Missing a lot of great details from more recent books (and photos). But altogether very honest.
Junk
Harrison is rated 11 on Rolling Stone, I don’t think The Beatles would have been so popular without those classic leads George performed and I won’t even start how crucial Ringo was. That band was not just Lennon and McCartney. Good songs by them without Harrison and Starr they would not be classics.
Good history, bad musicology
No argument this is the most well researched book in the Beatles library. However he loses credibility with his musical reviews. Example, he characterizes George Harrison as an “average guitar player,” which isn’t accurate even on a technical level. But considering GH’s guitar creativity, he was revolutionary with his intricate and perfected weavings precisely refined to the need. Using the author’s yardstick, where he conflates technical chops with artistry, one might consider Dream Theater to be a better band than the Beatles. But as long as you are willing to overlook his uninformed opinion and instead focus on historicity, the book is well worth a read.