Traces the cultural and social developments in Britain in the twenty years following the Second World War, from the restricted culture of 1945 to the dawn of heady freedoms in the 1960's. Places emphasis on the design and style of these decades looking at such changes and icons as 'the new look', the Festival of Britain, top-loading washing machines, contemporary furniture, textiles, the mini skirt and the Rolling Stones.
#1 Best Selling Beatles Book – Amazon.com #2 “Books About the Beatles” – Senior Editor, Rock, Amazon.com (Beatles Anthology listed as #1) MAJOR PRESS REVIEWS Barnes&Noble.com (Kevin Giordano) “There is something quite Lennonesque about Mansfield’s soul-searching—his tales are astonishingly clear and vivid.” Amazon.com (Gail Hudson) “It is his writing talent and depth of personal story that makes this spiritual memoir rock.” Fox News Channel “A fabulous book about the Fab Four. It’s historical and a must-have.” Publishers Weekly, June 2000 “Eschewing the usual druggy histories of musicians, Mansfield delivers a book that is more philosophical than tell-all. There are enough tidbits to satiate any Beatle maniac, Library Journal, August 2000 “This is a ruminative and ultimately very personal journey through a man’s life and his personal relationships with each member of the Fab Four. Washington Post, October 2000 “This account is a warm-hearted look at an exciting period, related by an observer who was often at the right place at the right time.” ********************************** *Because of Ken’s personal relationship, respect and loyalty to Apple and the Beatles he sought all necessary official and personal approvals from Capitol, Apple, and each of the Beatles including Yoko on John’s behalf. At the time of the original release of The Beatles, The Bible and Bodega Bay he was informed that outside of their own Anthology that this was the only book approved by them. Once again, out of that same respect there have been no changes or updates—the content before you is exactly the same as the original book. These are the thoughts and events exactly as they were happening then…a unique insider’s look at a time that will never exist again.
Thirty years after The Beatles split up, the music of Lennon, McCartney, Harrrison and Starkey lives on. What exactly were the magical ingredients of those legendary songs? Why are they still so influential for today's bands? This ground-breaking book sets out to explore The Beatles' songwriting techniques in a clear and readable style. It is aimed not only at musicians but anyone who has ever enjoyed the work of one of the most productive and successful songwriting parterships of the 20th Century. Author Dominic Pedler explores the chord sequences, melodies, harmonies, rhythms and structures of The Beatles' self-penned songs, while challenging readers to enhance their appreciation of the lyrics themselves with reference to the musical context. Throughout the book the printed music and lyrics of The Beatles' songs appear alongside the text, illustrating the author's explanations. The Songwriting Secrets Of The Beatles is an essential addition to Beatles literature - a new and perceptive analysis of both the music and the lyrics written and performed by what Paul McCartney still calls 'a really good, tight little band'.
An all-access, firsthand account of the life and music of one of history's most beloved bands--from an original mastering engineer at Abbey Road Geoff Emerick became an assistant engineer at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in 1962 at age fifteen, and was present as a new band called the Beatles recorded their first songs. He later worked with the Beatles as they recorded their singles “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” the songs that would propel them to international superstardom. In 1964 he would witness the transformation of this young and playful group from Liverpool into professional, polished musicians as they put to tape classic songs such as “Eight Days A Week” and “I Feel Fine.” Then, in 1966, at age nineteen, Geoff Emerick became the Beatles’ chief engineer, the man responsible for their distinctive sound as they recorded the classic album Revolver, in which they pioneered innovative recording techniques that changed the course of rock history. Emerick would also engineer the monumental Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road albums, considered by many the greatest rock recordings of all time. In Here, There and Everywhere he reveals the creative process of the band in the studio, and describes how he achieved the sounds on their most famous songs. Emerick also brings to light the personal dynamics of the band, from the relentless (and increasingly mean-spirited) competition between Lennon and McCartney to the infighting and frustration that eventually brought a bitter end to the greatest rock band the world has ever known.
Before the Bomb, there were simply 'bombs', lower case. But it was the twentieth century, one hundred years of almost incredible scientific progress, that saw the birth of the Bomb, the human race's most powerful and most destructive discovery. In this magisterial and enthralling account, Gerard DeGroot gives us the life story of the Bomb, from its birth in the turn-of-the-century physics labs of Europe to a childhood in the New Mexico desert of the 1940s, from adolescence and early adulthood in Nagasaki and Bikini, Australia and Siberia to unsettling maturity in test sites and missile silos all over the globe. By turns horrific, awe-inspiring and blackly comic, The Bomb is never less than compelling.
"A small masterpiece" (National Post)-An utterly original first novel from a rising international star On a cold, rainy night, an aging bachelor named George Ticknor prepares to visit his childhood friend Prescott, now one of the leading intellectual lights of their generation. Reviewing a life of petty humiliations, and his friend's brilliant career, Ticknor sets out for the dinner party-a party at which he'd just as soon never arrive. Distantly inspired by the real-life friendship between the great historian William Hickling Prescott and his biographer, Ticknor is a witty, fantastical study in resentment. It recalls such modern masterpieces of obsession as Thomas Bernhard's The Loser and Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine and announces the arrival of a charming and original novelist, one whose stories have already earned her a passionate international following. "A perceptive act of ventriloquism, [Ticknor] rewards thought and rereading, and offers a finely cadenced voice, intelligence and . . . moody beauty." -Catherine Bush, The Globe and Mail "Confoundedly strange [and] fascinating." -Nicholas Dinka, Quill & Quire
Well-researched and daring! A bomb waiting to explode! Revolutionary! THE BEATLES: EXTRAORDINARY PLAGIARISTS by EDGAR O. CRUZ cuts the Beatles? apple to reveal the core of the artistry: Where did all the pumping and smashing songs by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr came from? Following their creative cycle, it presents the origination of the 213 officially released songs, the first it is ever attempted. The brief of two decades of extensive research and editorial work, this 172-page book in seven chapters details how African-Americans shaped the art of the Four Lads of Liverpool and made them the most viable rock act of all time. Based on the recollections of the Beatles and the group's constant insiders, past & present musicologists and pop culture historians, authoritative sources such as Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NME, Playboy, and the author's own unique probing on the subject, here's the Beatles naked!
'An active pleasure to read' Mail on Sunday Harold Wilson's famous reference to 'white heat' captured the optimistic spirit of a society in the midst of breathtaking change. From the gaudy pleasures of Swinging London to the tragic bloodshed in Northern Ireland, from the intrigues of Westminster to the drama of the World Cup, British life seemed to have taken on a dramatic new momentum. The memories, images and colourful personalities of those heady times still resonate today: mop-tops and mini-skirts, strikes and demonstrations, Carnaby Street and Kings Road, Harold Wilson and Edward Heath, Mary Quant and Jean Shrimpton, Enoch Powell and Mary Whitehouse, Marianne Faithfull and Mick Jagger. In this wonderfully rich and readable historical narrative, Dominic Sandbrook looks behind the myths of the Swinging Sixties to unearth the contradictions of a society caught between optimism and decline.
From 1970 onwards the disbanded Beatles were at last free to follow their individual interests. From that point on there were four separate stories... but they were stories that would form a complex overlapping history of quarrels and reconciliations, personal projects and sporadic collaborations. For the first time ever, a noted Beatles expert has meticulously documented the entire period of The Beatles after the break-up.
