- 368 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About This Book
An NPR Best Book of the Year ā¢ Winner of the Virgil Thomson Award for Outstanding Music Criticism
"This is the best book about the Beatles ever written" ā Mashable
Rob Sheffield, the Rolling Stone columnist and bestselling author of Love Is a Mix Tape offers an entertaining, unconventional look at the most popular band in history, the Beatles, exploring what they mean today and why they still matter so intensely to a generation that has never known a world without them.
Dreamingthe Beatles is not another biography of the Beatles, or a song-by-song analysis of the best of John and Paul. It isn't another exposƩ about how they broke up. It isn't a history of their gigs or their gear. It is a collection of essays telling the story of what this ubiquitous band means to a generation who grew up with the Beatles music on their parents' stereos and their faces on T-shirts. What do the Beatles mean today? Why are they more famous and beloved now than ever? And why do they still matter so much to us, nearly fifty years after they broke up?
As he did in his previous books, Love is a Mix Tape, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, and Turn Around Bright Eyes, Sheffield focuses on the emotional connections we make to music. This time, he focuses on the biggest pop culture phenomenon of all timeāThe Beatles. In his singular voice, he explores what the Beatles mean today, to fans who have learned to love them on their own terms and not just for the sake of nostalgia.
Dreaming theBeatles tells the story of how four lads from Liverpool became the world's biggest pop group, then broke upābut then somehow just kept getting bigger. At this point, their music doesn't belong to the pastāit belongs to right now. This book is a celebration of that music, showing why the Beatles remain the world's favorite thingāand how they invented the future we're all living in today.
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Dramatis Personae
- Prelude: āThanks, Moā
- Meet The Beatles (1962ā1970)
- āDear Prudenceā (1968)
- āI Call Your Nameā (1957)
- Please Please Me (1963)
- The Mystery Inside of George
- āIt Wonāt Be Longā (1963)
- The Importance of Being Ringo
- The Scream
- āTicket to Rideā (1965)
- āThink for Yourselfā (1965)
- Rubber Soul (1965)
- Instrumental Break: 26 Songs About the Beatles
- āTomorrow Never Knowsā (1966)
- Revolver (1966)
- āStrawberry Fields Foreverā (1967)
- The Cover of Sgt. Pepper (1967)
- Sgt. Pepperās Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
- āItās All Too Muchā (1967)
- Magical Mystery Tour (1967)
- Beatles or Stones?
- The White Album (1968)
- āHelter Skelterā (1968)
- āSomethingā (1969) vs. āMy Loveā (1971)
- The Cover of Abbey Road (1969)
- Turn Me On, Dead Man
- The Beatlesā Last Album (1970)
- āMaybe Iām Amazedā (1970)
- āGodā (1970)
- Paul Is a Concept by Which We Measure Our Pain
- When George Sang āIn My Lifeā (1974)
- A Toot and a Snore In ā74 (1974)
- Rock ānā Roll Music (1976)
- āSilver Horseā (1981)
- The Ballad of Eighties Beatles vs. Nineties Beatles
- The End: Sorry We Hurt Your Field, Mister
- Acknowledgments
- Bibliography
- Notes
- Index
- Illustrations
- About the Author
- Also by Rob Sheffield
- Copyright
- About the Publisher