Customer Reviews

The Beatles As Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Walt Everett's previous volume of THE BEATLES AS MUSICIANS (BAM) dealt with the period from REVOLVER to ABBEY ROAD. Now he completes the story with the "prequel" -- from the QUARRYMEN to RUBBER SOUL.

The reason that the project is split into two volumes is simple: to preserve all the detail which is necessary to this ambitious endeavour. It's also a "unique" project: to encompass the complete musicology, instrumentation and recording history of the most influential musical force of the last fourty years.

Everett speaks with the authority of a musicological professional and the with the unabashed admiration of a listener, providing a cross-over point for those who want to study the Beatles work from both viewpoints.

I think it's important to note that Everett updates Lewisohn quite significantly. He's used a much broader set of source material (all meticulously referenced), the results of thirty years of study and a musicians ear to make sense of the raw data provided by Lewisohn and others.

Beyond the invaluable song-by-song treatment, Everett provides a detailed description of their early years and efforts. Like the preceding volume, the book includes many examples and detailed references.

The student of the Beatles' music is blessed by a rich literature. These two volumes are among the three or four most important resources for those interested in the musicology, instruments and sessions themselves. The two books are in a class of their own and redefine the standard of rock-pop musicology.

Ian Hammond
www.beathoven.com

This is perhaps the most exhaustive study of Beatles' musicianship ever written. Everett takes the music seriously and examines the development of the Beatles as musicians and composers. To be sure, the book presupposes that the reader be familiar with music theory. Even if you're not (as I am not), the book still offers wonderful insights into the songs and into the Beatles' early history in Liverpool and Hamburg. And I've not found a better book to discuss the recording history and sessions. If you're serious about Beatles' music, buy this book and Everett's volume on the late Beatles (from Revolver to the Anthology) and Mark Lewissohn's Complete Beatles Chronicle and the Anthology volume by the Beatles. But Everett's book is intended for readers seriously interested in the music.

Yes, this book is very dense and technical, I am not a musician and was a bit lost at times, however, the author structures the book in such a way that you can skim or skip what is over your head (a lot for me) and still get something out of this book.

For me, one of the most important and rare things about this book is the way the author does not fall into the John vs. Paul biases like so many others who have written on this topic. He gives both men the written ananlysis and technical break down of their work they deserve and does not short change Paul in favor of John. This is appreciated as I believe it gives the best description of how the songwriting evolved through the talents of both men.

He also gives the same critical analysis of George Harrison's songs, this is rare indeed.

For these reasons I highly recommend the book for serious Beatle fans.

I am already burning through the second book.

First, let me make it clear that I really like this book (and its companion volume.) It's pretty difficult to write anything about the Beatles anymore that hasn't been written about ad nauseum already, but both of these books contain a great deal of fresh and intelligent information and insight on the Beatles's music. That said, I have a feeling that a lot of folks looking for new Beatles literature just aren't going to particularly enjoy The Beatles As Musicians. I'm a musician, but at times as I was reading this material I felt as though I might as well have been reading Latin simply because Mr. Everett is often very technical and rather esoteric in his discussions. In some ways (and Mr. Everett admittedly touches on this issue) these books seem somehow to fly in the face of what makes rock music so great in the first place...emotion, borderline chaos, an underlying sense of danger and rebellion, limited musicianship that somehow leads to innovation, chance, improvisation, etc etc. Still, as I noted, I enjoyed these books a great deal even when I didn't have the slightest idea what the author was writing about. But if you're not a musician or you are one who is largely self-taught and as technically stupid as I am, I wonder how much you'll like The Beatles As Musicians. Regardless, in appreciation of the freshness and intelligence of his work, I have to give Mr. Everett's books both five stars.

I like the way this author compliments his readers' intelligence by writing about musical theory with clear detail. He describes how the Beatles achieved some of the sounds they did and gives good, in-depth analyses of many of their songs.

This book is truly a must-have for inveterate Beatles fans; musicians and lay people as well will certainly come away enriched after having read this. I can't recommend this one highly enough.

Walter Everett subjects the music of The Beatles to the kind of theoretical examination usually reserved for classical music. This book, along with its companion volume, is serious-minded, intellectually rigorous, extremely well-conceived and yet, for the informed reader, not at all tedious. I know of no other instance where popular music has been subjected to this kind of analysis with such compelling results.

These volumes seem to implicitly ask whether The Beatles' music is actually good enough to withstand the rigor of intensive analytical scrutiny. As Professor Everett ably demonstrates, it truly is. His dissection of the famous medley on side two of "Abbey Road" (in the companion volume) is eye-poppingly brilliant. In all, both volumes are superb treatises, books that set a new and very high standard for scholarship in popular music. They are also a welcome addition to literature on the band that is still the standard by which all others are measured.

I've never seen such a detailed description of the architecture of The Beatles' music and its performance. (Where else can one find charts on the guys' vocal ranges, for instance?) And all the discussion of their instruments. And all the songlists even from the very beginning of their partnership! I enjoyed this book thoroughly.

To be truthful, considering the amount of detailed musical analysis here, it's difficult for me to imagine the average fan who is not a professional musician being able to follow a great amount of Mr. Everett's discussion. For a musician, however, it's an invigorating exercise in thinking through song structures and harmonic patterns.

I've long been interested in some of the same questions Mr. Everett poses.

Many years ago, out of simple curiosity I put on A HARD DAY'S NIGHT and played through every number in turn, mapping out the various keys and structures; I found that the fourteen songs exhibited thirteen different song forms! This just five years after Buddy Holly!

Add to that that "the boys" experimented with unusual scales, modulations and meter changes and did about everything conceivable with the harmonic sequence, modifying it bit by bit in ever more adventurous ways until finally breaking free altogether. Given all this, it was obvious from the beginning that, whether or not the members of the group were capable of reading a score, they were consciously manipulating the materials of musical construction. Their work deserves this kind of scholarly attention.

Again, GREAT book and I especially appreciate all the attention the author gave to the very early repertoire.

It is not a work for everybody, if you mean to read it and understand it all. To read this book you need a more than basic knowledge of music theory + a certain amount of time to get used to the author's analytical technique + the transcriptions of (almost) all the Beatles recorded works as published by Wise in UK and Hal Leonard in USA (with all their mistakes, as pointed out by Everett) + all the recordings by the group, not only the official ones but as many bootlegs you can put your hands on. Everett spent lots of time listening to the works, reading all published material (especially interviews) on the subject, getting to all available recorded, photographic and video sources. His analysis of the single recordings is amazing, very in-depth, deconstructing the songs to the minimal unit and demonstrating how each of these units fit into the whole construction of the best songs.
I have heard this music since a was a child and still reading Everett's book made me perceive so many unheard before aspects I never knew existed. So I want to thank him for this not small feat.
In the title of my review though there's a hint of an objection. Which is this: I think Everett is absolute master of his method, he has musical knowledge as few other writers have and dedication and passion for the music he analyzes. And still...I don't think he has that quid (lat.) which differentiate the great critic from the academic. His work is a great study, but it is not a great book. He should have been able to differentiate the essential points from the dross. I don't think that much of his analysis is necessary for the appreciation of the songs and he doesn't make aesthetical choices, the songs being relevant only for their technical, musical aspects. Everett is not able to analyze lyrics convincingly in conjunction with the music and he rarely, if ever, does it, limiting himself most of the time to quote the authors themselves as to how they came on to a particular catch-phrase. Still words are inherent in songs, inextricably married to the music: I'd expect more from such a book in that respect.
A minor grievance is how some musical analysis terms and techniques are not explained or sufficiently well explained. F.e., his schemes with the skeleton of the songs are not explained as to how they're constructed, so it remains hard to follow explanations based on them. Also, in spite of the glossary at the end of the volume, some symbols and abbreviations used in the book are absent or not sufficiently explained. It also leaves me perplexed at how he renounces analyzing a song like Holly's Words of Love because aesthetically irrelevant: I think this is (debatably, of course) the Beatles greatest cover version and a great improvement on Holly's version.
Still, I repeat, this is the best book written on the Beatles yet, (though I should probably re-read Mellers before declaring it such) but not the definitive one it aims to be. Thank God, we won't ever have such a one!

I have an assignment comparing The Beatles to their predecessors, and no book or article I have read/studied thus far has been as helpful as this book. Everett goes so in depth, it's unbelievable. And, he manages to make it interesting, to boot!

I would suggest, however, if you are not a musician, to bone up on your chord progressions. He references a lot of chord structures that may be unfamiliar.

All in all, a great book--and especially a wonderful reference for research!

As I indiciated in my review of Everett's companion book, which traces the music of the Beatles from "Revolver" through "The Anthology," these books are the definitive works about the music of the Beatles. There are so many books about the Beatles' cultural iconic significance, their sociological and gender influence and a whole host of other irrelevant topics. What matters most is that the Beatles were timeless musicians who defined the music of the 20th century. Everett reviews their music as he would any great composer. If his perspective is too technical and professorial, you may want to consider Riley's "Tell Me Why," which is still my favorite book about the Beatles' music. It provides succinct and probing insights into their music. Everett's book is nevertheless excellent, and I highly recommend it.