Customer Reviews

Revolution: the Making of the Beatles' White Album (The Vinyl Frontier)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this book thinking it was written from a different angle and would be an interesting, informative read. Factual errors too numerous to count put the entire book in question for me. Burps of the writers opinion presented as facts abound. For a book that is supposed to be a detailed, microscopic look at the White Album there were just too many errors for me to enjoy it. When discussing the Manson Family's infatuation with the album he mistakenly calls Susan Atkins (aka Sadie Mae Glutz) "Tex Atkins" mixing her name up with Tex Watson. My advice: Do your homework and hire a proofreader!

PS I love Wild Honey Pie. So there!

The introduction to this book promises that it takes a new approach to a piece of Beatles' history. Where most books first deal with the bigger picture and get to detail later, this book looks at the career of The Beatles by relating it to the author's favourite album - The Beatles (or the White Album as most people know it).
It also promises a fresh and often funny look at their career in crisp and witty prose.
So, I was really looking forward to review this one!
Sadly, I was bitterly disappointed. You might have a different taste as to what's funny & witty or not, but that aside, this book sheds no new light on either The White Album or The Beatles. It is full of well known anecdotes and personal opinion (for instance: page 163 - The Sergeant Pepper inner sleeve was a piece of rubbish according to the author. A matter of taste I'd say, but the point was that the coloured inner sleeve was the first of its kind!). Where there are no facts to go by, the author resorts to unsubstantiated speculation.
The book is also full of errors that would have been easy to avoid (just one example: page 115 - Jimmy Nicol played with The Beatles in 1964 - not 1965).
When there are many of these errors, it's hard to believe anything "new" in such a book. All in all a very poor effort.

Quantik's book is a collection of generally known anecdotes, along with some questionable speculation.

Annoyingly he feels duty bound to weigh in repeatedly with his personal opinion in a very unjournalistic way:

"The theme of their (Patti H. and Eric C.) unrequited love had already inspired Clapton's only great song, "Layla" (While Boyd and Clapton's realized relationship was responsible for the apalling "Wonderful Tonight.)" p. 94

"Described by its author as a 'little experimental piece,' Wild Honey Pie is no such thing unless the experiment in one involving horrible torture." p. 86

Some of the details are interesting but Quantik's writing style is obnoxious. The book is carried solely by the intrinsically compelling nature of the subject matter.

So you say you want to read about Revolution? Well you know, this book ain't gonna change the world.

A title from Acapella's "Vinyl Frontier" series, Revolution is more along the lines of an extended album review than it is a "behind-the-scenes" blow-by-blow (a turn of phrase which wasn't much off, judging by how the Fab Four began to go off each other by the late 1960s). Mr. Quantick always seems to be two or three steps removed from the source material when he regales stories of the Beatles' disputes and conversations in and beyond the studio, giving the book as a whole a decidedly unfamiliar feel.

The majority of the book is devoted to a highly subjective editorial-charged rundown of the 30-some songs on the two-LP set known popularly as "The White Album," but in reality titled The Beatles. There are some deliciously snarky remarks offered with no apologies about tunes for which the author apparently didn't care (of George Harrison's masterpiece "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," the author describes a "big bloaty thing" which "inadvertantly invented '70s rock, which is arguably a bad thing but ensured the sale of small cigarette lighters for the next decade." Get it?), however they feel somewhat forced as if the author - with his tone of studied hipness - wanted to be Bigger Than The Beatles with his narrative presence in the title.

If a person wants to know absolutely everything there is to know about the famed British rock group, then this would be a nice starting place, as the material is neither fresh nor innovative. It is a brief read, best enjoyed with a copy of the album in question playing in the background. As a stand-alone piece, the book barely works at all.

Though for all its faults, the book looks almost as cool as the actual album cover of The Beatles when placed on an otherwise bare coffee table.

My girlfriend got this book for me for Christmas. I read about half of it and we ended up taking it back for a different book. One reviewer here wrote, "This book was written for Beatles fans and in particular those who have more than a soft spot for the 1968 opus 'The Beatles'." Well, make sure you don't like the album TOO much, because this author repeatedly talks about how bad some of the songs are. It's hard for me to believe this guy likes anything at all. He said Clapton had only one good song, he likened "Wild Honey Pie" to torture.. and he mentions how other songs are pointless and throwaways. He didn't have anything positive to say about the album at all.

Recently, this same Vinyl Frontier series put out a book on Pet Sounds and I was leary to pick it up, thinking that might be an anti-Pet Sounds book, but that one is brilliant. It's written by someone who truly loves the music. Avoid this author at all costs. If you have the soft spot for the album, this guy will anger you.

I just finished this effort to dive into one of the most written about albums of all time. It was an enjoyable read and organized in an engaging fashion. If given the option of half stars it would rate a 3.5 in mind. While there are some factual inaccuracies (seemingly the plight of writing on the Beatles...damn near no one can write a book without at least a few) many things that are brought up by people as inaccuracies are in reality differences in opinion.

The author at times comes across as harsh towards certain songs (some of which we may, as Beatles fans, view as personal favorites) and towards members of the band and their contributions and I'll admit there were are few times I cringed at some his assertions in this vein.

The strength of this book IS the author's injection of his personal opinion, though at times it may clash with our own view points. That is what you are reading about, information surrounding his favorite record, told through his lens.

Also of note is that there really isn't a whole lot of new information here if you are already a die hard fan of this phase in Beatles history. There may be somethings you didn't know, but being a big fan who has read all sorts of books on them very few things jumped out at me.

That all having been said it is a quite enjoyable read and a decent quick reference for White album related stuff (should you not have something that covers more of the bases). I borrowed a copy from a friend and it made for a fun fast read and I have now ordered a cheap used copy to own for myself.

I read this book cover to cover in 5 days which is quite rare for me. I found it to be a pretty good read with a couple of minor flaws which include some factual inaccuracies. What's annoying about these inaccuracies is that the correct versions are pretty much common knowledge that have been previously documented in numerous & more authorative tomes. One glaring example being that Jimmy Nichol temporarily replaced Ringo for the tour of Holland & the Far East (including Australia & New Zealand) in 1964 NOT 1965 as stated by the writer...sheesh most Beatles fans knew that one. Also for the record the Band's debut LP was not "The Band" which came out a year later but was in fact "Music From Big Pink" and it's interesting that this much revered LP didn't merit a mention in the author's list of "Significant Rock Albums of 1968" despite being lauded by such luminaries as George Harrison & Eric Clapton!! I was also rather bemused with the 10+ page profile of Yoko Ono, particularly reflecting on the "influence" she had on the Beatles. While I don't totally discount it, she got one page more than the space given to their Producer George Martin, a man who probably had 10 times more influence & effect on their overall careers.
The one effect the book has is that it makes you listen to the album with "new ears" especially wher little noticed things are pointed out. Overall it's an enjoyable insight to a rather great LP.

This was the second in the Vinyl Frontier series that I read, the first being the making of Pet Sounds. That one led me to believe that all of the books in this series would be thoughtful and informative descriptions of the songwriting, recording, and production process. "Revolution" is not that in the slightest, though it is still a fun read. There is little about the actual recordings, still less on the process of writing each song, and essentially nothing on mixing, production, or the technical details of releasing a record. Instead, Quantick focuses much of his attention on the individual songs themselves, primarily the lyrical content and to a lesser degree the music (e.g. styles, dynamics, etc.).

What apparently annoyed many readers is Quantick's highly opinionated style, particularly as his opinions are often peculiar (if not bizarre). I certainly disagree that "Layla" was Clapton's only great song, or that "Wonderful Tonight" was appalling, and I'm surprised by the hatred Quantick has towards U2. More relevant, I do not see the white album being even close to being The Beatles' best work. However, this style also allows the author to abandon a neutral stance and take very funny shots at the Beatles (and others). For example, he HATES "Wild Honey Pie," and notes on personnel that other than Paul McCartney "No other Beatles were harmed in the making of this song." The caption to a photo of Clapton notes that Clapton is "about to play on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, have an affair with George's wife, become a junkie, etc." These barbs are sprinkled throughout the book and keep the book light and enjoyable.

I also enjoyed the article regarding Charles Manson's relationship to the white album. I knew generalities about the Family's reliance on the album, but Quantick gives fascinating details that most "respectable" critics would have ignored.

On the other hand, Quantick does not come across as particularly knowledgeable about music or The Beatles. He was exceptionally unconvincing in his rapturous take on Revolution 9 (and did not even address whether such noise can actually be considered "music," since it lacks rhythm or melody). He seems to have written the book in discrete sections without considering the whole, such that adjoining songs will have almost identical wording regarding specific points he wants to make, which makes the reading repetitious at times. Finally, he apparently recently learned the definition of the word "pastiche," as it crops up repeatedly to the point of distraction. David, find a thesaurus!

Despite these quibbles, this was a fun and informative book. While more superficial and less educated than many critical works (including some in this series), it does provide an interesting detailed examination of the album, the times in which it was released, and the Beatles themselves before, during, and after the record.

One would have a hard time believing that this was author David Quantick's most beloved album, as he spends a good deal of the book making snide and sinister comments regarding the band members songwriting styles and personalities. "Revolution" reads like most any Pitchfork Media review; pompous and arrogant. And really, that's all the book is... one painfully long album review. The factual meat of the book is spotty at best and comes from the most commonly recycled Beatles tales.

This book will only amuse the most casual of Beatles fans, and even then may border on unreadable with Quantick's snobbish tone. "I Will" a throwaway? Come off it.

I am trying to find alternate uses for this book. It doesn't make a good coaster or frisbee. I thought about giving it to the dog instead of a new chew toy but he is not interested in it either. Frankly, who is interested in the author's opinion of his favorite White Album songs? I'm not. Personally, "Helter Skelter" and Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey" are my favorite songs on the album. So the author doesn't like those songs. So what. Who cares? You don't need to write a book about it...