The Beatles As Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul 1st Edition

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!

Walter Everett warns in his preface that to fully enjoy this book, the reader should have at least two years of music theory. I don't, nor can I read music. The author provides examples of the written music from many of the Beatles' songs, and from songs by others that he says influenced them. Most of this flew well over my head. But this is not to say the book is without value to the layperson. I really loved those parts I did understand. Everett takes every Beatles song, even those they wrote and gave away to others, and analyzes it in an in-depth and scholarly way. I have read quite a bit of Beatles' literature, but I learned a lot about the origins of their songs, and of many of the songs of others who influenced them. Everett shows how often a song that one of them wrote had similarities to a cover song they were playing or that one of them had listened to. He also demonstrates how the Beatles grew over time, becoming more adventurous by the Albums HELP and RUBBER SOUL. There were some quotes by the Beatles about their songs that I've heard before, but there were many that I hadn't heard. Everett also tells the reader what specific instrument each Beatle plays on each song--not just that Paul plays bass, but what model of bass he plays.One thing I really admired about the book is that Everett stresses the importance of George Harrison and Ringo Starr to the Beatles' sound. Harrison, he says, brought the Beatles more of a bluesy edge, and with Ringo, they finally had a professional drummer.I loved this book, and if you understand music theory, you should like it even more.

Loved this one. Helps me to enjoy Beatles music in a new way. (The sheet music is a great help).

Everett’s The Beatles as Musicians is a music theorist’s exploration of the Beatles’ music. During the course of the book, Everett tackles all of their songs—from the early days to Rubber Soul—in the order in which they were recorded, including notes on the instrumentation and writing process. But the real meat of this book are Everett’s analyses of the harmonic structure and voice-leading of the music.In most contexts, I could comfortably say that I have a solid grasp of tonal music theory. (I’ve arranged songs, taken several courses on music theory, and played in many performing groups.) And in my spare time, I’ve probably played through almost every single Beatles song, at least once. Nevertheless, much of this book was over my head. Everett is a professional music theorist, writing for other professional music theorists. There are several Schenkerian diagrams (don’t ask), and the prose is often dense with technical terms. (He also makes frequent reference to the Beatles: Complete Scores, which was annoying for me, since I don’t own it.) So if you are a musician looking to better understand the Fab Four’s music, look elsewhere. But if you are a music theorist studying the Beatles, this book (and its companion volume) is probably indispensable.I can’t help to compare this book with Ian MacDonald’s fantastic Revolution in the Head (a book that I would recommend for any serious Beatles fan with a basic understanding of music), which also goes through the Beatles’ oeuvre song by song. However, the books are written with different aims and for different audiences. Although MacDonald includes some useful analysis, he is also a sharp music critique, and assesses the songs for their artistic merit as much as their technical innovation. Everett, by contrast, is mostly playing the role of a disinterested doctor performing an autopsy, rather than a judge at a beauty pageant.One thing about this book did irk me: its organization. In MacDonald’s book, the text is neatly broken up song-by-song, and each is easy to look up by flipping to the back. The result is a book pleasurable to read front-to-back (MacDonald’s prose is fantastic), but also useful as a reference tool. Everett’s book is sprawling by comparison, divided into hefty chapters and subdivided inconsistently—sometimes by groups of songs, and sometimes individually. If you go to the index in the back, you're still adrift, as he included every page that a song is mentioned on. As a result, its convenience as a reference book is severely marred. And because it is not exactly a book one would want to read on a lazy Sunday afternoon, and more likely to be used by a tired graduate student (like myself) flipping to one song or another, this is a serious oversight.But, all things considered, reading this book could have been much a worse experience. Everett’s writing is rarely inept, and occasionally pleasurable. Long sections are dense and technical, but he is generally not wordy or repetitive. And, of course, many of his theoretical ideas are probably quite impressive to those in the same discipline as himself.

This book and its sister companion (Revolver through the Anthology) is essential to any one who studies the records of the Beatles and wants to know more intimate details. It is written by a musicologist but there is enough "lay" terms and description for the average fan too. This book is well researched and written - highly recommend it for all Beatles fans.

Excellent 1st volume in this 2-book series looking at the Beatles work from a musicologist's point of view. Highly recommended

Serious musicologists and Beatles scholars would be advised to make this volume and its counterpart (The Beatles As Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology) required reading. Everett get the majority of the factual information right, though the book is really more about The Beatles in light of their songwriting, musicianship and audio innovation.

Absolutely fabulous.

Books arrived on time, exactly. Well done !!