Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary - Hardcover

Riley, Tim

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0394550617 ISBN 13: 9780394550619

Publisher: Knopf, 1988

Synopsis

Perhaps the first serious analysis of the Beatles' work and its impact on popular music, Tell Me Why is meticulous in its purpose and long overdue....Of the hundreds of books written about [the Beatles] none bring the musical knowledge and the familiarity with the period that Riley offers here."

-- Cleveland Plain Dealer

Album by album, song by song, Tim Riley gives us a new, deeper understanding of the Beatles. Outdistancing the countless tell-all biographies that have been written, Riley's study of the Beatles' music is as rigorous as it is soulful. He explores the entire Beatles catalogue, making clear that the legendary four were not simply teen idols -- that they were, in fact, brilliant musical innovators who created timeless songs and virtually invented the album-as-art.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

first serious analysis of the Beatles' work and its impact on popular music, Tell Me Why is meticulous in its purpose and long overdue....Of the hundreds of books written about [the Beatles] none bring the musical knowledge and the familiarity with the period that Riley offers here."<br><br>-- Cleveland Plain Dealer<br><br>Album by album, song by song, Tim Riley gives us a new, deeper understanding of the Beatles. Outdistancing the countless tell-all biographies that have been written, Riley's study of the Beatles' music is as rigorous as it is soulful. He explores the entire Beatles catalogue, making clear that the legendary four were not simply teen idols -- that they were, in fact, brilliant musical innovators who created timeless songs and virtually invented the album-as-art.<br><br><br><i>From the Trade Paperback edition.</i>

Reviews

Song by song, record by record, an American music critic discusses the Beatles albums from Please Please Me (1962) to Abbey Road (1969), recounts the circumstances that led to the composition of each song and analyzes the means by which it achieves its individual character. A final chapter, "The Dream Is Over," surveys and sums up the subsequent solo albums. Riley shows that Paul McCartney rarely personalized his songs the way John Lennon did; he had a keener commercial instinct and satisfied pop expectations, while Lennon challenged his audience with lofty ideas like the illusory nature of reality and acute anxiety. Once they became solo artists, their best albums epitomized their strengths as they delineated what a remarkable match of sensibilities the two of them had been. An essential work for all interested parties.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0394550617
• ISBN 13: 9780394550619
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 423