Where the Music Had to Go

Jim Windolf

ISBN 10: 1668075563 / ISBN 13: 9781668075562

Published by Simon and Schuster, US, 2026

About this Item

Seller Inventory # LU-9781668075562

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Where the Music Had to Go
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, US
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1668075563
• ISBN 13: 9781668075562
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 513 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Persuasive, captivating, and bursting with insight, this dual biography by acclaimed New York Times journalist Jim Windolf dives into the surprisingly supportive, occasionally rivalrous, and always fertile relationship between Bob Dylan and the Beatles, uncovering how they inspired and transformed each other as songwriters, recording artists, and cultural icons.

From Dylan’s initial dismissal of the Beatles as being for “teenyboppers” to his realization that they were “pointing the direction where music had to go”—and from the Beatles’ obsessive spinning of early Dylan records to their impromptu renditions of fifteen Dylan songs during the 1969 Get Back sessions—the book captures the moments that pushed Dylan to “go electric” and inspired the Beatles to deepen their lyrics. Highly entertaining and packed with backstage anecdotes, Where the Music Had to Go is a deep-focus portrait of a heretofore unexamined relationship, one full of camaraderie, competition, and mutual evolution.

More than a music biography, this is a front-row seat to the forces that shaped an era—an unmissable experience for music lovers, pop-culture buffs, and anyone curious about the magic that happens when legends collide.

About the Author

Jim Windolf is a features editor at The New York Times. He has published articles, reviews, essays, and humor pieces in Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, New York magazine, Rolling Stone and other publications. Additionally, his short fiction has appeared in Ontario Review, 3:AM Magazine, Puerto del Sol and other literary journals. He lives in New York City.