Beatles '66

The Revolutionary Year

De: Steve Turner

Narrado por: Simon Vance

A riveting look at the transformative year in the lives and careers of the legendary group whose groundbreaking legacy would forever change music and popular culture

They started off as hysteria-inducing pop stars playing to audiences of screaming teenage fans and ended up as musical sages considered responsible for ushering in a new era.

The year that changed everything for the Beatles was 1966 - the year of their last concert and of Revolver, their first album created to be listened to rather than performed. This was the year the Beatles risked their popularity by retiring from live performances, recording songs that explored alternative states of consciousness, experimenting with avant-garde ideas, and speaking their minds on issues of politics, war, and religion. It was the year their records were burned in America after John's explosive claim that the group was "more popular than Jesus", the year they were hounded out of the Philippines for "snubbing" its First Lady, the year John met Yoko Ono, and the year Paul conceived the idea for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Music journalist and Beatles expert Steve Turner investigates in detail the enormous changes that took place in the Beatles' lives and work during 1966. He looks at the historical events that had an impact on the group, the music they made that in turn profoundly affected the culture around them, and the vision that allowed four young men from Liverpool to transform popular music and serve as pioneers for artists from Coldplay to David Bowie, Jay-Z to U2.

By talking to those close to the group and by drawing on his past interviews with key figures such as George Martin, Timothy Leary, and Ravi Shankar - and the Beatles themselves - Turner gives us the compelling, definitive account of the 12 months that contained everything the Beatles had been and anticipated everything they would still become.

©2016 Steve Turner (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

66 was quite a year!

In depth review of Beatles- very interesting. A number of new things presented and concepts. Very interesting. A few parts were overly wordy but in all a great book and well read.

Fantastic Book

I've read a lot of books on the Beatles, but this has to be one of the very best. It's really engrossing and I learned a lot of things that I did not know. Also, the narrator is excellent. Highly recommended!

History laced with a charming Liverpool accent

Simply fantastic book. I like the honing down on one year in their lives. Good idea. (I bought their Anthology book, but it is way too big and cumbersome and weighty to actually read! The only way you can actually read it is sitting uncomfortably at a desk.) Anyway, this book basically gives the history of them moving from pop to rock. What I learned: All four were extremely intelligent and -- of course -- musical geniuses, too. I did not know things like: The LPs put out in Britain and US had different lineups. I learned that George Martin really did play a huge role in their experimentation in the studio, and that he knew geniuses when he saw them, and let them run. I totally get that the Beatles were tired of touring. Screaming fans, being manhandled in Manila, holed up in hotel rooms due to security, etc. I learned that Paul was the workhorse of the group: on time, ready to work, but yet completely open to different music styles. I had no idea that the song "Got To Get You Into My Life" was about LSD, though, after Paul tried it! The book is not worshipful, either, as many are. It researches the events that happened in that one year to those four people. Those songs you know by heart: There is delight, pain, change, insecurity, pride, frustration and talent behind them. You will love listening to this book. And one other thing: I am absolutely delighted when Simon Vance reads a quote from one of the four. He can put on the Liverpool accent just perfectly. I smile every time.

Excellent!

Very well researched and written, and an equally superb job done on the narration, slightly imitating the voices and accents of each of the fabs. So captivating I listened to its entirety over 2-3 days. For any Beatles fan, and for anyone interested in the culture, music, art of this very transformative year, I highly recommend this book!

Interesting, fun read for any Beatles fan!

Really enjoyed this book, the narrator did a great job, even giving decent impressions of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. The book really makes you feel immersed in everything that the lads experienced during that year of immense change for all of them.

Another good book on the Beatles

I enjoyed this book. I didn't realize all that had happened in 1966, compared to the years before and after.
Was there anything new that I didn't know?
not really. However, I am a die-hard Beatles fan and have read a lot during my 60 plus years. However, the author talked about the Beatles in a very interesting way, which kept me interested and I still wanted to hear more!
I recommend this book.
The reader also did a good job.

Fantastic

If you are a lifelong Beatles fan like myself or you are new fan to their music this book is a must. Incredibly researched and presented. It is amazing that a single year in their career would provide enough material for a complete book.

1966 was more important than I'd thought

One year in the Beatles' history seems like a strange slice, but it turns out that quite a lot of their true significance beyond the Beatlemania happened, or began to happen, in 1966. There are mundane and profound details about their lives, thoughts, and influences here that are inspiring. This is a good book for people interested in the Beatles generally, 20th century cultural changes, and becoming broader thinkers.

Always felt it

Grew up by being pulled up by the cultural influences that fed the Beatles’ creativity which nourished my own sense of culture, social conscience and my self. This book gives the insights I felt, admired and am thankful for, clear expression. I’m grateful.

Not Just a Beatles Journey

Turner is a master at drawing in numerous strands of influences on and of the Beatles from and to so many areas of culture, that this sentence represents the opposite of what he actually does! He is elegant, parsimonious, but penetrating and analytical at the same time. I have too many thoughts to tie them all down now, but as a Beatles fan I feel I understand them better musically and as men. The reader (so sorry I don’t have his name at hand) was able to approximate the way each Beatle spoke but not an exact impression. This allowed my mind to fill in the rest in terms of how they spoke and what they look like. One of the more insightful books on the history, the music and the philosophy which gave birth to a revolution of pop and rock music.