Hearing Aids To The Beatles Volume I: A Musician's Perspective

I can only review this from a vocal perspective but there are some interesting and sensible tidbits in here that I hadn't seen on other Beatle sites. I've only glanced through this once but I will give it more attention over the coming weeks.

I do not recommend the book. It covers from Love me do up to Strawberry fields. Most, if not all, the information is already available in Recording the Beatles and/or Recording sessions, other books covering the subject are Revolution in their Heads and the two volumes of Beatles as Musicians by Walter Everett. If this was a $8.00 book I would probably suggest it as entry book for a Beatles neophyte. The recording of Strawberry Fields is described in one page, no detailed information on how it was produced nor how great was the job done by George Martin! At 125 pages it looks like a compilation done as a hobby.

Like another reviewer, I looked through this book initially, stopping at particular points, and realized I was going to like this book. Now that I've gone through it in greater detail, I was wrong - I LOVE this book. The authors have created a true, forensic-level interrogation of how the Beatles recordings were made. And not just discovering how they were made, but often offering up sound judgments as to why they were (why they must have been) made that way. In addition to the depth of knowledge here, what's wonderful is the transparent honesty that runs through the book. For example, asterisks crop up to signal that information is 'rumored', 'not verified', or 'speculative'. Similarly, when dispensing with conventional wisdom, the authors are careful to document their opinion. Describing characteristics of music and vocals is never easy (words often fall short when describing art), but the authors' attention to detail is evident here as well, with carefully selected adjectives to describe what we hear (my personal favorite is John's vocal style, described as 'sardonic' - how perfect is that?). What really comes through in reading this book is that this was obviously a labor of love for both authors, who treat the material, now part of the indelible canon of modern popular music, with the respect it deserves. This is published as Volume 1; I can't wait for Volume 2.

An obvious labor of love from two dedicated, knowledgeable, enthusiastic authors, this book is a wonderful companion for analytical listeners of The Fabs. It had me revisiting familiar passages, listening to new details. Written in an engaging style that encourages further debate and discussion, this volume is a welcome addition to my Beatles bookshelf.