Twilight of the gods : the music of the Beatles / [by] Wilfrid Mellers.
| Author/creator | Mellers, Wilfrid |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | New York : Viking Press, 1974, ©1973. |
| Description | 215 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Part one. Novice's departure. 1. Prologue and initiation -- 2. The Beatles' hard day night -- Part two. Contest and death. 3. Revolvers in Penny Lane and Strawberry Field -- 4. Sgt. Pepper and the Lonely Hearts -- Part three. Rebirth and return of the initiate -- 5. A magical mystery tour to Abbey Road -- 6. From the White Album to Let it Be -- Part four. Exit and lament -- 7. The Beatles soli -- 8. Elegy on a mythology. |
| Abstract | Traces the Beatles from their start in Liverpool through Abbey Road and beyond. Shows how their music reflects such diverse sources as country and western, blues, 1950s rock, Anglo-Irish ballads, British music halls, and oriental and baroque musical traditions. |
| Abstract | During the decade of the 1960s, the Beatles dominated the popular-music scene, both artistically and commercially. So powerful and persuasive was their music that it affected the lives--and the life-styles--of a whole generation. Their music was known throughout the world; despite its sustained popularity and obvious ability to renew itself year after year, many still refused to take it seriously. The Beatles were popular idols, and the spotlights of publicity and commercialism focused almost exclusively on the scandal-sheet aspects of their lives. Little if any informed or serious appreciation of their music was even attempted: when the senior critic of the London Times wrote the first musically literate piece about the Beatles, it was greeted with hoots of mirth not only from the establishment and those hostile to the group, but also from the Beatles themselves. The very idea of analyzing their music, or relating it to other musical patterns and cultures, seemed ludicrous. It is, however, becoming increasingly obvious that, after all the sound and fury of their private lives and public appearances have died down, their music is really what the Beatles are most importantly about. Wilfrid Mellers, a critic, musicologist, and composer, thinks the Beatles' music is important enough to stand close analysis. He situates its sources in Liverpool, relates it to the improbable melange of country and western, Negro blues, the Anglo-Irish ballad tradition, and the British music halls which formed the point of departure for the magical mystery tour. From the 1963 "I saw her standing there" through the following year's "A hard day's night" and the 1967 successes "Penny Lane," "Strawberry fields forever," and "Sergeant Pepper's lonely hearts club band," on through what Mellers terms the Beatles' "third period"--marked by their "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Abbey Road"--all the group's songs that are available on LPs are quoted and commented on. Sometimes Mellers uses lyrics alone to make his point; at other times he gives the music as well. While some of the book is admittedly technical, in Beatles music, as Mellers points out, the musical facts are not very complicated compared, say, with those of Beethoven's music. Mellers provides a glossary which not only defines all the musical terms employed in the book, but also attempts to describe the aural effect of the particular technical process. As he notes, it will be helpful--although it is not indispensable--if the reader takes out the albums and actually listens to the songs. "Since the purpose of the book is understanding rather than evaluation," writes Mellers, "I've commented mostly on songs which I believe to be good; obviously the better songs are the more revealing. It doesn't follow that there are no inferior Beatle songs; none the less the proportion of good songs to bad is remarkably high." |
| Bibliography note | Discography: pages 208-209. |
| LCCN | 73003508 |
| ISBN | 0670735981 |
| Stock number | $7.95 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML421.B4 M44 1974 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |