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Revolution in the Head

The Beatles Records and the Sixties

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Revolution in the Head

By: Ian MacDonald
Narrated by: David Morrissey, Robyn Hitchcock, Danny Baker, Peter Curran, Matt Berry, David Hepworth, Geoff Lloyd
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About this listen

Regarded as the greatest and most revealing account of how the Beatles recorded every one of their songs, Revolution in the Head is brimming with details of the personal highs and lows experienced by Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr as they made some of the most enduring popular music ever created.

©1994 The estate of Ian MacDonald (P)2014 Talking Music Entertainment & Celebrities Music Thought-Provoking Funny Witty

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Just superb. It was everything I needed it to be, and more.

What. A. Book.

Thorough, impeccably detailed and wonderfully intuitive.

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Having read this donkeys years ago, a chance to re-listen post-Lewisohn was welcome. Can be a little too technical at times, and the author's opinions are often ones that I disagree with - any criticism of 66/69 Beatles immediately sets my teeth on edge - but it remains fascinating stuff, underlining just how important The Beatles were and remain.
Well performed by and large, I could have done without Berry and Lloyd, and more of Hitchcock and Hepworth.
Great value overall, well recommended.

Provocative take on the greatest rock canon of them all

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This is an interesting look at the Beatles recorded output and their influence on 60s music and culture.
The multiple narrators ruined it for me though.

Multiple narrators don’t work

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I don't agree with all the author says but that's good. A real insight into the songs and their recording.

Interesting and intruiging

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The book is often quite critical of the music, which I don’t agree with, but interesting to hear an unbiased opinion.

Great insight to the greatest band ever!

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Being a massive fan this book had been recommended to me often. I can't say I loved it as I'm pretty sure some of the information is wrong and he wasn't shy about critiquing beloved Beatle songs and the beatles themselves. To a point that I thought it was a bit much.
That said I think his overall conclusion is quite fair and his analysis while highly personal I can respect.
I wanted better but think he is a good author limited by a subject where the truth can be hard to find.
Some narrators are better than others but most are excellent.

Good insight into the order of Beatle songs

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Overall a really good listen with impressive insights into songs. agreed with most options and disagreed with a couple. Found the chapters where the author went banging on about hippies very boring so skipped those.

great journey through great songs

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Would you consider the audio edition of Revolution in the Head to be better than the print version?

Well I managed to listen to all over it in a few days - mainly on my computer's speakers - can't imagine I would have managed that had I been reading... books sometimes take weeks to read...

What was one of the most memorable moments of Revolution in the Head?

I enjoyed the little digs taken at the hippy movement... Was also v interested to learn about the history of the How Do You Do track. Had no idea about that...

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Getting to hear people like Danny Baker and Dave Hepworth narrating...

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Made me happy to live in a country with such a rich cultural history...

Any additional comments?

Definitely worth listening to...

Brilliant

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Loved the guest readers who each clearly love The Beatles. This is my kind of book club.

Feckin' Fab

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Ian MacDonald's excellent dissection of every Beatles recording is essential reading for fans, although die hard fan-boys may take some of his opinions a little hard. Even I - more interested than fanatical - bristled a little at some of his critical comments about some of my favorite tracks - like "Nowhere Man" for instance. More often than not, though, he is bang on the money. He writes from a musician's point of view, and some non-musicians may find some of his references to keys and scales tricky. Most, however, will hang on in there. His rather academic introduction to the book may also alienate some, particularly as it is read by David Morrissey, not the most expressive of readers. The rest of the book is disconcertingly read. Robyn Hitchcock reads over half of it, and this is fine, but the other readers only take small chunks, and I found the change overs a little jarring. Just as I was enjoying (for instance) David Hepworth's amused reading or Danny Baker's enthusiastic section they ended, just leaving me wanting more. This "relay" process was, I think, a tribute to MacDonald from people who knew and worked with him, but on balance, I'd rather have had Hitchcock read the whole thing.

Fine book - variable reading performances

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