Description
Book SynopsisIn
Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles, Revised Edition, Kenneth Womack brings the band's story vividly to lifefrom their salad days as a Liverpool Skiffle group and their apprenticeship in the nightclubs and mean streets of Hamburg through their early triumphs at the legendary Cavern Club and the massive onslaught of Beatlemania itself. By mapping the group's development as an artistic fusion, Womack traces the Beatles' creative arc from their first, primitive recordings through Abbey Road and the twilight of their career. In this revised edition, Womack addresses new insights in Beatles-related scholarship since the original publication of Long and Winding Roads, along with hundreds of the group's outtakes released in the intervening years. The updated edition also affords attention to the Beatles' musical debt to Rhythm and Blues, as well as to key recent discoveries that vastly shift our understanding of formative events in the band's timeless
Trade ReviewCombining masterful storytelling and intellectual rigor, Kenneth Womack takes readers on a spellbinding tour of Beatles history. Journeying through the band’s music-making album by album, this revised edition of
Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles captures all the dynamism, poignancy, and magic behind the now-iconic discography. An engaging and invaluable text, Womack demonstrates once more why he is a leading voice in Beatles scholarship. * Christine Feldman-Barrett, author of A Women’s History of the Beatles (Bloomsbury, 2021) *
Follow the Beatles down their
Long and Winding Roads with Kenneth Womack as guide
. This is the Goldilocks choice of Beatles books: meticulous sourcing and highly readable prose strike a just-right balance. Incorporating the latest research in an ever-growing field, the revised edition continues to be the choice for scholars and students of the band. Offering an authoritative reference
and a book to tuck into, Womack will have you turning the pages of a story you only thought you knew. * Katie Kapurch, co-editor of New Critical Perspectives on the Beatles (2016) *
Table of ContentsPrologue: The End 1. The Beginning 2. A Cellarful of Noise 3. And the Band Begins to Play 4. Rock and Roll Music 5. The Biggest Showbiz Town Ever 6. War-Weary 7. Yesterday and Today 8. Plastic Soul 9. The End of the Road 10. The Act You’ve Known for All These Years 11. Roll Up for the Mystery Tour 12. Whiter Shades of Pale 13. Getting Back 14. The Dream Is Over Epilogue: Long Live the Dream
Acknowledgments Bibliography Notes Index
