Description
Book SynopsisIn the 1960s, The Beatles would address like no other musical act a radical shift in the cultural mindset of the late twentieth century. Through tools of electric technology, this shift encompassed the decline of visual modes of perception and the emergence of a way-of-knowing based increasingly on sound. In this respect, the musical works of The Beatles would come to resonate with and ultimately reflect Marshall McLuhan's ideas on the transition into a culture of all-at-once-ness: a simultaneous world in which immersion in vibrant global community increasingly trumps the fixed viewpoint of the individual. By engaging with recording technologies in a way that no popular act had before, The Beatles opened up for exploration the acoustical space precipitated by this shift. In The Beatles and McLuhan: Understanding the Electric Age, scholar and musician Thomas MacFarlane examines how the incorporation of electric technology in The Beatles' art would enhance their musical impact. MacFarl
Trade ReviewThe Beatles and McLuhan: Understanding the Electric Age includes the first ever-complete transcription of the filmed conversation between John Lennon and Marshall McLuhan, as well as an interview with Michael McLuhan regarding his father’s legacy and that of The Beatles. The Beatles and McLuhan: Understanding the Electric Age will be of interest to scholars and students interested in music, music history, recording technology, media studies, and popular culture. * Leonardo Music Journal *
Anyone who is interested in an intense history of the Beatles, the book The Beatles and McLuhan is an exciting, instructive and valuable asset. Recommended. * From Me to You *
You never heard the Beatles like this before. . . .In his remarkable study—for it is just that—MacFarlane assesses the true relevance of the music that the Beatles made within this period and how the music of this band became a palimpsest for the theories of Marshall McLuhan. . . .[The book] make[s] a great statement about the advent of the digital era, the mapping of our own cultural history and its preservation—thanks to hot and cool media in the digital era. * Jazz da Gama *
