Dreaming the Beatles audiobook

what i really liked it that although he has his opinions, and he makes little jabs at some of my favorite songs ….. , he isn’t trying to convince you he is right. he is just having a conversation with the reader, about how much the Beatles mean to us, and that the fact that we are still arguing over them is proof enough in its self of their impact. whether you already have an appreciation for them or not, i think anyone would enjoy this. so so nice.

https://msarki.tumblr.com/post/160690...It was never a pressing need for me to read any book about the Beatles. Born in northern Michigan in a small fishing town back in 1953, I grew up with them. It feels like only yesterday when as a thirteen year-old boy I made my way downtown to Loeffler’s Electronics to pick up my pre-ordered copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It felt like precious cargo walking home with that LP tucked under my arm. When I placed it on the turntable in the basement a new world opened up for me. I had never heard anything like what my ears were now experiencing. These British pop stars had turned a new corner, one that was in some ways expected based on where their music had been going. But change is slow coming to a little town up north on Lake Huron. And I would never again be the same after my entire Beatle experience. Dreaming the Beatles is a collection of essays telling the story of what this band means to a generation who grew up with the Beatles music on their parents’ stereos and their faces on T-shirts. I cannot imagine what that might have been like. I grew up in a home where even the mention of the Beatles was prohibited. The band’s first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show was cause for the future downfall of our country’s youth. My father was the president of our local School Board and the Iosco County News headlines one day soon after the first British Invasion abhorrently read, “Sarki says there will be no Beatles haircuts in Tawas Area Schools.” For years my three brothers and I were marshaled down to the basement for our customary two-week butch haircut. There we would squirm as our father cut away with his motorized shears, nicking our necks until they bled with regularity. But by the time Sgt. Pepper’s was issued there was no longer much that old Dad could do. Bangs were in and his boys were defiantly wearing them. Of course, I had a cowlick that prohibited a proper look. My style was more in tune with today’s spiked hair, except mine scrambled anywhere it wanted to except straight down. As was predicted, mind-expanding drugs were introduced into my small town and the destruction of our youth became imminent. The Vietnam War certainly had something to do with it. Some of us survived. The Beatles for us were an everyday occurrence. Nothing existed without the Beatles’ mark upon it. Everything they said or did was reported and discussed. Hence the need for no further reading in a book about them. But now, so many years later, this title interested me. And the memories it brought forth were worth my time in reading it. The generations that came after ours have, and will have, their own set of experiences. But they will never be like our moments were back then, when British pop exploded in our bodies. And then it expanded and morphed into a world of psychedelic music, changing our minds forever, and opening us lucky ones to something bigger, more promising, and positively brighter. So come bless these boys in the band, and their passing that now-eternal audition.

When I was in middle school, we used to pass around 'slam' books (notebooks that a classmate asked a question at the top of each page, passed it around and everyone in class answered each question, as well as attaching our name to the answer...eventually making its way back to the questioner/owner.) I think every single book had as one of the questions: Beatles or Stones? You had to identify yourself as a Beatles or Stones fan. I don't remember many people answering: both. I was a Stone's "girl." Still am. They're edgier, more rock and roll, sexier bad boys with all the trimmings. I must have been in my late teens/early twenties when I truly began to appreciate the Beatles and their classic music. If I were signing a slam book today, I would answer both to the Beatles or Stones question. Rob Sheffield is a writer for Rolling Stone, an author of several books, a hard core music fan and critic. I have always read him. He's someone whose next book or piece I look forward to reading. He is an encyclopedia of knowledge about music, bands, songwriters, musicians, and has opinions about all of them. I always urge people to read his first book, 'Love is a Mix Tape,' his first book and a beautiful homage to his wife, Renee, who unexpectedly died from a pulmonary embolism at 32, leaving him a widower in his early 30's. It is sad, of course, for both of them, but it also is a beautiful rendering of being in love with your best friend.This book is another love of Rob's. His passion for the Beatles is lifelong. The enthusiasm and emotional gamut he has gone through being a rabid fan of their's is what the book is about. I learned more about the Beatles than I've ever known, but that is secondary. Listening to anyone talk about their passion for whatever is always a pleasure for me. Many, many days of my life, I feel like I am living in a colorless world filled with dead air and people who want it that way. They would choose to remain silent and wear gray, instead of expressing an opinion or wearing a wild, paisley print in bold, primary colors. I find this so depressing that I won't even comment further. So, I thank the Gods for Mr. Sheffield and all the others like him. People who can't wait to express their opinion about any and everything, paint their homes, their lives, their clothes in the colors of the rainbow and believe with all their heart that everyone should be themselves and let their freak flag fly.

Fan fiction almost, a new twist on the familiar story, after all the Beatles belong to every one and every one has their own version of the band. Well after they have split and 2 of them have died the story keeps getting added to and adjusted. The joy of this book is its modern perspective (2018), and Sheffield cites songs that carry the fab 4's influence directly or subtly, including Kendrick Lamar (Control) and Rae Sremmurd's 2016 Black Beatles. McCartney's still at it of course, hanging out with Kanye and Dave Grohl and so on, and still producing music (Sheffield rightly points out that much of it is so-so, along with highlighting the gems, such as Chaos and Creation in the Backyard). McCartney in fact is equally criticised - particularly in the chapter 'Paul is a Concept by Which we Measure Our Pain' - and praised. His song 'My Love' is lambasted as a pale imitation of George's 'Something', but George also gets a roasting for 'Got My mind Set on You' and the tour where he shredded John's 'In My Life'.The writer is an uber-fan, although born in '66 he has loved them since childhood, has sought to know everything he can about them and who still loves and learns from them. So he knows which 'yeah' is the best in 'It Won't Be Long', he explains how the band were able to get inside their girl fan's pov's, - how they lived inside and responded to the Scream. This is not a song by song examination (although many are covered), rather a look at how the world saw them and how they saw each other and made beautiful music along the way. A lovely book that will no doubt infuriate many.4.5 stars

I have tried to read countless biographies on musical figures I am interested in knowing more about. Rarely do I finish one. They typically don't hold my interest or the writing style is difficult to follow. Neither is true for "Dreaming." Having checked this out from the Library, "Dreaming" is a book that I would treat myself to again at some point. My only qualm is that Rob Sheffield can get a little corny at times, trying to insert lines from various Beatle songs into his own paragraphs...without even quoting it. But life is very short and there’s no time for fussing and fighting about it, my friend.

Surely the best book about the Beatles, this does the impossible and finds something new to say about them. It's a funny, insightful, and provocative exploration of the varieties of fandom they've inspired over the decades, hopscotching between topics like how the band was created inside the roar of "girl noise," John's plan to have them live together on a Greek island, significant cover versions, and 'Paul is a concept by which we measure our pain.' Sheffield is also great on their post-breakup work, identifying the musical gems among the heaps of unremarkable releases. Plus: Paul McCartney's five least favorite words.

total delight for anyone who went through Beatles phase or never left one...will make you fall in love again but with a sharp critical eye

In Dreaming the Beatles, music writer Rob Sheffield offers a loving appreciation of the Fab Four and their enduring legacy. In the opening essay, “Prelude: Thanks, Mo,” he lays down the claim that when the Beatles broke up in 1970, it was anything but an ending. On the contrary, it was only the beginning of a supercharged afterlife that shows no signs of winding down even fifty years later. He then proceeds with his examination, Beatle by Beatle, album by album, and decade by decade of fandom. Sheffield also takes a close look at particular Beatles songs, album covers, and movie moments. He also devotes pages to his favorite Beatles album, Revolver, which he asserts is the best rock album ever.Sound like total pop-music geekery? It is, but that’s right up my alley. I loved it. Sheffield’s writing is lively and engaging throughout. I especially liked his seamless way of weaving Beatles lyrics into his writing, either just for funsies or to reinforce a point. (This must be a signature move. I just started Sheffield’s book On Bowie, and I’ve noticed it there too.) I hadn’t really thought about or listened to the Beatles much since my high school Beatles phase in the late eighties and early nineties. But this book inspired me to give my favorite Beatles albums another listen, all the songs, lyrics, and good feels came right back. A must read for Beatlemaniacs...or even more casual fans like me.

I feared I wouldn’t get to 40 books this year, but the “Get Back” documentary series on Disney+ gave me a brilliant idea: why don’t I read about my favorite band? Unsurprisingly, I learned a lot AND finished No. 40 within four days. Reading this book gave me a new appreciation for each of the Beatles. Also, the comparisons to other groups and movements further cements something I’ve known for years: the Beatles are the greatest band in world history, and their impact will only grow. They are a cultural phenomenon that’s lived on long after their breakup. Highlights for me were reading about John’s evolution. The man so easy to reject dogma, people and his own music truly found his Beatle bond to be the hardest thing to release. Strawberry Fields Forever as an unintended “Dear John” letter makes sense, and I now appreciate the song more. Also, the documentaries combined with this book have me in a George Harrison phase. In the last couple days, I’ve learned several songs of his on uke just to play them. They’re lovely.

"that's the courage ringo gave john, the courage all four beatles gave each other. and it's the courage they keep giving the world they left behind. boys in a room, making noise forever."as someone who doesn't know how life without the beatles looks like, reading about them through the perspective of another fan, one who loves their music as fiercely as i and many others do, this book was a communal experience, it was seeing myself in the stories of a world of people whose lives were also touched by the endless dream these boys graced us withthe only thing only thing i couldn't agree with was the bashing of "my love" (look, i know it's not good, but i still love that song, sorry rob)

I never figured out exactly what this book's angle is, but that's OK; I liked it anyway. Rock critic Rob Sheffield offers his opinions on all kinds of Beatles phenomena, including a decade by decade look at how John, Paul, George, and Ringo have been regarded since breaking up. Everything you know about The Beatles is in here somewhere, analyzed and juxtaposed in ways you may not have previously considered, along with information and insights that, to me at least, were fresh.

My favourite Beatles book of them all, and as a Fab-Four geek I still learnt a ton I didn't know. It avoids any boring plods through the usual biography and more focuses on the songs, the characters, the output, and the continuing influence of the Beatles.Full of fun facts and brilliant insight. A pure joy to read.