Reviewed by Kristin
I’ve read many Beatles books over the years, and Visualizing The Beatles was certainly a fresh take on a subject that has been analyzed by hundreds (or thousands!) of writers and millions of worldwide fans. The authors delve into all sorts of Beatles facts and present them graphically.
For example…
Songwriting: Who Wrote That? In graphs showing rough percentages, the authorship of each song is displayed. In the early days, it was usually John or Paul in the famous Lennon-McCartney, partnership, but eventually George found his place. This segment was repeated for each album and was fascinating as a visual representation of how the band changed over the years. Lead singers are also included in charts, with Ringo usually getting his one song per album, at least after the first few.
Style Through the Years. Details on their iconic looks are woven through the book, with their representative style highlighted as the band members went from grey and black suits to more colorful designs (and back to black in late 1965-66) to more diverse looks as the sixties came to a close. Their wardrobe uniformity made way for individual expression, and these charts show that very nicely.
Instruments: What Can You Hear? I really enjoyed this segment (again, repeated for each album) in which instruments played by each Beatle are identified. Besides the more obvious piano, guitar, or drums, other instruments like the cowbell, maracas, and harmonica are listed. The graphics become more complicated but still easily understood as time goes on, listing tape loops and other instruments like the sitar or the guiro or the flugelhorn.
The graphics show so many more things: dominant musical keys, track lengths, words most often used, where they were when, filmography, covers vs. originals, musical influences, world timelines for context, and so much more. Two pages of tiny print contain a list of every singer or band which has recorded a Beatles song to date. This is definitely a book worth seeing if you have any interest the history of rock and roll.
One more noteworthy inclusion: for the week of April 4, 1964, The Beatles held the top five spots on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart with Can’t Buy Me Love, Twist and Shout, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, and Please Please Me. In addition to those top five, they also held an additional seven spots in the top 100, with I Saw Her Standing There at #31, From Me to You at #41, Do You Want to Know a Secret at #46, All My Loving at #58, You Can’t Do That at #65, Roll Over Beethoven at #68, and Thank You Girl at #79. Less than two months after their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964, The Beatles were indeed riding the wave of Beatlemania across the US.
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