The Beatles and the 1960s : reception, revolution, and social change / Kenneth L. Campbell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Campbell, Kenneth L., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Beatles.

Rock music--1961-1970--History and criticism.

Rock music.

Nineteen sixties.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (277 pages)

Place of Publication:

London, England : Bloomsbury Academic, [2022]

Summary:

The Beatles are widely regarded as the foremost and most influential music band in history and their career has been the subject of many biographies. Yet the band's historical significance has not received sustained academic treatment to date. In The Beatles' Reception in the 1960s, Kenneth L. Campbell uses the Beatles as a lens through which to explore the sweeping, panoramic history of the social, cultural and political transformations that occurred in the 1960s. It draws on audience reception theory and untapped primary source material, including student newspapers, to understand how listeners would have interpreted the Beatles' songs and albums not only in Britain and the United States, but also globally. Taking a year-by-year approach, each chapter analyses the external influences the Beatles absorbed, consciously or unconsciously, from the culture surrounding them. Some key topics include race relations, gender dynamics, political and cultural upheavals, the Vietnam War and the evolution of rock music and popular culture. The book will also address the resurgence of the Beatles' popularity in the 1980s, as well as the relevance of The Beatles' ideals of revolutionary change to our present day. This is essential reading for anyone looking for an accessible yet rigorous study of the historical relevance of the Beatles in a crucial decade of social change.

Contents:

Cover

Half title

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 postwar britain, american rock and roll, and the birth of the beatles

Chapter 2 postwar germany, the beatles, and the birth of the 1960s

Chapter 3 1963: profumo, the pill, and please, please me

the rise of the beatles

Chapter 4 1964: beatlemania in historical context

Chapter 5 1965: help! the beatles and the political culture of the mid-1960s

Chapter 6 1966: the beatles on a global stage

Chapter 7 1967: all you need is love

war, peace, the beatles, and the summer of love

Chapter 8 1968: revolution, rock music, and the beatles

the white album in historical context

Chapter 9 1969: woodstock, the beatles, and the end of the 1960s

Chapter 10 let it be: contemporary responses to the beatles' last albums and the breakup of the beatles

Conclusion post-1960s politics and the absence of the beatles

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781350107458

135010745X

OCLC:

1224583604