Without a doubt, the pop/rock group The Beatles influenced rock music. They were legends in their own time and some would say, legends in their own minds. Although many biographies have been written about the "Fab Four" I believe this one's a little different. This book was written by the man in their recording studio: George Martin. The book briefly touches their early career but concentrates on the making of the pivotal album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". The author gives a control room view of the musicians as they worked on the music that went into the final record. It touches on some interesting technical features but doesn't overwhelm the reader with them. The book does give some of the flavor of the time and strange twists and turns of recording this album.
One has to remember that this was the era of giant record companies who wanted albums cranked out with as many hits as possible as fast as possible. Spending five months recording this album was unheard of in those days. Bringing in string arrangements and weird instruments was new and original then. In addition, this ground breaking album was recorded on 4 track, analog tape decks - machines long sent to the dumpster in our 24+ track digital era. Creating, recording and mixing this was a labor of love and this Martin was on the scene acting as midwife, arranger, engineer, co-conspirator and friend to this legendary group.
Go find this book, then pop "Sgt. Pepper" in your CD player - or better yet, play the vinyl on your turntable.
(Review copyright 1998 by J.C. James)