Full Description
The Beatles and Black Music discusses the influence that Black music and culture has had over the Beatles throughout their collective and solo careers.
Tracing the history of Black musical and cultural influence on popular music from the Transatlantic Slave Trade in 1795 to the nascent Mersey Beat scene in the early 1960s, this book is the first to explore the Beatles from this important cultural lens. The Beatles and Black Music discusses the influence that Black music and culture has had over the Beatles throughout their collective and solo careers. Richard Mills adopts a musicological and historiographic account to demonstrate the extent to which Liverpool's colonial history influenced the Beatles' music.
Beginning with the grand narrative of British colonial history pre-Beatles, it covers the influence of Black music and culture on the Beatles' teenage years in the 1950s, their association with Lord Woodbine, their love of American Rhythm and Blues in the mid-1960s, and extends to a discussion of post-colonial British identity and the lasting effect Black music has had on the Beatles' legacy and continues to have on the solo careers of Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.
Contents
Preface
Introduction: The Beatles and Black Music
Chapter 1: Colonial History and the Beatles
Chapter 2: Lord Woodbine, the Liverpool Music Scene and the Gator Bowl
Chapter 3: Cunard Yanks: The Beatles and 1950s Rhythm and Blues
Chapter 4: Cover Versions on Please Please Me and With the Beatles
Chapter 5: The Beatles, Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Atlantic, Stax, Motown and Psychedelic Soul
Chapter 6: The White Album, Let It Be and Abbey Road
Chapter 7: The Black Album. The Beatles Mashed, Jay Z and Brian Burton aka Danger Mouse
Chapter 8: Post-Colonial Solo Beatles: The Beatles and Black Music After Their Breakup In 1970
Conclusion: The Beatles and Post-colonial Britain
Bibliography
Discography
The Grey Album: Track Listing
Acknowledgments
