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Steve Turner
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Beatles '66: The Revolutionary Year Kindle Edition

by Steve Turner (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 695 ratings
Editors' pick Best Nonfiction
See all formats and editions

A riveting look at the transformative year in the lives and careers of the legendary group whose groundbreaking legacy would forever change music and popular culture.

They started off as hysteria-inducing pop stars playing to audiences of screaming teenage fans and ended up as musical sages considered responsible for ushering in a new era.

The year that changed everything for the Beatles was 1966—the year of their last concert and their first album, Revolver, that was created to be listened to rather than performed. This was the year the Beatles risked their popularity by retiring from live performances, recording songs that explored alternative states of consciousness, experimenting with avant-garde ideas, and speaking their minds on issues of politics, war, and religion. It was the year their records were burned in America after John’s explosive claim that the group was "more popular than Jesus," the year they were hounded out of the Philippines for "snubbing" its First Lady, the year John met Yoko Ono, and the year Paul conceived the idea for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

On the fiftieth anniversary of this seminal year, music journalist and Beatles expert Steve Turner slows down the action to investigate in detail the enormous changes that took place in the Beatles’ lives and work during 1966. He looks at the historical events that had an impact on the group, the music they made that in turn profoundly affected the culture around them, and the vision that allowed four young men from Liverpool to transform popular music and serve as pioneers for artists from Coldplay to David Bowie, Jay-Z to U2.

By talking to those close to the group and by drawing on his past interviews with key figures such as George Martin, Timothy Leary, and Ravi Shankar—and the Beatles themselves—Turner gives us the compelling, definitive account of the twelve months that contained everything the Beatles had been and anticipated everything they would still become.

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  1. Print length
    464 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Ecco
  5. Publication date
    October 25, 2016
  6. File size
    12295 KB
  7. Page Flip
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A fascinating dissection of these best and worst of times for the Beatles. Steve Turner's research is impressive.

-- "Philip Norman, New York Times bestselling biographer"

1966 was a crucial year in the Beatles' amazing journey from being the Fab Four to becoming the princes of psychedelia...By concentrating on just this one year, Steve Turner has been able to examine every influence, document every detail, and fit the jigsaw together. An extraordinary achievement.

-- "Barry Miles, New York Times bestselling biographer"

1966 was the year of my marriage to George, our first visit to India, and the Beatles' last concert. Everything is captured most vividly and in such detail in this book.

-- "Pattie Boyd, model, photographer, and New York Times bestselling author"

Beatles '66 is a major achievement--for Beatles fans, yes of course, but also for anyone interested in how creativity works and is affected by its surroundings.

-- "New York Journal of Books"

Turner succeeds in creating an illuminating portrait of the Beatles, both as a band and as individual artists.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

Turner tackles the year from all angles...This book is the work of an expert, and expertly written at that.

-- "Paste"

A pleasing romp through the Beatles' annus mirabilis...Turner does a nice job of capturing them at their best.

-- "Kirkus Reviews"

The most comprehensive coverage of Revolver and the events in the Beatles' lives and times in 1966. Splendid!

-- "Tony Bramwell, author of Magical Mystery Tours: My Life with the Beatles"

A wonderfully compelling look into the year that changed everything for the band.

-- "BookPage"

Reading Beatles '66, I'm right there--and where else would you want to be if you love music?

-- "Bono"

What music journalist Turner brings...is fantastic access...and an extraordinary, Peter Guralnick-like attention to detail.

-- "USA Today"

From the Back Cover

The year that changed everything for the Beatles was 1966—the year of their last concert and Revolver, their first album of songs not intended for live performance. This was the year the Beatles risked their popularity by retiring from the tour circuit, recording songs that explored alternative states of consciousness, experimenting with avant-garde ideas, and speaking their minds on issues of politics, war, and religion.

On the fiftieth anniversary of this seminal year, music journal-ist and Beatles expert Steve Turner slows down the action to investigate in detail the enormous changes that took place in the Beatles’ lives and work during 1966. By talking to those closest to the group and by drawing on his past interviews with the Beatles themselves and key figures such as George Martin, Timothy Leary, and Ravi Shankar, Turner gives us the definitive account of the twelve months that encompassed everything the Beatles had been and would yet become.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01BKD8YCQ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco; Illustrated edition (October 25, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 25, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 12295 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 695 ratings

About the author

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Steve Turner

Steve Turner

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Steve Turner is the author of Trouble Man: The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye, A Hard Day's, Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song, Hungry for Heaven: Rock and Roll and the Search for Redemption, Jack Kerouac. Angelbeaded Hipster, and Van Morrison: Too Late to Stop Now. His articles have appeared in Rolling Stone, Mojo, Q, and the London Times. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
695 global ratings
1966: A Sweet Year
5 Stars
1966: A Sweet Year
1966 was an important year for the Beatles and it was an important year for me. In August I attended one of the last Beatles concerts, this one at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Only 17, I hadn't driven for very long and I coaxed my father to take my high school girlfriend and me to the concert (we lived 50 miles away). Turns out the concert was cancelled due to a thunderstorm. He begrudgingly took us back the next day for the noon concert, something I was never able to adequately pay him back for. So 1966 is a sweet spot in my life. I'm pleased that Steve Turner's book was able to concentrate on this single year and dig deeper than most books. I've read most of them and this book contains plenty of material that I've never read before. Anyone who owes a life-change to the Beatles, who listened to Revolver and have never been the same since, this is one of the many books you must read.
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Top reviews from the United States

Dee Arr
5.0 out of 5 stars A Year In The Life
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2017
Verified Purchase
Author Steve Turner said that in 2009, Paul McCartney told him about a “…then-recent report that claimed that two of the most significant factors in the fall of Soviet communism were the spread of contraband Levi jeans and the illicit underground distribution of Beatles records.” The strength and truth of this statement rings with authenticity when backed up by the facts in this book. The author targets 1966 as the year of revolutionary change, not only for the Beatles, but for the entire genre of pop music. His extensive bibliography and list of sources helped to recreate 1966 and makes you feel as if you were there.

Some of the stories in the book I had heard before, such as recording multiple tracks to create a desired sound and cutting and running tapes backwards through the machines to achieve a different sound. Mr. Turner details everything about the Beatles and how they consciously decided to change how a group was supposed to behave (record and tour). The Fab Four felt trapped by their own success, and desperately wanted to grow as musicians. As they worked to put together the next album, they weren’t sure how their fans would feel about the new music being created, music that would be able to be recreated at a concert venue today but was impossible to achieve in 1966.

This is not a simple praise book that talks about how good the Beatles were, this book goes deep into the thought processes of each Beatle and how they worked together to create something new. The development of songs for the “Revolver” LP is fascinating, along with the inclusion of information about other groups who provided their own contributions to the music scene. What musicians created back then would dictate the direction of music for decades.

The Beatles were very good at combining new developments into a song and coming up with something that had never been heard. Their fame helped to spread it around the world. This book provides an excellent view of how the initial seeds were germinated, teased into growth, and eventually evolving into something wonderful. Excellent book for music history lovers, or for anyone who has a desire to know about the revolutionary changes in music that happened in the ‘60s. Five stars.
5 people found this helpful
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Christian T. Stough
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book even for die hards.
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
Could easily be a 5 star. Very well told story of the Beatles in 1966. This book covers almost everything. One of the highlights is how well he places everything into the context of the times in which they happened. The best part of the book is how thorough it is. He covers what they were doing , what they were being influenced by , what motivated them and what the results were. With Lewisohn on permanent holiday, we are left with books like this and "And in the End" (about 1969), to cover the gap. Their early years and 1967 have been done to death so all we really need now are 1968, 1970, and 1971-1973. The reason I don't give this a 5 star is because it doesn't cover more; specifically the changing power dynamics within the band- which were huge in 1966 (IMO). He mentions it, but he doesn't deep dive it. Specifically, what I mean is this is the year where the musical balance began to shift from John to Paul. The Beatles only put out one album and single in 1966 and I suspect much of this had to do with John's lighter output. On the other hand , it may have just had to do with the awkward recording time and release date of Revolver. I digress. I would have like to hear more about how and why the shift form John to Paul was happening; I strongly suspect the release of We Can Work it Out/Day Tripper as a double A, instead of just releasing Day Tripper as an A side, was where it began, as I know Lennon strongly wanted Day Tripper as the A-side. The next 3 singles would all be McCartney dominated (4 counting We can Work itOut) singles, and this was a big power shift. I'd also like to have read how and what records were doing well in the charts throughout the year. My feeling is , if one is going to focus on just one year, let's go all in and cover it all. However, I think that might just be me nit picking, so ignore all that and buy the book because it is very much worth it.
2 people found this helpful
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Matthew E. McCracken
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2023
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I enjoy reading historical books and have read several books on the Beatles including the large Antjology and watched several videos on the Beatles and my main focus was the change. This brings to light and matches the Anthology the 1966 great changes taking place for the Beatles and how they need time alone. It brings together their different personalities forming even more. I enjoyed the book. I really wanted more details that I always look for but the book matched what I was looking for with that one special year. I highly recommend the book for those who really want to know more about the Beatles and especially 1966.
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Luca C.
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books written on The Beatles
Reviewed in Italy on August 25, 2021
Verified Purchase
Confermo quanto detto da altri lettori: uno dei migliori libri scritti sui Beatles in termini di aneddoti, scorrevolezza e testimonianze. Inglese molto fluido, lo scrittore entra molto nei dettagli ma non diventa mai troppo tecnico/noioso. Ogni capitolo rappresenta un mese del 1966, anno cruciale per i Beatles che con Revolver hanno segnato un solco nella loro carriera e in generale nel business della musica. Ho scelto altri due libri di questo scrittore e li recensirò sicuramente, questo merita 5 stelle.
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A.M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro sobre The Beatles
Reviewed in Spain on February 14, 2021
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Aunque no he tenido todavía oportunidad de examinarlo adecuadamente, aparentemente se trata de una obra sobre el año 1966 (supongo que DC) en la historia de The Beatles, banda musical formada en Liverpool y que alcanzó cierto grado de popularidad en su momento.
Reitero que no lo he podido examinar con detenimiento, pero yo diría que cuenta con es un conjunto delgadas láminas elaboradas a partir de pulpa de celulosa, unidas entre sí. En la primera de ellas, un poco más gruesa que las restantes, se ha estampado una imagen de cuatro sujetos humanos, que doy por hecho que deben tener alguna relación con la banda sobre la que versa el libro.
Las sucesivas páginas están impresas en tinta negra, con diferentes caracteres, o modo de grafemas de un alfabeto de un sistema de escritura fonémico.
Continuaré estudiándolo, y, de considerarlo necesario, actualizaré la reseña.
En Ujiji, a 14 de Febrero del año 2021 de Nuestro Señor Jesucristo.
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Wayne 100 hundreds
5.0 out of 5 stars Got to get you into my life!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2019
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The Beatles are my favourite band ever. The music that they were creating in this period still astounds today. Tomorrow never knows sounds as if it could be a brand new dance track! This book gives a detailed diary of arguably their most creative year- 1966. Each month is reported in a fresh and inventive way, not the usual "And John's more popular than Jesus comment caused problems in the bible belt" cut and paste style of prose which is in almost every Beatles history book. This captures the group in a staggering evolution of their music, from still "Mop tops" in January, to Pyschadelic pioneers and general studio wizards. This publication gives a superbly deep account of Fab's scholarship and reveals titbits and revelations that I had never heard of before. What other act would stop touring when they are the worlds top act? None- I should think. It's easy to forget how rigid the pop scene was in this era- three singles a year, a pot boiler of an album in time for Christmas, and each act taking about fifteen minutes to record a track. How about making an album that takes about a fortnight for each song? No? How about splicing takes in different chords in making a new 45 over three weeks? No one else comes close! I wholeheartedly recommend that every Beatles fan, long time or new, reads this book! A future classic!
6 people found this helpful
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Giba
5.0 out of 5 stars Beatles 66: um ano revolucionário
Reviewed in Brazil on June 11, 2017
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É sempre muito bom ler algum livro novo sobre o Fab Four. Embora haja centenas de publicações a respeito, sempre tem alguma novidade ou detalhe que ainda não foi bem explorado.
Este livro da um "zoom in" no trabalho Deles em 1966, mais precisamente no álbum "Revólver", que considero tão importante quanto o Sgt. Peppers. Acho que vale a pena a leitura.
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CamWazoo
5.0 out of 5 stars A Year in the Life
Reviewed in Canada on October 25, 2017
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Fascinatingly intricate and detailed overview of the year The Beatles evolved into something other than cute pop moptops. A must for any Beatles completist and a highly entertaining snapshot for anyone interested in the band.
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