You’d think the Beatles and Dylan had been examined from every possible angle, but nope. Here’s a chronological look at their careers in parallel, with plenty of commentary on their influence on each other, friendship, rivalry, etc. I’m about three fourths in, and I’ve enjoyed it. Good mixture of things I know, things I’d known and forgotten, and things I’d never known. It’s always interesting and moves along. A few of the analogies seem a bit forced, but of course no two people will agree on everything.
As I’m biased towards music over lyrics, I might have preferred a book on the Beatles and Brian Wilson, but no doubt they had fewer interactions.
One minor peeve. Like just about every other Beatles book, the quote about “Aeolian cadences” and Mahler’s Song of the Earth rears its ugly head like it’s evidence of the Beatles’ artistic viability. I don’t get why these journalists who are obviously good at research never bother to examine that quote. “Aeolian cadence “ has about as much meaning as “C major time signature” or “F minor drumstick.” Or “the explosion left a 15 mph deep crater. “ It makes no sense. And the song in question, “Not a Second Time,” absolutely does not end with the same chords or chord pattern as Song of the Earth. There’s no room for debate on the matter, it’s factually wrong.
I can’t believe that quote is still getting recycled. Just put it in the trash.
