NOTES FROM ALL OVER

[cover: Chip Kidd, 1988]
Of the scores of Beatles books I've skimmed over the years, Tell Me Why: The Beatles: Album by Album, Song by Song, the Sixties and After , by Tim Riley, is one of the few I've taken the time to read because of its depth, insight and readability.

Written when the author was only 28, the 423-page book (first published by Random House in 1988) is by a Colorado native who attended the well-regarded Oberlin College and Conservatory and earned degrees in English and piano performance. With those dual degrees, he is able to provide a thoughtful and rarely pedantic look at the Beatles that reveals so much about them through their songs, rather than through personality analysis.

Riley took on the intimidating task of discussing each song the Beatles ever composed or performed. Although he is an unabashed fan, he isn't a fanatic, and is opinionated and frank about songs he thinks are "schmaltz" ("Michelle").

He has an eye for detail. For example, he notes that the Beatles bawdily sing "tit, tit, tit" during the bridge of "Girl," and that John and George sing "Frère Jacques" nonsensically during the second verse of Paul's "Paperback Writer."

At times, Riley can overwhelm the casual fan with verbosity. But his exhaustive research on the songs, including much of the Beatles' solo work, does what every book on the Beatles should do: explain how four boys from Liverpool revolutionized popular music.

- David Burger, Salt Lake City Tribune

Beatles' Remasters coverage in the pipeline...