Tell Me Why The Beatles: Album By Album, Song By Song, The Sixties And After

A unique combination of musical analysis and cultural history,Tell Me Whystands alone among Beatles books with its single-minded focus on the most important aspect of the band: its music. Riley offers a new, deeper understanding of the Beatles by closely considering each song and album they recorded in an exploration as rigorous as it is soulful. He tirelessly sifts through the Beatles discography, making clear that the legendary four were more than mere teen idols: They were brilliant innovators who mastered an extremely detailed art. Since the first publication ofTell Me Whyin 1988, much new primary source material has appearedPaul McCartney's authorized biography, theAnthologyCDs and videos, the complete Parlophone-sequenced albums on CD, theLive at the BBCsessions, and the global smash1. Riley incorporates all the new material in an update that makes this a crucial book for Beatles fans.

Tim Riley is a web producer, campus speaker, and pianist. His music criticism has appeared in the Washington Post, in Boston magazine, and on National Public Radio. He is also a music commentator for NPR's "Here and Now." He lives in Boston.