Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain & America
by Jonathan Gould

Nothing you could know that isn’t known

Gould claims to have spent nearly 20 years putting together this Beatles tome, and it shows. A hugely detailed account, not just of the Fabs and their music, but a spot-on critical assessment of the influence they’ve had on both sides of the Atlantic, it’s not going too far to suggest this is as important and essential as Jon Savage’s England’s Dreaming.

Hints towards the sociological depths Gould explores come in the early chapters, when he draws parallels between John Lennon and Jimmy Porter, the anti-hero of John Osborne’s seminal play Look Back In Anger (both academic underachievers smarter than anyone around them). Cinema, rock’n’roll, geography, industry, and even sport feature in Gould’s elaborate equation of Beatledom, weaved together through painstaking research and a clear understanding of the people and the times.

The biographical elements reveal factoids which will be new to even the most obssessive fan, while dissection of the group’s songs is on a par with Ian MacDonald’s landmark Revolution In The Head. He’s also provocative and opinionated on the band’s continued impact, attempting to pinpoint how, almost 40 years after their demise, they broke box office records in Las Vegas. This is endlessly fascinating, with the potential to become indispensible.

ISBN 9780749951665

Reviewed by Terry Staunton
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