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Newspaper Taxis – Poetry After The Beatles
| £9.99 |
"You can guarantee higher-profile Beatles nostalgia this year, but little will be as thoughtful." – The Independent
"This collection of poetry is a poignant reflection of British life following the explosion of “Beatlemania”. What impresses most about the works on display is the massive diversity of lifestyles depicted and how The Beatles managed to impact every single one of them". – Literature Works
"...a pleasant collection, with enough quality to be of just as much interest to poetry fans as to fans of the Beatles" – varsity.co.uk
You know they caused a revolution - 50 years ago the Beatles transformed the face of music, youth, and popular culture. In January 1963 their single – 'Please, Please Me' – shot to number one, heralding the start of both Beatlemania and the swinging sixties. In the next few years the Beatles wrote the template for pop music. Their songs defined popular culture at a time when it was inspiring social change in Europe and North America, and this book collects poems that both respond to the music and to their influence on the way we lived then and the way we live now.
Literally hundreds of millions of people around the world have listened to, and loved, the Beatles' music. Their impact on musicians, writers, film-makers and ordinary people has been simply, enormous. With contributions by myriad of poets, young and old, including, Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Elaine Feinstein, Peter Finch, Adrian Henri, Philip Larkin, Lachlan Mackinnon, Roger McGough, Sheenagh Pugh, Jeremy Reed and Carol Rumens, this book is a response to the Beatles' creativity and capacity to influence successive generations.
All royalties from the sale of this book are being donated to Claire House Children's Hospice, serving those children and young people of Merseyside with complex medical needs since 1998. www.claire-house.org.uk
The Roots of Rock, from Cardiff to Mississippi and Back (Paperback)
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Comments
Review from Literature Works
This collection of poetry is a poignant reflection of British life following the explosion of “Beatlemania”. What impresses most about the works on display is the massive diversity of lifestyles depicted and how The Beatles managed to impact every single one of them. The content is not sickly praise and hero-worship, rather, it is each poet’s personal reflections on what The Beatles, and often the 1960s in general, meant to them. From Kenny Knight’s slightly bitter reflections on his girlfriend’s infatuation with Paul McCartney, to Kimmy Beach’s memories of taking ‘Beatles Tours’ around Liverpool, Newspaper Taxis provides a window into the soul of the sixties.
One particular favourite from the compilation is Simon Armitage’s The Last Panda, a bizarre and touching soliloquy from a captive Panda “Richard”, who has striking similarities to Ringo Starr. Carol Anne Duffy adds her reflections with Liverpool Echo, a sombre addition to an, at times, bittersweet collection. A nice touch is the contributors’ notes which besides outlining some of the poets’ personal achievements, includes several small anecdotes detailing the particular poet’s interests and experiences relating to the fab four.
Newspaper Taxis is not only a collector’s item for Beatles fanatics, it is also an interesting insight into a culture dominated by music in a way that has not been seen before or since.
Review by Joel Watson.