By Forris Day Jr.
The “British Invasion” was a glorious time in music for us Americans. We have always loved all forms of music but now we were being introduced to the bands from England, many of which were influenced heavily by American music to begin with. Most notably was The Beatles’s arrival on the American music scene in 1964, but the seeds for the British Invasion were planted almost a decade earlier. Americans were able to reap the benefits of British bands heading to our shores to pursue their dreams of rock and roll success in The United States.
In the book “British Invasion; The Crosscurrents of Musical Influence” author Simon Philo discuses in great detail what started the musical revolution in England. He talks about why English bands wanted to head to America and he compares the politics of the two countries and how the British Invasion was seen through the eyes of England and America. There are some surprising contrasts in this enlightening book.
The book has a several page timeline broken into two columns. The left column is called “World and Cultural Events” and the right column is called “British Invasion Events”. The timeline is very useful in helping the reader understand what was going on in the world while certain events during the British were happening. It helps you put things into perspective. The following six chapters break down the British invasion into chronological segments.
The book is not a casual read by any means. It is filled with facts, dates, stats and historic accounts of many events. You really need to be able to focus when you read it or you may find yourself going back to get and understand information. I am personally someone who struggles when lots of numbers are brought into the conversation so I did struggle a bit with this book. If you love numbers and stats…dig in to the buffet my friend! I really learned some interesting stuff from the book too, particularly in how England viewed the British Invasion and America in general during the mid to late sixties.
Anyone who enjoys music and wants to learn more about the history of rock and roll will certainly glean lots of information and new knowledge from “British Invasion; The Crosscurrents of Musical Influence”. It isn’t a very long book, under 200 pages, but it is packed with info. A nice hardcover addition to your library shelf. As a Beatles fan I really enjoyed how much they are covered throughout the book. I also liked how Philo brings in the politics of what was happening during the era and shows us how the musicians were affecting things in the political arena, particularly John Lennon.
Overall a well researched book, filled with tons of statistics that any pop culture fan will eat up. A bit of a heavy volume for the average reader but I recommend it to all music fans just the same.
Purchase “British Invasion; The Crosscurrents of Musical Influence”
Author Simon Philo discusses his book
Rating: 7.5/10
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