Thomas Brothers

HELP! The Beatles, Duke Ellington and the Magic of Collaboration (2018) by Thomas Brothers. This is a classical study of the art of working together. I am reminded of the father handing a single twig to each of his many children and, when they broke them easiiy, handed around a bundle of the same type of twigs that none of the children could break. The power of collaboration, of working together and off of each other.
With the first half of the book, Duke Ellington and the various incarnations of his bands through the decades is examined, While Duke took the vast majority of the credit for what the band performed, Mr. Brothers digs into the reality of what individual, often uncredited members of the band brought to the music. A born organizer and administrator with trunks full of tact, Mr. Ellington managed to create a long standing, highly successful orchestra that remained in the forefront of popular music for more than five decades.
There were many players in these ensembles and each gave something more than just musicianship to the process. While the “Duke” probably took far more credit for the actual music than he should have, you can’t argue with the results.
We all know the Beatles. Lennon, McCartney provided the shared basis for the start of the music writing while both Ringo and George provided many songs along the way. It was the genius of trying to outperform each other in the writing phase that helped propel the music of the Beatles to its place of prominence. It was the well honed musicianship and ability to share the spotlight that made the collaboration really work.
Mr. Brothers has done his research to a great degree. The information he provides feels well founded and he manages to write in a style that is informative and inviting. A solid investigation.
Of course, the way to breadths is with suitable music in the background. A finer pair of bands to listen to would be hard to find.… (más)

Brothers follows, ever so briefly, the careers of Ellington and the Beatles and their success through collaboration. The book is meticulously researched and easy to read (as long as the reader has some familiarity to the artists). The first half of the book highlights Ellington's career and shares insight into his success as an organizer more than an inventor. Ellington is portrayed more as a savvy businessman than as a great composer especially in his later career as Billy Strayhorn becomes the strength that carries Ellington. The second half of the book briefly jaunts through the Paul and John collaboration through the Beatles. Although Brothers focused on that partnership, this half felt rushed. Help! captured enough of these artists to allow Brothers theme of collaboration to work. It doesn’t hold up to some of the larger biographies of these artists but definitely should be put on the bookshelf of any Ellington or Beatles fan.… (más)

I won this through the Early Reviewers program.

First off let me say I love music! I am a fan of both Duke Ellington and the Beatles. I listen to all kinds of music. I do not read music or play any instruments, but I listen.

I found this book hard to get interested in.
It took me several tries to get started listening as this is the audiobook version on CD. Finally once I got going it got more interesting. A little. I love listening to music and I am interested in behind the scenes type stories about how this song came to be done that way, or how this was recorded. Those type of stories were interesting. And that part of the book I enjoyed.
But this book was also kind an expose in places. Billy Strayhorn was gay and may have had a relationship with Duke Ellington, the rest of the Beatles watched while George Harrison lost his virginity. I just don't care or really want to hear those kinds of things and I don't feel they have any kind of bearing on how the music came to be.
The style of this book was dry, the narration was good.
I made it all the way through the book but was glad when I was done.
Duke ellington or the Beatles might have been ok, but it seems weird to lump them together.… (más)

I received a copy of the audiobook through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers group.

I’ve seen some hardcore fans get very specific regarding the content of this work. While I know enough about The Beatles to know I love their music, I don’t have much additional background knowledge of their process. I found that the author gave good examples of how collaboration were something both groups really felt was central to their creative process. I also found the background in the Beatles section very interesting in comparison with The Four Seasons. While some may disagree with the author’s stance here, I think this is a great read for music buffs and historians alike.… (más)