The Gospel according to the Beatles: by Steve Turner

Author: Steve Turner

[Image: The Gospel according to the Beatles: by Steve Turner]

Renowned British music journalist and author Steve Turner surveys the religious and spiritual influence of the Beatles, the band that changed the history of music forever. With new interviews, never-before-published material, and fresh insights, Turner helps the reader understand the religious and spiritual ideas and ideals that influenced the music and lives of the Beatles and helps us see how the Fab Four influenced our own lives and culture.

Chapters include the religious upbringing of John, Paul, George, and Ringo; the backlash in the United States after John Lennon's "The Beatles are more popular than Jesus" comment; the dabbling in Eastern religion; the use of drugs to attempt to enter a higher level of consciousness; and the overall legacy that the Beatles and their music have left. While there is no religious system that permanently anchored the Beatles or their music, they did leave a gospel, Turner concludes: one of love, peace, personal freedom, and the search for transcendence.

Steve Turner has covered the rock music scene for more than thirty years, interviewing many of the most famous musicians, including John Lennon, Eric Clapton, and Bono. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines, including Rolling Stone and New Musical Express. Since being invited by Bono to write a book about U2's Rattle and Hum tour in 1988, he has concentrated on writing books, including The Man Called Cash, the authorized biography of Johnny Cash, and A Hard Day's Write: The Stories behind the Songs of the Beatles.

0.91" H x 9.3" L x 6.3" W (1.32 lbs) 254 pages
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
US SRP: $ 19.95 US
Pub Date: August 2006

"If the Beatles had a 'gospel,' it presupposes that they believed that something was wrong with the world. You don't go around dispensing 'good news' if you think everything's fine. The Christian gospel was meant to be good news to people who were enslaved to wrong desires and heading for hell. It offered them peace (with God), freedom (from guilt) and forgiveness (for sin). . . . The central concern of the Beatles is harder to pin down because they didn't believe in a cataclysmic event such as the fall or in a definitive redemptive act such as the atonement. However, a good case can be made for saying that their central concern was always freedom of one sort or another. The human problem, in their eyes, was one of constraint. We couldn't reach our full potential if we were inhibited. "One thing I can tell you," John sang in "Come Together," "is you got to be free."
-from The Gospel according to the Beatles

CPC Categories:
- General Interest | Literature & the Arts | Music
Categories:
| Philosophy & Ethics
BISAC Categories:
- Music | Genres & Styles | Rock
- Music | History & Criticism | General
LC Subjects:
- Beatles - Great Britain
- Influence - Religion
- Religious aspects - Rock music
- Rock musicians
Themes:
Chronological Period | 1950-1999
Cultural Region | British Isles
Religious Orientation | Christian
Theometrics | Mainline

The Gospel according to the Beatles: by Steve Turner Author: Steve Turner
	Item#	Binding	isbn - 10	Price
	9780664229832	Hardcover	0664229832	13.95
A renowned British music journalist surveys the religious and spiritual influence of the Beatles. With new interviews, never-before-published material, and fresh insights, Turner helps the reader see how the Fab Four left a gospel of love, peace, ...

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