If you’re looking to be convinced that the Beatles destroyed rock ’n’ roll, then strangely enough, “How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll” is not for you. The title is a come-on: the Beatles are among the many subjects Elijah Wald addresses in this cheerfully iconoclastic book, but they are not what it is about.
On the other hand, if you’re looking, as Wald’s subtitle has it, for “an alternative history of American popular music” — specifically from the turn of the 20th century to roughly the mid-1970s — you’ve found it. And if you’re up for some good arguments, you’ve found those too.
“How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll” contains some arguments that will have you slapping your forehead and exclaiming “Of course!” and some that will have you scratching your head and saying “Huh?” The one that gives the book its name may have you doing both.
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