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Where the Music Had to Go: How Bob Dylan and the Beatles Changed Each Other―and the World

2026

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Synopsis

From Dylan’s initial dismissal of the Beatles as being for “teenyboppers” to his realization that they were “pointing the direction where music had to go”—and from the Beatles’ obsessive spinning of early Dylan records to their impromptu renditions of fifteen Dylan songs during the 1969 Get Back sessions—the book captures the moments that pushed Dylan to “go electric” and inspired the Beatles to deepen their lyrics. Highly entertaining and packed with backstage anecdotes, Where the Music Had to Go is a deep-focus portrait of a heretofore unexamined relationship, one full of camaraderie, competition, and mutual evolution.

More than a music biography, this is a front-row seat to the forces that shaped an era—an unmissable experience for music lovers, pop-culture buffs, and anyone curious about the magic that happens when legends collide.

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The Philosophy of Modern Song

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