Where the Music Had to Go (2026) tracks the influence The Beatles and Boy Dylan had on each other over the years. Even after The Beatles broke up, Dylan worked with George Harrison and Paul McCartney on various musical projects.
“Recorded over a mere there days, Bringing It All Back Home was electric on one side, acoustic on the other.” (p. 102)
“Cher had already been part of a scheme to cash in on Beatle-mania. Days after the group’s arrival in the U.S., she had recorded the novelty sing “Ringo, I love You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah)” and released it under the name of Bonnie Jo Mason. Cowritten and produced by Phil Spector, it failed to catch on. ‘My voice was so deep that a lot of people thought I was a gay guy singing a love song to Ringo,’ Cher recalled.” (p. 184)
“‘It was 10 pages long,’ Dylan said after writing it… ‘I had never thought of it as a song, until one day I was at the piano, and on the paper it was singing, ‘How does it feel?’ in a slow motion pace’ Like McCartney with “Yesterday,” Dylan didn’t know what to make of his own role in the creation of “Like a Rolling Stone.” ‘It’s like a ghost is writing a song like that,’ Dylan said. ‘It gives you the song and it goes away.'” (p. 134)
Jim Windolf manages to trace the careers of the four Beatles and Bob Dylan from the 1960s to the 21st Century. Their paths intersect more than you would imagine. Do you have a favorite Beatle song? A favorite Bob Dylan song? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction — xi
SIDE ONE
Pilgrimage — 1
Disciples of Little Richard — 8
The Names — 19
Picture Imperfect — 35
It’ll Never Happen — 47
Ego Equals — 63
Beatlemania Here — 81
Hide Your Love –94
The Savoy — 111
How Does It Feel — 130
SIDE TWO
Number One — 151
Northern Songs — 163
Costars — 183
Retreat — 198
Penny Lane and Bourbon Street — 214
Everybody’s Song — 229
Beatles & Co — 251
Serve Yourself — 272
Rolling on — 294
Coda: McCartney on Dylan — 311
Acknowledgements — 319
Notes — 323
Index –351
