"They are stepping far ahead of their audience, recording music so complex and so unlike the music that made them successful that they could very likely lose the foundation of their support. But that possibility does not bother them in the least." - Life Magazine, 1967
"A decisive moment in Western civilization." - Kenneth Tynan, The Times of London, 1967
"I don't want to be a Mop Top." - John Lennon, 1967
By the summer of 1966, the Beatles were tired of Beatlemania . . . of the fishbowl existence that fame imposed on them, of the gruelling life on the road, and above all, of the expectations by the public that they continue making the same old pop music, rather than exploring new sounds.
And so, they did what seemed to many like career suicide: they gave up live concert touring, and announced they were going to work full-time in the recording studio to create music that was more compelling and complex. Many thought that they were fools and they were finished, but one year later, they were on top of the world with a #1 album and #1 single and were hailed as geniuses.
But it was a tumultuous journey that took them through both musical and personal transformations, filled with both imagination and audacity, but also troubles and loss. They began their metamorphosis as the most successful pop band of their time and emerged from their chrysalis as perhaps the greatest cultural icons of all time.
The Colour of Your Dreams examines a time in the history of the Beatles that has often not been fully surveyed, the period between the end of touring in 1966 and the summer of '67 releases of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and "All You Need is Love"...twin triumphs that, contrary to modern memory, were not inevitable.
The book takes its reader on a journey of seismic shifts in the lives of the Beatles, in their music, and in their world, as they turned away from the public spotlight and devoted themselves to making the most ambitious album that anyone had yet imagined.
