Category: Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:18:24 — 316.8MB)

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It’s the return of our favorite Fab historian. In this lengthy dialogue, we discuss an array of literature from the Beatles historical canon: among the works, Many Years From Now – The Love You Make – John Lennon: In My Life – Ray Coleman’s bios of John and of Paul – The Macs: Mike McCartney’s Family Album, and others as well. As usual, Erin employs the methodology of a trained historian to assess how reliable these works are, in terms of presenting research and history that are worthy of our time as fans.

Be sure to check out her book, The Beatles and The Historians, as well as her blog.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:06 — 208.5MB)

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Last year – upon the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles; that eponymous double album issued as the group’s Apple debut – a symposium was convened at Monmouth University in New Jersey, as many of you know. An ad hoc band performed some tunes from the record as the accompaniment to a discussion convened for the podcast featuring Jack Petruzzelli, multi-instrumentalist/producer/recording artist best known for his membership in the Fab Faux. His insights as a musician who has performed these very songs live many times helps us understand what the Beatles were going for in their unique approach to recording this particular project, a philosophy that spilled over into their next project.

Thanks to Jack – Vinnie Zummo (heard in the Monmouth segment) – Marc Pepin – Marc Muller – Dan Eisenberg – Joe Rapolla – Kenneth Womack.

More on Jack: https://jackpetruzzelli.com/bio/
More on Vinnie: https://www.facebook.com/Vinnie-Zummo-251716004868306/

(Field recording by BJ Rowling)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:18:48 — 180.3MB)

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Fifty years on and the “Paul is dead” hoax has lost none of its power to fascinate on so many levels. Perhaps the most compelling angle for examination is how did something so clearly nonsensical in the light of day get disseminated so widely and not just dismissed out of hand? It seems that a perfect storm of circumstance gave it traction and resonance, with both what was happening within The Beatles and within the community most receptive to believing that truth was not what authority figures told us.

Helping unpack all of this is sociologist Candy Leonard, author of Beatleness. Her book covers the subject in some detail.

Opening song: “Saint Paul” by Terry Knight
Closing song: “So Long, Paul” by Werbley Finster, AKA Jose Feliciano

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:26:10 — 334.6MB)

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What happens when the surviving member of a legendary American power pop band and a Los Angeles musician whose lineage includes two giants of the Great American Songbook, both steeped in Beatles, get together to make music? The result is now two albums deep in a band called Those Pretty Wrongs. Jody Stephens, formerly of Big Star and Golden Smog is a singer/songwriter/drummer and Luther Russell is a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer, formerly of The Freewheelers. Their latest release as Those Pretty Wrongs, Zed For Zulu, has just been released.

Their insights into making music and what they gleaned from The Beatles makes for a fascinating discussion.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:50:15 — 252.4MB)

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The host of the longest-running Beatles program on US radio, Carter’s passion for The Beatles has taken many forms through the years: buying the records as a child – becoming a musician himself – getting involved in Beatlesque bands – taking on a job as a broadcaster. He has now hosted the Los Angeles franchise of Breakfast with the Beatles since 2001; since its inception in 2018, Chris has also hosted the program on the Sirius XM Beatles channel.

Chris is also a producer and documentary filmmaker; a rock writer and a Beatles consultant (connected to the All Things Must Pass reissue in 2000). Mostly though, Chris is a fan like us. Few of us wouldn’t exchange places if we could, if just for a little while.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:02 — 192.3MB)

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Anybody hear anything about a “newly-revealed” taped Apple meeting from September 1969 that’s been public knowledge since the 1970s? You will now, with the return of journalist/writer Ray Connolly. Ray was tight in The Beatles’ orbit during their final years; with John and Paul especially. He was the only one outside their inner circle to learn that John had “quit” the group – his bio of John, Being John Lennon: A Restless Life, is now out in paperback, as is his indispensable collection, The Ray Connolly Beatles Archive. Last: his novella, ‘Sorry, Boys, You Failed The Audition’ is newly-published. It’s a work of “alternative history” and has been presented as a BBC radio play.

Ray and I discuss the end of The Beatles and their relationships going forward, as well as his ‘Sorry Boys’ project.

Welcome

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:42 — 207.6MB)

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Part Two: McCartney and Wings

This show represents a deep (3 hour) dive into examining the evolving language of rock criticism: the ideology employed – the fluid definitions of “rock” and “pop” – the application of “authenticity” as a value to an artist’s work, in this specific case, Paul McCartney and Wings. The 1970s was a time when rock critics achieved nearly the status of rock icons themselves: everyone from John Mendelssohn and Jon Landau to Simon Frith and Lester Bangs. Paul’s post-Beatle career stands as an example of an artist that reviewers struggled to get a handle on, resulting in sometimes unfair assessments. 

Leading this exploration is PhD candidate (with an M.A. in Beatles, Popular Music, and Society) Allison Bumsted, currently studying in England at Liverpool Hope University. For ease of listening, the conversation has been split into two 90 minute parts.   

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:20 — 206.8MB)

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Part One: Background Theory and The Beatles

This show represents a deep (3 hour) dive into examining the evolving language of rock criticism: the ideology employed – the fluid definitions of “rock” and “pop” – the application of “authenticity” as a value to an artist’s work, in this specific case, Paul McCartney and Wings. The 1970s was a time when rock critics achieved nearly the status of rock icons themselves: everyone from John Mendelssohn and Jon Landau to Simon Frith and Lester Bangs. Paul’s post-Beatle career stands as an example of an artist that reviewers struggled to get a handle on, resulting in sometimes unfair assessments. 

Leading this exploration is PhD candidate (with an M.A. in Beatles, Popular Music, and Society) Allison Bumsted, currently studying in England at Liverpool Hope University. For ease of listening, the conversation has been split into two 90 minute parts.     

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:41 — 225.9MB)

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An area heretofore unexplored on SATB is jazz: specifically, which artists took raw material from The Beatles and took it in a new direction. It is our good fortune to have within reach a true legend of the idiom: Ramsey Lewis, a multi-Grammy-winning keyboardist whose work spans decades and genres. In late 1968 – mere weeks after The Beatles’ “White Album” was released – Ramsey issued a 10-song collection drawing from the Beatles’ fresh work. Mother Nature’s Son was hailed as a classic, with bold re-imaginings of songs familiar to us fans – but not like this. His reading of “Julia” became a standard in his repertoire, alongside his well-known hit take on “The ‘In’ Crowd.”

Ramsey hosted a jazz show for years on radio, so he is well-familiar with the sonic landscape. But joining us to shed further light is a friend to both me and to Ramsey, going back years: Radio Hall of Fame deejay Terri Hemmert. In addition to spinning records on WXRT since the 1970s until announcing her retirement this year, she also hosted a jazz program for many years (and many of you know her as the MC in Chicago at The Fest for Beatles Fans). Together, listen to these two explore the intersection between Beatles and jazz.

Artists heard in this show:

The Beatles – Ramsey Lewis Trio – Ella Fitzgerald – Count Basie – Duke Ellington – Louis Armstrong – Wes Montgomery – Ramsey Lewis – Esther Phillips – Vince Guaraldi Trio – George Benson – Earth, Wind and Fire – Paul McCartney – Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Fats Domino – John Scofield – Danger Mouse