November 2019

Special guests don’t come much more special: today, a man who needs no introduction. His 1974 album, McGear, was produced with a little help from his big brother (“Our Kid” to you). It features contributions from members of a then-contemporary band, including Linda McCartney, Denny Laine and Jimmy McCulloch, and has often been spoken of as a “missing” Wings album. But Mike’s artistry is all his own, making McGear, in a way, the album Paul never did make. This extended conversation covers not only the brand new re-issue from Cherry Red Records (including a bonus disc of unreleased material + DVD and poster, as well as a deluxe vinyl edition) but Mike’s work with The Scaffold – the 1968 McGough and McGear album produced by Paul – and an array of other artists: Paul Robeson – Tina Turner – Pete Wingfield – Paddy Maloney, and Jimi Hendrix. (Try finding that discussion anywhere else.) Also, The Quarry Men. Check out the reissue series here. Find The Weirdos here. Special thanks to Deb Supnik and Matt Ingham of Cherry Red for making it all happen.

In what will be an occasional theme of SATBs going forward, I welcome to the show Gary Wenstrup. In addition to being a regular listener, Gary is a college-level teacher and lecturer, whose expertise encompasses an array of 1960s music acts. He saw an opportunity for following up shows to dig deeper, in ways that might not have been possible given time constraints. This episode uses as the starting off point my interview with Susan Shumsky, detailing The Beatles’ 1968 visit to Rishikesh; but it also encompasses the White Album, Lennon Remembers, and other ancillary subjects.

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