April 2025

My guest has produced one of those rare books in The Beatles’ literary canon not penned by an insider (or by someone named Lewisohn) that has arrived with a tidal wave of press; in advance and since. Ian Leslie, who in the past has written about psychology, has put together a thesis examining the singular personal and professional relationship between Lennon and McCartney, and how it manifested in their art. That’s a lot to unpack but we cover a lot of ground in our conversation.  

An important part of understanding both rock history generally and The Beatles’ history specifically is contained in a study of the fan magazines produced throughout the 50s and 60s. For the purposes of this discussion, Dr. Allison Bumsted’s newly-published TeenSet, Teen Fan Magazines and Rock Journalism: Don’t Let The Name Fool You is THE roadmap to understanding the role these journals played in both promoting artists and instilling a sense of community among fans, pre-internet and social media. Allison focuses much of her research on TeenSet, a groundbreaking magazine created by Capitol Records that began as one thing and ended as something else under the guidance of visionary editor Judith Sims.  You can check out Allison’s research and new articles at www.allisonbumsted.com