November 2025

Thirty years after the first Anthology collection was released, several years after the Special Deluxe Edition (SDEs) series commemorating individual albums became a thing, and on the eve of an unexpected 4th Anthology series installment, we take stock. Are The Beatles (or Apple or otherwise those overseeing these re-packages) doing as good a job as they can be? There are plenty voices in the world of Beatle “authorities” that insist that we should be grateful for anything we are given – they don’t owe us anything. But at SATB, we take a different position: no one is above criticism and that once upon a time, The Beatles were simultaneously the cutting edge and the gold standard in what they produced. Those days are long gone and we now find ourselves in a world where many an artist with a fraction of their following is showing how it’s done.  So in the name of hashing this out, I invited a couple of returning guests who are the world authorities on what exists in the vaults, on tape: Beatles scholars Doug Sulpy and Chip Madinger. Between the two of them, they have been going deep for years on the contents of the proverbial Beatle (and solo) vaults and are therefore in position to not only suggest where things could be done better but what kind of material is sitting around, awaiting the day the official curators deem it time to go public with these treasures. Hopefully, some of us are still around.  You can find Dougs writings (books like Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image and informational newsletters) at dougsulpy.com  Chip Madinger’s works (which include Eight Arms To Hold You and Lennonology: Strange Days Indeed – A Scrapbook of Madness) can be found at lennonology.com 

The story of Badfinger is bookended with The Iveys as prequel and the Head First album on the other end, months before the tragic suicide of Pete Ham. We explored the latter with Bob Jackson earlier this year but this time it’s the pre-history we examine, with Ron Griffiths, bassist and vocalist. He was recruited by Pete Ham and in turn was responsible for the addition of drummer Mike Gibbins. Tom Evans joined in 1967 and within a year, they were signed to Apple.  Ron was there as a witness to the band’s development, and interactions with Ray Davies of The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles’ Mal Evans, who led them to the start-up label. It was directly because of Ron that Paul offered them “Come and Get It” as what became the first Badfinger single and a worldwide smash, but Griffiths did not make the transition to Badfinger. He remains a lucid witness to their history even after being sidelined, and his connections remain to the present day and performances with Bob Jackson and the current Iveys reissue program. Tune in and hear his unique perspective on the triumphs and tragedies of this mightily talented band.  Read the Disc article that led Paul McCartney to offer “Come and Get It” after reading what Ron had to say here.   The Iveys PR from Apple. Episode playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWJwXBl8_fsfzV0dB-9cLPbUZC9_Js0rD&si=Oh_KxNaVUZJn5qK9