Category: Podcasting

  • 225B: Beatles Olympiad II

    225B: Beatles Olympiad II

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    In which returning guest Gary Wenstrup and I continue our ranking conversation of faves, discussing A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles For Sale.  Along the way, we analyze their vocals and blendings, as well as what personal experiences may inform the writing.

  • 225A: Beatles Olympiad

    225A: Beatles Olympiad

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    In which we pull away from the Get Back film for a while and converse about something completely different. Returning guest Gary Wenstrup and I conduct a conversation going through the first four Beatles albums, selecting our picks for Gold, Silver and Bronze status. Along the way we examine our criteria for what constitutes “favorite” songs, and how such values are fluid and ever evolving.

  • 224C The Making of Get Back part three with Peter Jackson

    224C The Making of Get Back part three with Peter Jackson

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    In the third and final hour, Dan Rivkin (They May be Parted blog) and I explore more of the Get Back project with its director.

    Among the subjects discussed:
    ~ Coordination between the Get Back book, the Let It Be
    album reissue and this film (hint: none)
     
    ~ Directives from the Beatle heirs and Apple (hint: none)
     
    ~ Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s original draft of Let It Be
     
    ~ The missing Nagra audio
    ~ An extended cut?
    And MUCH more…
    Be sure to check out parts one and two, as well as the write up in Forbes.
  • 224B: The Making of Get Back part two with Peter Jackson

    224B: The Making of Get Back part two with Peter Jackson

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    Dan Rivkin (They May Be Parted blog) and I continue our conversation with director Peter Jackson about the innovation used to create the film –  some technique used to advance the story – and a number of other observations gleaned from viewing so many hours of footage, both in and outside of the final cut. The history of the Get Back project is at last coming into focus, challenging a number of previously held assumptions.

    #thebeatlesgetback, #getback, #beatlesdocumentary, #peterjackson, #somethingaboutthebeatles, #beatlespodcast, #theymaybeparted, #danrivkin, #robertrodriguez, #robertrodriguezbeatles

  • 224A: The Making of Get Back part one with Peter Jackson

    224A: The Making of Get Back part one with Peter Jackson

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    Well, it’s finally here. Worth the wait? Oh, we think so! But before we get into discussions on SATB about what we thought about it, we thought it would be worthwhile to discuss the making of it – the intent behind it; the goals; the challenges; the nuts-and-bolts – with someone who worked on it. To that end, a listener in New Zealand offered himself up as a guest who could offer an insight or two.

    My co-host for this one is Dan Rivkin (They May Be Parted), who of course is one of the leading scholars on this material, presented on his blog. Normally, Dr. Duncan Driver would be part of the discussion too, but he had beg off with such short notice. (We’ll have him back next time…)

    Meanwhile, we hope that this – presented in three parts (in the grand tradition of Peter Jackson)  – will suffice.

  • 223: The Beatles 1971 – 1973

    223: The Beatles 1971 – 1973

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    We have all made compilations of Beatles solo material, but within this large group, a smaller group has imagined taking some of this material and arranging it as The Beatles might have, had they recorded this material and issued it as “Beatles,” the collective. There’s actor Ethan Hawke’s famous Black Album; Spencer Leigh’s Finishing School, as well as any number of other efforts out there.
    Then, there are the ones created by myself and my guest, Glenn Greenberg. You can find his list here, or else listen to the show and hear our choices and justifications, which are every bit as good as anything you listeners can come up with. See what you think – we can talk about this stuff endlessly!
  • 221: Lennon in Montreal

    221: Lennon in Montreal

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    In 1969, Bill Rotari was Regional Managing Director with Capitol Records in Quebec when he received word that John and Yoko were coming. As label rep, it was his job to see to it that John’s needs were met; ultimately this included securing recording gear for tracking the first Plastic Ono Band single, “Give Peace A Chance.”
    Bill has led an interesting life; as record company executive, recording artist…and minor league pitching prospect for the Atlanta Braves. His group, The Favorites, recorded for London during the 1950s, and later, as Managing Director of CBS/Sony Records in Montreal, he was directly responsible for signing Celine Dion and getting her first English language recordings produced.
    Bill tells all about the Montreal Bed-In, as well as his life and career in music (encompassing Paul and George, the Rolling Stones, Petula Clark, Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen, Tony Bennett and others).
  • 220: Get Back to Peter Jackson

    220: Get Back to Peter Jackson

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    In June and again in July, the director of the upcoming The Beatles: Get Back series gave interviews – in Vanity Fair and in GQ holding forth on what to expect from his re-tooling of the Beatles Let It Be project. Though there was a certain amount of rehashing what had already been said, there were also things that provided much to discuss and analyze as we approach the countdown to broadcast.

    I therefore reconvened Dr Duncan Driver and Dan Rivkin (They May Be Parted blog) for a discussion on the latest and how what Peter Jackson had to say – and didn’t say – suggests where the project is going and what to expect.

  • 219: John – George – Eric & Layla

    219: John – George – Eric & Layla

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    In late summer 2020, my guest Kyle Driscoll penned a wonderful analysis of the three 1970 releases by three artists whose paths had intertwined and who, as it happened, all found themselves at similar crossroads at the time. You can read it here (which I strongly urge you do) and then listen to the deeper discussion we had on these artists and their impact on each other’s work.

  • 218: Beatles on Guitar

    218: Beatles on Guitar

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    You may recall my returning guest from his first appearance in late 2020: Mike Pachelli is an accomplished jazz guitarist and recording/performing artist, as well as a major Beatles fan. His series of popular Youtube videos deconstruct Beatle songs and show each guitar and vocal component. He’s back now with a new release: 16 Beatles songs performed instrumentally, Beatles on Guitar.

    In this conversation, he details his insights into the challenges of selecting and presenting their music and doing it justice without vocals.