My guests are returning musician Jack Petruzzelli (Fab Faux, Joan Osborne, Patti Smith), joined by Cameron Greider (Freedy Johnston, Sean Lennon, Rufus Wainwright), who in the past year developed a series of online Beatles classes.
“Every aspect of what they put out there just became so attractive to people who encountered it, whether it was in the 60s, (when) it was all new, or later generations interfacing with that material, and still being dazzled by all the aspects of it. Not just the music, but the evolving style that they had. Again, as Brian Epstein said so beautifully, he was overwhelmed by their personal charm. Everybody is overwhelmed by The Beatles’ personal charm. Everybody.” The concluding hour of my conversation of Dr. Christine Feldman-Barrett (A Women’s History of The Beatles) covers The role of women in setting examples for The Beatles when they were young. The effects that The Beatles had on the women who enjoyed watching them. Perspectives on screaming at concerts and what it expressed. How The Beatles held themselves played a role in changing cultural norms for women. How The Beatles have helped people to see the beauty in everyday life.
My guest today is Dr. Christine Feldman-Barrett, author of A Women’s History of The Beatles
In this continuation of the conversation with Debbie Gendler (1st US Beatles fan) and cartoonist/author Carol Tyler (Fab 4 Mania), Dr. Allison Bumsted and I explore the 1st generation fan’s perspectives on: Supporting players in Get Back Mal Evans and Billy Preston How Get Back may influence future generations The life-changing force of The Beatles Carol’s missing original albums Check out this excerpt from the I Was A Teenage Screamer panel at the first Fab4ConJam www.debbiegendler.com https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/carol-tyler www.allisonbumsted.com
In this concluding hour of the conversation with Dennis Diken (The Smithereens), Pat Sansone (Wilco), Arion Salazar (ex-Third Eye Blind) and Luther Russell (Those Pretty Wrongs), we discuss: The Get Back film as therapy for fans (and the world) Billy Preston Ringo and Paul observations Jamming with Heather
Our panel of Pat, Arion, Luther and Dennis continues their conversation on Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary. Among the topics: The rooftop performance The “Flowerpot conversation” Bass stuff The road to Abbey Road Let It Be – the film Partial transcript of the “Flowerpot Conversation” here.
Any analysis of the Get Back documentary would be remiss in not factoring in insights gleaned from those who’ve followed in The Beatles’ professional footsteps: working musicians. To that end, I assembled a panel of some illustrious pros who also happen to be hardcore fans. Three are returning guests; one is new to SATB: Luther Russell: (Those Pretty Wrongs) – multi-instrumentalist Currently performing as one half of the duo Those Pretty Wrongs alongside ex-Big Star Jody Stephens, Luther has become a semi-regular on the podcast. As a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist/producer, he has discussed The Beatles’ recording techniques, work as a collaborative, and the magic of Ringo’s drumming. The first two albums from Those Pretty Wrongs are being reissued as a double album set, while a third is due out this year. He will also have a new solo set out as well. Arion Salazar: (ex-Third Eye Blind) – bass In his first appearance on SATB, he discussed Paul McCartney as an innovator, impacting generations beyond the 1960s. It was Arion who offered up the back cover design of Third Eye Blind’s multi-platinum 1997 debut (“Semi-Charmed Life”) which evoked the back cover of The Beatles’ 1966 Revolver album. In early 2021, the bassist put together ensembles of musicians from bands including Smash Mouth, Smashing Pumpkins, Stevie Wonder and Testament, among others, to perform heartfelt covers of Beatle-related material for the first Fab4ConJam. He recently recorded with Flipsyde in Muscle Shoals for a pending release this year. Pat Sansone: (Wilco) – multi-instrumentalist He waxed eloquently for over two hours on the Sgt. Pepper album on a 2021 episode of SATB. Pat’s radio show: Baroque Down Palace – a 2 hour show every month that centers on Rock, Pop, Soul, Folk music of the 1960s and 1970s that feature symphonic embellishments, or influence in some way from the classical music world:https://wyxr.org/baroque-down-palace/ Pat has released a 7″ vinyl single ; a book of his photography, 100 Polaroids, was recently reissued. New to the show (but not The Beatles): drummer Dennis Diken, founding member of The Smithereens. In addition to their work over the course of several gold and platinum releases, he and his band recorded a pair of studio albums and one live one honoring The Beatles. They currently continue to perform live, alternately fronted by Gin Blossoms vocalist Robin Wilson and recording artist Marshall Crenshaw (also a previous SATB guest), in place of the late Pat DiNizio. He also records with Bell Sound, whose critically acclaimed album Late Music was released in 2009. Look for new material from both bands in ’22. Dennis’s radio show: Denny’s Den airs weekly on Wednesday at 2-4pm Eastern Standard Time. Go to wfmu.org and hover over “LISTEN” then go down to “ROCK ‘n’ SOUL RADIO”, slide to the right and click on “ROCK ‘n’ SOUL RADIO HOMEPAGE” to access archives and the weekly broadcast.
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.
In which we pull away from the Get Back film for a while and converse about something completely different
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.
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
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.
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.
In 1969, Bill Rotari was Regional Managing Director with Capitol Records in Quebec when he received word that John and Yoko were coming.
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.
In late summer 2020, my guest Kyle Driscoll penned this wonderful analysis of the three 1970 releases by three artists whose
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.
Back in 2018, I had a conversation with Dr. Robert Hieronimus and Laura Cortner, authors of Inside the Yellow Submarine: The Making of the Beatles’ Animated Classic – the definitive history of the 1968 film.
There’s been loads of speculation as to the exact nature of the friendship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney; during and after The Beatles
In this discussion, Dr. Duncan Driver (SATB 205, Fab4ConJam, One Sweet Dream podcast) springboard off of the title Paul McCartney quote, in which he asserted that each Beatle was as important as another to the group’s success. We explore the shifting power dynamics within the group and the question of leadership; we also discuss Duncan’s thesis of the four distinctive elements of the Beatles collective identity: live performers – singles makers – album makers – songwriters.
In this episode, we examine the process of a song becoming a record, as heard through the ears of those in the producer’s chair. Luther Russell,
My guest Tim English (Sounds Like Teen Spirit, Popology) discuss his newest book, examining the artists that John was listening to in the last few years of his life and how certain artists and records influenced the recordings he (and Yoko) made during the summer of 1980. Some of the acts we’ve known about for awhile (B-52s, Lene Lovich, etc) but many others were less obvious (The Selecter, Christopher Cross, The Doobie Brothers). John Lennon: 1980 Playlist is out now.
Back in SATB 205, Dr. Duncan Driver (showcased 2+xs at Fab4ConJam) and discussed his article on the timeline to The Beatles break-up. In this episode, returning guest Gary Wenstrup and I dissect the subject further: when exactly did The Beatles – or individual members within – decide they were quits exactly? The answer – like so much else in Fab history – is not as straightforward as you might think.
It was in 1968 that a young Canadian filmmaker, seeking solace in TM for a broken heart, was befriended by The Beatles in Rishikesh during their immersive study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 2000, Paul Saltzman published his wonderfully immediate photos in a book (The Beatles in Rishikesh), later augmented and re-published as The Beatles in India in 2018. 2020 saw the release of his documentary, Meeting The Beatles in India – a film that brings together others who were there (Pattie and Jenny Boyd) as well as the real “Bungalow Bill,” Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn and filmmaker David Lynch, a major booster of TM. You can check out Paul’s website here, and see the film as well as participate in a Q&A with Paul at the first Fab4ConJam on February 21, 2021. Details: fab4conjam.com