Hello all;
First off, I want to apologize to anyone who’s had trouble accessing the SATB site. My tech, who built it (and if it looks a little geocities to anyone, LMK – there’ll be a re-design!), is a fellow who’s suffered some health issues in the last month, taking him out of availability, though he initially thought otherwise. Consequently, things needing fixing (like access and password issues) haven’t yet been sorted out for some of you. I spent the last week auditioning other techs and expect to have all of it sorted out this week. So patience please and again, if I could do this stuff myself, I would. Newsletters on the site will be made current too.
On the subject of technical stuff: you listeners have long been assured that SATB’s full arrival on Spotify would be coming “soon.” That was the best knowledge I had at the time, but this has been an unduly drawn out process not of my making – what should’ve been simple has been a case of the goal posts being moved repeatedly. We’re at the point now where I was told this week that there’s a “glitch” on their end – at least they are owning up to that much, and it will be addressed this week in a “high level meeting.” So again, for those to whom this is important, . What I would advise everyone is that one of their conditions was that full or lengthy “quotes” from commercially available songs used in the shows be removed; therefore, if you wanted to download them in their original form, it may be too late (but you can always hit me up). I have been keeping new episodes for the last year or so clear of segments running to a minute or less – this should be acceptable – but everything from #123 onward was subject to a re-edit to bring them up to speed. You trade the ideal listening experience for added reach, I suppose. Not my preference at all, but I don’t make the rules….
Upward! In the news this past week, Barbra Streisand is releasing a new duets album. For context, she is a couple of months older than Sir Paul, and has been recording professionally for nearly as long. Like other song interpreters, she’s done her share of Beatles covers; she’s also turned in some bold solo choices. As you might expect, they have occasionally crossed paths through the years, but now she’s issued a collaboration with Sir Paul on a song that may shape up as his final “standard.” It is a joint effort that IMHO gels better than other such attempts (I know lots of people are fans of Santana and Rob Thomas but I never was…) – see what you think.
Other news: Chris O’Dell is the subject of a documentary just made available for streaming this week in the US and UK. If you aren’t exactly sure who or what she is, Chris was a Tucson, AZ native who, around 1967, fell into the orbit of Derek Taylor in LA, during the period he was working with The Byrds and The Beach Boys. Once he was re-recruited by The Beatles to run the Apple Press Office in 1968, he took her with. Chris became an absolute insider with the group, George and Ringo especially. She was on the rooftop in January 1969 (as you all have heard here) and later, stayed close, living at Friar Park for a time, becoming the subject of a non-album solo Beatle B-side, and in 1974, managing the Dark Horse Tour. She also worked with Dylan, the Stones, Clapton, and Crosby, Stills and Nash, if being among The Fabs wasn’t enough. She’s had lifelong friendships with Pattie, May and Nancy Andrews, the latter of which we commemorated here. Her memoir is a fantastic read to anyone even slightly interested in those times and that world. Is a return visit to SATB in the cards? We shall see…
On the subject of George: Mo Foster was a renowned bassist during the years coinciding with the rise of British rock. He worked with loads of artists both well known and less so; Ringo being one of the former (for Old Wave). He also penned an absolutely terrific memoir/account of the rise of British rock, entailing sitting a number of well-known friends down and collecting their anecdotes. The result was published as 17 Watts: The Birth of British Rock Guitar, a fabulous and entertaining account of those years from a number of luminaries, including George. This week, video of George taken at EMI in 1995 (while Anthology was being produced) was made public from the late Mr. Foster’s archive. This is just a teaser: apparently more will be forthcoming!
May 20, 1966 was when The Beatles convened at Chiswick House under the direction of Michael Lindsay-Hogg, an American working as a director on Ready Steady Go, to shoot promotional films for “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.” He quickly made a name for himself for his pioneering work outside the show, including for acts like The Kinks, The Who and the Rolling Stones before being tabbed for Rock and Roll Circus, followed quickly by the Get Back project. Anyway, here’s a collection of the extant Chiswick House footage.
Speaking of the Stones: as mentioned in passing previously, the first episode of the Classic Rock Album Olympics podcast series is here and now on Apple. Hoste by Gary Wenstrup, I am along for the ride as side-kick, so it’s not exactly SATB – just a fun gabfest between fans about albums we all know and love, rated Olympiad-style. Do check it out if you are so inclined!
Last, Who fans generally (and Zak Starkey in particular) may find themselves suffering from whiplash of late. One would expect as a loving father that Ringo would be more than a little perturbed at the shabby treatment his firstborn has received by the chaotic-in-their-dotage principles: Pete Townshend announced on Sunday that theirs was an amicable parting but Zak quickly responded on his own social media to dispute this. Drama and in-fighting was a hallmark of The Who in their prime, so this represents a late-stage return to form. If I was Scott Devours, the last thing I would expect was job security as they head out for this year’s installment of their Farewell Tour, but luckily for Roger and Pete, they are old hands at recruiting drummers on the fly.