Sixty two years ago, The Beatles’ cinematic debut arrived, putting the world on notice that their charm and talents were adaptable to virtually any medium. A Hard Day’s Night, directed by Richard Lester, has gone down in film history as “the Citizen Kane of jukebox musicals,” a stunning work as fresh and captivating as the day …

329: A Hard Day’s Night Re-Examined with Samira Ahmed Read More »

On March 25, 1966, photographer Robert Whitaker – a surrealist – took The Beatles into his studio to capture a concept piece he called “A Somnamulant Adventure,” envisioned as a triptych commentary on the group’s fame. But the project slid away from him when one frame, depicting The Beatles with slabs of meat and doll …

328: Meat – The Beatles with Erika White Read More »

im Marshall remains one of the most esteemed photographers of the rock era, with iconic images of all the greats to his credit, as well as legends of jazz and some remarkable street photography. He was the subject of the 2019 documentary, Show Me The Picture: The Jim Marshall Story, and his work continues to …

327: Jim Marshall’s Beatles with Amelia Davis Read More »

In recent years there has been lots of news about long-lost guitars that were once in the hands of a Beatle either being rediscovered or put up for sale, often going for hundreds of thousands of dollars if not in seven figures. Each one of these instruments has a story: when it was acquired, what …

326: Beatles (Guitars) For Sale Read More »

Touring and performing live represented a challenge to The Beatles during their years of rapid artistic growth. Being a successful recording act necessitated touring to maintain one’s status and to sell records, but when the infrastructure of the day was insufficient to support both the music they were making as well as serve the high …

325: The Beatles Playing Live (with Glenn Greenberg) Read More »

Since 2003, Ringo Starr has been producing an incredibly prolific run of releases: albums and EPs, plus live recordings. With him on this journey of multiple producers and supporting musicians has been engineer Bruce Sugar, the one constant. Bruce comes with stories and observations about working with the world’s most beloved drummer, including alongside Sir …

324: Recording with Ringo with Bruce Sugar Read More »

It may be beyond argument that the two most successful and influential pop/rock acts of the 1960s were The Beatles and Bob Dylan: one, an English ensemble from Liverpool who turned out evergreen standards and evolved seemingly without effort; the other an American from the upper midwest, initially cast as a vagabond folkie who constantly …

323: Bob Dylan and The Beatles with Jim Windolf Read More »

The cinematic treatment of the 2022 Mark Lewisohn lectures on the first year of The Beatles’ recording career has been given a terrific cinematic treatment (see it on Amazon Prime). This episode features my conversation with the film’s director, Chris Purcell, and its producer, Simon Weitzman. BOTH filmmakers have produced other Beatle-themed films, including Miss O’Dell, …

322: Evolver ’62 with Chris Purcell and Simon Weitzman Read More »

One doesn’t immediately connect The Beatles with the world of comic books but there’s plenty there. Besides musical references to Captain Marvel and “Magneto and Titanium Man,” the group themselves have been regularly represented in the pages of comic books, beginning in 1964; sometimes as plot figures. Then we also have graphic novels and latter-day …

321: Beatles Comic-Con with Glenn Greenberg and Stephen DeStefano Read More »

This month George Harrison would’ve turned 83. The “quiet Beatle” holds the record for THE most streamed Beatles song, his 1969 composition, “Here Comes The Sun,” but to the general public (and not the hardcores), he may remain in the shadow of Lennon and McCartney, despite his key contributions to songs bearing their names. Musician/podcaster …

320: “Our Guitarist George” with Sam Popkin Read More »