Everything Fab Four

"Weird Al" Yankovic has come a long way since his days making music in his bedroom with an accordion and a "cheesy little cassette tape recorder" and submitting to the Dr. Demento Show. On this episode, he and Ken talk about how Al's songwriting process has become more elaborate over the years, the story behind why Paul McCartney vetoed his "Live and Let Die" parody, getting a cease and desist from George Harrison's lawyer, and his upcoming tour, which he hopes will be a "a super-spreader of joy."

English actress Hayley Mills was a child screen prodigy. During her initial six-year run at Disney, she appeared in six films, including a career-making turn as twins in "The Parent Trap." Her memoir "Forever Young" is out now. In this conversation with host Ken Womack, Mills recounts being a Beatles fan from the early days — including the time she went on a date with George Harrison — and now one of three generations of Beatles fans in her family. She also talks about what Walt Disney was like at work, and how adults in her life reacted to her sudden child-star status.

Margaret Cho is a Grammy and Emmy Award nominated stand-up comedian, actress, and singer-songwriter. In this episode, she and host Ken Womack talk about her journey to becoming a comic, her gateway album into Beatles fandom, and why her favorite Beatle — of, she suggests, up to ten Beatles in total — would have been Brian Epstein.

Season 3 launches with actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. ("Better Call Saul," "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call," "A Mighty Wind"). Our host Kenneth Womack sits down with Begley to talk about a night out with Harry Nilsson that led to dinner at the Dakota with John Lennon and Yoko Ono and how that led to Begley playing a role in the "Saturday Night Live" on-air campaign to try to reunite the Beatles; how he successfully helped bring the late George Harrison's legendary Rosewood Telecaster back to George's family, and how Greta Thunberg is inspiring him to do even more for the environment.

Richard Marx's self-titled first album went triple platinum in 1987. Between then and 1994, he racked up 14 top 20 hits, including radio classics like "Endless Summer Nights" and "Right Here Waiting." The prolific songwriter and musical collaborator is also now an author — Stories to Tell, his candid and entertaining memoir about the art and business of music, is out now. In this episode of "Everything Fab Four," he and host Ken Womack talk about how Paul McCartney's melodies influenced his songwriting, singing "Help!" in Berlin when the wall came down, why "Ringo's everything you want Ringo to be," and the day when the "incredibly kind" Lionel Richie called him, a 17-year-old aspiring songwriter, and changed his life.

Genre-defying singer/songwriter K. Flay was raised by parents who were "Beatles over Stones, one hundred percent," and as a kid she was drawn to "acid trip Beatles-ness" songs. In this wide-ranging conversation with host Ken Womack about creativity and creation, K. Flay discusses why genre doesn't matter, Baby Boomers, her approach to songwriting, collaborating with Tom Morello, and how the Beatles prepared us for playlist culture.

Ethan Russell is one of rock's most influential photographers — and the only one to shoot album covers for the Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones, whose work he also chronicled as the band's primary photographer from 1968-72, including their ill-fated Altamont show. Pete Townshend once called him "the civilized eye of an uncivilized art form — rock and roll." Through his camera, Russell has had a front-row seat to many of rock's great historical moments, including shooting the Beatles' "Let It Be" cover and the band's final photo session. But his life could have gone in an entirely different direction. "If Cambridge had accepted me, I never would have done the cover for 'Let It Be,'" Russell tells our host, Ken Womack during their wide-ranging conversation about his career and experiences in documenting so many iconic moments in rock.

When Sananda Maitreya first heard the Beatles, he felt a spiritual awakening. The son of gospel singer Frances Howard wasn't allowed to listen to music that wasn't gospel until he was 15 years old, but the Beatles were so ubiquitous, he says, that they couldn't be contained. When he first heard "She Loves You," the American singer/songwriter (formerly known under the stage name Terence Trent D'Arby) who catapulted to fame with the number 1 hit "Wishing Well," says the sound and look of the Beatles were "so alien and yet so familiar at the same time that it was utterly captivating. Growing up in predominately Black culture at that particular time, the way the music seemed to fit so perfectly into the culture … It just felt like something ordained by God."

As a young man, Maitreya trained as a boxer, served in the U.S. Army where he was stationed in West Germany and worked as a band leader. Then in 1987 he released his debut solo record, "Introducing the Hardline," which netted him a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance. His twelfth studio album, "Pandora's Playhouse," is out now.

On this episode of Everything Fab Four, Maitreya and host Ken Womack talk about all things Beatles, from Ringo's drumming to the birth of a white blues with "Hard's Day Night." Maitreya also takes a deep dive into his spiritual connections to John Lennon and Prince, and tells Ken the story of the time he and George Harrison had a mystical experience together.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Nancy Wilson rose to fame as the guitarist of Heart, the first hard rock band fronted by women. With hits like "Magic Man" and "Crazy On You" to "These Dreams" and "What About Love?" Wilson and her sister Ann, Heart's lead singer, sold more than 35 million records and along the way, changed perceptions of who can lead a hard rock band. In this episode, Nancy and host Ken Womack talk about the early days of Heart, the songwriting craft behind some of their most iconic tracks, her recent tribute to Eddie Van Halen, and how the Beatles inspired her to pick up a guitar — "We weren't looking to marry them or date them, we wanted to be them" — sparking the passion for rock and roll that would carry her through her storied career.

Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. made their names as members of the Grammy Award-winning group The Fifth Dimension. Together they've logged nearly six decades as pop music stalwarts, while also celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in 2019. And now the iconic duo is back with their first studio album in 30 years, "Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons." In their conversation with "Everything Fab Four" host Ken Womack, they talk about the British Invasion; covering songs by the Beatles, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney; working with the Wrecking Crew; and their own storied history in pop music.