In the first bonus episode for Season 1, we step outside of our regular format and take a peek into solo Beatles territory, with a look at the recording of John Lennon’s song “Love” from his first post-Beatles solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. We trace the song’s development all the way from home demo to finished recording, sampling the session tapes and discovering the role both Yoko and Phil Spector played in reaching the final take.

012 John Lennon, "Love" (S1 bonus episode)

The podcast dedicated to exploring the untold story behind producer George Martin's revolutionary collaboration with The Beatles.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Music

Beatle author Ken Womack and Ranking the Beatles host Jonathan Pretus join me to discuss the tech that made the Beatles’ new single “Now and Then” possible. And from John's haunting vocal to Giles Martin's stirring string arrangement, we peel back the layers of the production and consider Paul's nearly 30 year mission to complete John's demo. 

016 "Now and Then"-

A little extra mini-episode examining George Martin’s orchestration for “Live and Let Die,” with a recreation of part of the arrangement.

015a A closer look at the "Live and Let Die" orchestration-

In our penultimate Season 1 bonus episode, we examine another solo recording, this time Paul McCartney’s thrilling theme song for the 1973 James Bond film, Live and Let Die. I’m joined by Allan Kozinn, co-author of The McCartney Legacy Volume 1, who takes us through all the details of the writing and recording process. We also learn how Paul debuted the song before the film’s release, we walk through George Martin’s Grammy-winning arrangement, and we consider Martin’s droll story about the film’s producer, as well as what Martin left out of that story.

012 John Lennon, "Love" (S1 bonus episode)

Download our free app to listen on your phone