Something About the Beatles

My guest today is best known in Beatles world for having published Nowhere Man (originally in 2000 but since revised in 2015), a book in part drawn from Rosen's exclusive access to John Lennon's diaries. He is also the author of the newly-published memoir, Bobby in Naziland, a telling of his coming of age in Flatbush during the late 50s and early 60s. Rosen's work captures the essence of time and place, with an eye for detail and an ear for the rhythm; true for both of the aforementioned titles. 

Nowhere Man is a fascinating synthesis, based on interviews and original research as well as a reconstruction of the Lennon diaries. Rosen fleshes out a unique perspective on who John was during his last five years, drawn from John's own privately expressed words. You won't want to miss this illuminating discussion. 

Check out Robert's works and events here: http://www.robertrosennyc.com/blog 

In a follow-up to 171 (An Accidental Studio), I revisit the story of George Harrison: Filmmaker with Gary Wenstrup. Coming off the heels of the recent losses of both Neil Innes and Terry Jones, there was certainly more to discuss about George's relationship with the Pythons, encompassing Life of Brian as well as The Rutles and side issues like Dennis O'Brien (and his archetype, Allan Klein).  

My (returning) guest is Andrew Grant Jackson, author of the newly-published 1973: Rock at the Crossroads. He makes the case for this period being a time of tremendous conflict: AM vs FM - 60s giants vs emerging upstarts - mainstream vs underground, all achieving levels of success whether at the time or in years later as influences. Against this backdrop, the four ex-Beatles issued five all albums of new material in total; all of which made the Top Ten (while three scored US number one hit singles, two of them back-to-back).

We discuss where The Beatles as a collective and individually fit into the picture and how this year set the table for arguably greater triumphs in the year that followed.   

In which SATB listener favorite Jeff Martin returns, and where we honor you, the listener, by running down nearly three hours' worth of your suggested events to revisit (as winged insects). 

Loads here covering The Beatles' career from start to finish - loads of music - and a nice way to spend holiday leisure time, while traveling or escaping boredom; posted in time to wrap up 2019 (and to salute Jeff's birthday, too).

Thank you, each and every listener! 

In what will be an ongoing feature of SATBs going forward, I welcome to the show Gary Wenstrup. In addition to being a regular listener, Gary is a college-level teacher and lecturer, whose expertise encompasses an array of 1960s music acts. He saw an opportunity for following up shows to dig deeper, in ways that might not have been possible given time constraints. This episode uses as the starting off point my interview with Susan Shumsky, detailing The Beatles' 1968 visit to Rishikesh; but it also encompasses the White Album, Lennon Remembers, and other ancillary subjects.

It's the return of our favorite Fab historian. In this lengthy dialogue, we discuss an array of literature from the Beatles historical canon: among the works, Many Years From Now - The Love You Make - John Lennon: In My Life - Ray Coleman's bios of John and of Paul - Mike McCartney's The Macs: A Family Album, and others as well. As usual, Erin employs the methodology of a trained historian to assess how reliable these works are, in terms of presenting research and history that are worthy of our time as fans. 

Be sure to check out her book, The Beatles and The Historians, as well as her blog.  

Last year - upon the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles; that eponymous double album issued as the group's Apple debut - a symposium was convened at Monmouth College in New Jersey, as many of you know. An ad hoc band performed some tunes from the record as the accompaniment to a discussion convened for the podcast featuring Jack Petruzelli, multi-instrumentalist/producer/recording artist best known for his membership in the Fab Faux. His insights as a musician who has performed these very songs live many times helps us understand what the Beatles were going for in their unique approach to recording this particular project, a philosophy that spilled over into their next project. 

Thanks to Jack - Vinnie Zummo (heard in the Monmouth segment) - Marc Pepin - Marc Muller - Dan Eisenberg - Joe Rapolla - Kenneth Womack. 

(Field recording by BJ Rowling)