Yesterday and Today

It's the fall of 1989 and the Paul McCartney World Tour is officially underway! Along the way on the road with Macca were the lessons gleaned from tours past - including the notion that his band ought to be broken-in in front of friendly or otherwise European crowds before heading to the UK or North America. And so it was on September 25th that the McCartneys - along with guitarist Hamish Stuart, keyboardist Paul "Wix" Wickens guitarist Robbie McIntosh and drummer Chris Whitten - hit the stage in Oslo, Norway for a series of engagements up and down the continent for the next several months. Paul's tour was met with praise from fans and reviewers alike, and would serve as exactly the boost he needed to sustain a hefty touring schedule for the foreseeable future - as well as serving as an overall template for future tours to come. As McCartney won the hearts and minds of Europe, Ringo Starr was making a return of his own, playing the Budokan in Japan for the first time since the Beatles themselves performed there live in 1966...

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It's September 1989 and Ringo Starr is on the road! This time Ringo and his friends are on home turf - Los Angeles California - for a star-studded line-up and audience ready to rock the city of angels. But hob-nobbing with Jack Nicholson (at the height of Bat-mania no less) or parting with Tom and Roseanne is just another day in the life of a solo Beatle taking a well-earned and sober victory lap around North America. Meanwhile, George Harrison could be found not in LA but on record, guesting on Belinda Carlisle's Leave a Light On - a brand new cut from her solo LP!  

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In a jam-packed August of 1989, activity abounds in Beatleworld as Paul McCartney revs up for his first North American tour in 12 years. Hitting the road with wife Linda, guitarists Robbie Mcintosh and Hamish Stewart, keyboard player Paul "Wix" Wickens and drummer Chris Whitten, Macca & co hit the stage at the Lyceum Theater in New York City to play-test the new live band before a crowd of press and select fan club members. Amongst those fan club members? The Yesterday & Today podcast's own Wayne Kaminski and wife Elizabeth, excitedly expecting baby James and ready to rock'n'roll. On the other side of the continent, Ringo Starr and the All Stars head down the west coast, from Vancouver to Northern California to Las Vegas...

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Ringo Starr is on the road! In August 1989 the All Star Band tour rolled across North America, featuring the talents of the many legendary rockers sharing the stage with Ringo...along with some special guests to boot. Chief amongst those special guests was none other than the boss himself, Bruce Sprringsteen, who joined two of his fellow E-Street Band members on stage before a crowd of star-struck fans. Ringo's comeback tour was a rousing success, but the ghosts of his past would continue to dog the former Beatle. This time in the form of a lawsuit from Chips Moman, alleging that Starr's drunken Nashville sessions were fit for public consumption. Ringo disagreed.

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It's summer of 1989 and for the first time in history not one but TWO former Beatles are on tour! And for the newly sober Ringo Starr, these live shows were a helpful reminder of his skills as an artist and his importance to the world of music -- hitting the road with an all-star band of friends and like-minded creatives for a triumphant North American leg in July. Joe Walsh, Nils Lofgren, Dr. John, Billy Preston, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Clarence Clemons, Jim Kelter and a host of special guests and rave reviews accompanied this All-Star Band on tour, and reinvigorated a wave of Beatles nostalgia...just in time for Paul McCartney to hit the road himself...

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With Paul McCartney's newest LP Flowers in the Dirt climbing the charts and reigniting a wave of critical praise for Macca's music, Parlophone and Capitol release the second single slated from the album: This One. A rare glimpse into Paul's emotional state, the song captures a conciliatory tone of regret and longing...albeit alongside Paul's trademark deflection lurking around every corner. As the McCartneys dug in on promotion for the single, Ringo Starr had some big news of his own: his first ever concert tour! Ringo Starr and the All Star Band will pair Ringo with friends and musicians for a North American victory lap of hits, and the freshly sober Starr was ready to put rubber to the road on the idea starting later in the summer of 1989...

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The eventful Beatle year of 1989 rolls on with a brand new release, and a brand new batch of critical acclaim for Paul McCartney. Still reeling from the critical failures of his last two projects of original material, Paul's so-called comeback album at last reached shelves -- the LP Flower in the Dirt -- and it did NOT disappoint. Through Macca's musical collaboration with Elvis Costello, plus a band of fresh and like-minded musicians playing strong material, this new record reasserted Paul's position as master of his craft...a position which was slowly but definitely evolving beyond success in the moment... into a success as a legacy.

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The Yesterday & Today Podcast is proud to present an all-new extended interview with the one and only Pete Best! This summer, Pete hits the road with the Pete Best Band throughout North America, and we're here to talk to the former Beatle about his upcoming live appearances and much more. In 2008, Pete released the LP Hayman's Green, a rock'n'roll retrospective of Liverpool's music scene, the roots of the Best family and a look forward at life beyond The Beatles for one of rock's most storied figures. We'll discuss his solo music, his time with John, Paul, George and Stu, a firsthand account of 1995's Beatles Anthology and of course the one and only Casbah Coffee Club located at 8 Hayman's Green, Liverpool. We'd like to thank Pete, Roag and the entire Best family for this wonderful interview, and we hope you'll all catch Pete on tour this summer! 

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It's March 1989 and a new solo album from Julian Lennon is fresh on the stands - a stylistic departure titled Mr. Jordan. This latest effort in some ways marked the end of Julian's success streak as a pop star, though the effort did still manage to chart in the US, Canada and even go top 20 in the Australian market. While John Lennon's eldest son endeavored to craft musical distance from his late father, Paul McCartney and George Harrison maintained the break-neck pace that had come to signify activity in the late 80s former Beatle world by each heading into the studio. McCartney's cover of the Gerry & the Pacemakers classic Ferry Cross the Mersey was a charity single intended to raise money for the victims and families of victims of the Hillsborough disaster in Liverpool. Harrison's new composition? A freshly penned tune with fellow Wilbury Tom Petty...

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It's 1989 and George Harrison is still riding high on the success of the debut Traveling Wilburys LP! Of all the former Beatles, Harrison's late-80s resurgence resonated with near-universal public and critical acclaim, and the momentum of successful collaboration between George and producer Jeff Lynne showed no signs of slowing down. Also on an upturn in the early weeks of the year was Ringo Starr, whose newfound sobriety triggered an abundance of activity -- from starring in the PBS children's television show Shining Time Station (as the unflappable Mr. Conductor) to a collection of recent selections dubbed Star Struck: The Best of Ringo Starr vol2. Meanwhile, the release of the LP Spike by Elvis Costello heralded the coming of newly co-written material with Paul McCartney - material destined for McCartney's own resurgence in the months to come...

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