Beatling About

Shea Stadium was only the beginning of the 1965 tour.   Throughout the month of August, the Beatles plan took them across the United States and Canada from East to West.   The bulk of shows took place over six consecutive days, followed by the relatively relaxed schedule of six shows over nine days in Portland and California.         In this show, we discuss the opening acts, the gear found on the tour, the venues they played and lots of music and interview clips from that very busy road trip!

The Beatles at Shea Stadium was an event in 1965, a television special a year later, and is now a movie (or at least a second feature).     In this week's episode, the guys look at each of these iterations, compare and contrast them, and speculate on when (if?) we will see this project coming to home video.     After the cheers die down and the band is safely back in the Warwick, we jump forward 43 years to discover the logistics behind Paul joining Billy Joel for the "Last Play at Shea" on July 18, 2008, an event he describes as "coming full circle."

When one thinks of the homes John Lennon occupied, the Dakota building in the middle of New York City is probably the first place most people will consider.     In this episode, the guys examine the reasons John Lennon and Yoko Ono might have chosen such a historic building.   Further, they "dive deep" and speculate a bit on the similarities between not only New York City and Liverpool, but this location and Auntie Mimi's "Mendips".

On December 4, 1958 four figures influential to John, Paul, George, Stu, Ringo and Pete got together for a jam session at Sun Records in Memphis Tennessee.    However, even without hearing the results of those sessions, the Quarrymen would eventually become the perfect combination of their own talent and contributions of these artists (and many others).    Join us this week as we examine two of them:   Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis.

The story of the Beatles and Civil Rights does not begin or end with Jacksonville Florida and desegregation.      The Liverpool they grew up in divided itself along religious and socioeconomic lines much more than racial ones.   Further, art school and the free-for-all of Hamburg left the band open to alternative lifestyles, and the simple concept that "Give Peace a Chance" applied not only to nations, but individuals as well.

In 1989, David Fishof (now better known for Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp) convinced Ringo Starr to go on the road for the first time since the Beatles.      Ringo had considered the idea as early as the mid-1970's, but circumstances and timing were never correct.    However, 1989 was the right place and the right time, and with the backing of Pepsi, Ringo and pals from the sixties as seventies (along with new friends from the E-Street band) hit the road for nearly forty dates across the US and Canada (July 23 - September 4), and later Japan (October 30 - November 8)

The Beatles played the Cavern nearly 300 times in the two years between mid-1961 and mid-1963.      This week we examine those lunchtime sessions, examine how they interacted with their fans, and left an impression as strong as the one that would soon envelop youth across the globe.      The live Cavern recording of What'd I Say by the Big Three (a cover the Beatles also performed frequently through those years) is included complete with the Bob Wooler introduction.     Let's travel down to the "Best of Cellars" and check things out!

The Seventies and eighties were a prime era for album covers and packaging.    The solo Beatles each found ways to take advantage of gatefolds, posters, inner sleeves, record labels, booklets and even managed to occasionally innovate with die cut sleeves and fold-over flaps.    That changed a bit through the CD era as sleeve notes, lyrics and inner photos got reduced beyond the point of illegibility.     Now, as we move beyond physical media, is there any room left for such things?    I guess we will have to stay tuned!

While the Beatles were squabbling amongst themselves in the seventies, Capitol took the opportunity to put out any number of compilation albums picking apart film music, ballads, rock 'n roll, nominal rarities and more.     The public would buy anything they put out, so Capitol no longer reached for the highest bar.   This would result in the current state, where the "shareholders" must completely agree -- a policy that has greatly improved the product, but also reduced the frequency.

Album Covers were a much simpler matter in the early days of rock and roll.     Any old picture of the band or artist smiling and posing would suffice.      The Beatles were different.     From their first legitimate LP release, they revolutionized the value of a cover photo.   Their history as art students, friendship with the German existentialists, and understanding of the zeitgeist produced images that are nearly as iconic as what was in the grooves.     Stay tuned to Beatling About for Parts 2 and 3, the reissues, and solo cover art.

The Official Beatles Fan Club played a significant role in interfacing between the Beatles and their fan base all the way from the Cavern days through the final days of the band and (slightly) beyond.    While Freda Kelly played the largest role, there were others involved in both the U.K., the U.S. and other countries.   As the four went their separate ways, Paul and Linda would keep the spark alive with the Wings (later Paul McCartney) Fun Club.    Join us this week, as we look into the history of the clubs and the publications they presented themselves to the world in, The Beatles Book Monthly, and Club Sandwich.

For those of you old enough to remember "long time ago", George Harrison returned to the world of popular music with the stellar effort Cloud Nine.     This week we look at what led to George's hiatus, his subsequent return to the business, the promotion he did for the disc, and his subsequent feelings about the success.    Sit back, and join us for a voyage to an era before iPhones or even iPods, as we look at an album where real guitars and drums took the stage from their synthesized counterparts.

George Martin had a considerably rockier relationship with John Lennon than he did with "The cute Beatle".     This week, we finish our tribute to the work of the Beatles producer, and consider how GM ended up in the ever shifting sands of John Lennon's thoughts and emotions toward all of his sixties compatriots.

" I'm always taking a little of this and a little of that. It's called being influenced. It's either called that or stealing. And what do they say? A good artist borrows; a great artist steals-or something like that. [...] We took a lot of stuff, but in blues, anyway, you do: People lift licks. It's part of the fun of being alive, too. You hear somebody's incredible riff and you go "Oooh." You hear a new chord somewhere and you go, "Oh, my God, that's it!" Yeah, we lifted a lot of stuff from Motown, but quite unashamedly. I'm happy to have done it." -- Paul McCartney, Guitar Player Magazine, 1990.

July 15, 1958 was a tragic day for John Lennon.    John was making tentative inroads into becoming serious about music, he had started a partnership with Paul McCartney, and suddenly his estranged mother, Julia was killed by off-duty police Eric Clague.      This week, we look at what came before that day, and the years-long custody tug-of-war between sisters Julia and Mimi, and occasionally father "Alf."