Yesterday and Today

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Episode 32 – Beatles ’69 pt5 Sep 10, 2018

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With the arduous Get Back sessions behind them, and with no interest in ever revisiting the recordings, The Beatles faced an uncertain future. Against the protests of Paul McCartney, John, George and Ringo appoint businessman Allan Klein to manage the affairs of the fledgling Apple Corps, driving a further wedge into the group’s dynamic. Producer George Martin was convinced that the band was over, while friends and business partners wondered where to go from here. The answer came in the same form it had after the similarly difficult double album sessions months before: each Beatle branched out in seperate directions. George, bursting with songs and ideas, lent his talents to a band which had also found itself saying “Goodbye”, the “late, great” Cream, before being busted for drug possession by the same cop that had arrested John and Yoko the year prior. Ringo began filming a new feature alongside superstar Peter Sellers called The Magic Christian, the latest in a string of successful solo movie roles for the Beatle. Paul McCartney, who had recently overseen the massively successful Mary Hopkin LP release “Postcard”, married New York photographer Linda Eastman and became the last of his bandmates to tie the knot. John and Yoko were also married that spring and began a series of avant garde “happenings” to promote world peace, a notion which many close to the Beatle may have rolled their collective eyes at considering his recent behavior. And then, against all odds, The Beatles re-enter the studio to work on a new album...

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Episode 31 – Beatles ’69 pt4 Sep 03, 2018

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It was a quiet Thursday morning on January, 30th 1969 as the garment district of London went about their work week. The cold winter air suddenly crackled with a sound from the rooftop of 3 Saville Row - the biggest band in the world were performing their brand new album. This rooftop performance marked the ending of the Get Back project, providing the live finale to what had evolved into a concert film. It was an iconic moment, but one born of frustration by a band that was nearing the end of their capabilities to creatively fulfill one another - four people who had been so close but whom had drifted so far apart in a relatively short period of time. As Paul fought to preserve the group in the form that had brought them to unsurpassed heights of success, John and Yoko’s battle with heroin addiction left a void in the band’s leadership, and George’s battle for musical independence and recognition was simply lost in the shuffle, falling on the deaf ears of bandmates. The songs from the era say it all: John sang to Yoko “all I want is you” in Dig A Pony and pleaded “don’t let me down”, George gave his eulogy for the past with All Things Must Pass and Paul grieved with denial (Two of Us), bargaining (Get Back), depression (The Long and Winding Road) and finally acceptance (Let it Be). Paul’s Get Back project was meant to redefine the Beatles’ purpose and align their sights toward the future as a unified group, but despite his best efforts all the project did was show the band just how far they had fallen -- it was shelved indefinitely. Where do the Beatles go from here?

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Episode 30 – Beatles ’69 pt3 Aug 27, 2018

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A week after walking out on the Twickenham sessions, George Harrison agreed to rejoin his bandmates to finish what would soon be referred to as the “Get Back” project...with a couple of caveats. The first being to abandon the cold, barren Twickenham for a cozier studio atmosphere which presented itself in the form of 3 Savile Row, London. The new Apple Studios was set-up by John’s friend Magic Alex, who promptly transformed the space into an incomprehensible jumble of needless technological decoration. The Beatles, however, liked the actual room itself that Alex had found, and after a redesign were back in the business of making an album together. George’s second and perhaps most fruitful caveat, was asking longtime friend and keyboard virtuoso Billy Preston to join the sessions. Billy’s abundance of talent and enthusiasm gave the project an entirely new life, and once again a tiny spark of that Beatles magic began to ignite. But just as the band rediscovered its musical footing, a new looming danger rose on the horizon in the form of Allan Klein, whom had contacted John upon hearing of Apple’s financial difficulties. A former manager of the Rolling Stones, Klein vowed to refocus the group’s direction and, with the support of John, George and Ringo, positioned himself to fill the long-vacant spot of Beatles manager. Only one man stood in Klein’s way: Paul McCartney.

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Episode 29 – Beatles ’69 pt2 Aug 20, 2018

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As rehearsal for The Beatles next project at Twickenham Film Studios dragged on, the barren atmosphere of the studio space reflected the distant bandmates who occupied it. The distance was cut by growing agitation with the ever-pushy Paul who tried his hardest to rally the weary John, George and Ringo, but who by doing so only wound up driving a further wedge into their friendship. George was especially aggravated by Paul’s “coaching”, as well as Yoko Ono’s ever-growing influence over John, which sparked heated arguments both on and off camera and culminated in George walking out of the sessions. With no one in the cast or crew of the documentary sure what to do without one of the four Beatles, the fate of the project (let alone the band) looked to be in serious jeopardy - despite John glibly stating that if George left permanently the band would simply bring in Eric Clapton to replace him. Through the haze of Twickenham can also be heard dozens of songs and song fragments that would eventually populate the four Beatles’ solo output for years to come. A small burst of color came to fans in the form of The Beatles long-delayed Yellow Submarine soundtrack LP’s release, featuring the new or unreleased tracks the band contributed to the feature film the year prior. But even the cartoon smiles of the animated Beatles weren’t enough to see the band through the Twickenham sessions, and by mid-January the biggest band in the world lay in shattered pieces over the long, cold, lonely winter...

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Episode 28 – Beatles ’69 pt1 Aug 12, 2018

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It’s a new year and the Beatles are back in the studio. Mere weeks following the release of their titanic eponymous double album (now colloquially dubbed “the white album” after it’s all-white outer packaging) the band was once again called together with another big idea from Paul. The goal? To rehearse a brand new album of new songs, film the rehearsal and then perform the album in some sort of live setting. That process would be broadcast as a tv special and the live performance of the new material would be released as the next album. Michael Lindsay-Hogg was signed on to direct, who not only had a history with the Beatles themselves but whom had just recently worked with John on the Rolling Stones Rock’n’Roll circus. It was yet another grand undertaking by a band that was standing on the brink of complete fracture following the tumultuous year prior. As George put it, “I just spent 6 months producing an album of this fella Jackie Lomax, and hangin’ out with Bob Dylan and the Band, in Woodstock, and havin' a great time, and for me to come back into the 'winter of discontent' with the Beatles, in Twickenham, was very unhealthy and unhappy.” To compensate, these very early days of January 1969 find John, Paul, George and Ringo endlessly jamming on their 50’s rock “comfort food”, avoiding the inevitable...

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Episode 27 – Beatles ’68 pt11 Aug 06, 2018

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1968 was another year of drastic transformation for The Beatles, and by December the group was ready to take a breath and let the world continue to absorb their new double album. Apple's biggest success story, Mary Hopkin, was back in the studio with Paul preparing a full length LP to follow-up on the massive hit single Those Were The Days, and the pair was joined by Donovan (who had made quite an impact on the Beatle sound in 1968). John and Yoko retreated to their Kenwood home where John would pen a new slew of songs such as Don't Let Me Down and Oh My Love. Ringo's latest film Candy held its premiere and Apple's latest find James Taylor saw his very first self-titled LP debut. On December 11th John joined the Rolling Stones for their ultimately unreleased Rock and Roll Circus television special. Appearing as "the Dirty Mac", John performed the double album track Yer Blues alongside Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and Mitch Mitchell to sizzling results. John would later remark that this experience opened his eyes to just how rewarding playing with different musicians could be. 1968 took four boys and made them into four men, and the year that followed would test friendships, yield more brilliant music, and see the disintegration of the biggest band to ever grace the world stage...

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Episode 26 – Beatles ’68 pt10 Jul 30, 2018

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It's November of 1968 and the world is soaking in the new double album by The Beatles! While most the tracks on the new record were quite accessible, some baffled (and continue to baffle) listeners and challenged the limits of pop music. John Lennon's Revolution trifecta is a an experiment in sound unmatched by any other Beatles recording. Fans first heard the track in its rocking glory on the flip-side to the monster single Hey Jude earlier in the year. For the "White Album", the original version (rejected for the single by the others as being "too slow") finally saw the light of day, albeit trimmed from its play-out jam form. So what became of the play-out jam? In a truly innovative move, the play-out was used as the skeletal structure of an extended avant-garde sound collage titled Revolution #9. For those wondering where the psychedelia was hiding on this new record, they found it in this ten minute long disturbing portrait of revolution in action as executed by John, George and Yoko. Followed by the orchestral nursery rhyme Goodnight, the end of the Beatles double album left fans confused and critics to sharpen their knives. Controversy and harsh initial reviews aside, the band's 9th album would not only stand the test of time, but prove to be well AHEAD of its time, and is viewed by many to be the band's finest record ever released. As 1968 continued to wind down, the band recorded their annual Christmas message and looked ahead to another new year of transformation...

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Episode 25 – Beatles ’68 pt9 Jul 23, 2018

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Numbers, Colors & Music

Episode 25

The new Beatles double album is here!

On November 22nd, 1968 the band released their 9th full length studio recording, the self-titled behemoth colloquially known as "The White Album". The follow-up to Sgt. Pepper was a dramatic departure from the acid drenched sound paintings of the year prior and offered the most variety in song styles ever seen (either before or since) on a Beatles recording. Fans and critics alike were confused by the tonal shift, but as with any Beatles album commercial success was soon to follow.

While Revolver and even Pepper were more unified efforts, in many ways the double album was a showcase of four different musicians who were serving each other's songs. Paul's contributions include instant classics like "Blackbird," "Mother Nature's Son," "Back In The USSR" and "Ob La De Ob La Da" as well as thunderous rockers like "Helter Skelter" and "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?". John's tracks pointed the gaze inward, with a clutch of songs many consider some of the finest of his entire career.

"Happiness Is A Warm Gun," "Julia," "Yer Blues" and "Sexie Sadie" run the gamete of style and substance, while "Glass Onion" shows a rare tip of the hat to Paul for helping steer the Beatles' ship since the death of Brian Epstein.

Ringo Starr's very first original composition, "Don't Pass Me By," signaled the dawn of a fourth songwriter in the group, while the masterpiece "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" showed the band and the world exactly what George Harrison was capable of.

Enjoy!

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Episode 24 – Beatles ’68 pt8 Jul 15, 2018

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Episode 24

October 13, 1968 through November 21, 1968

It's the fall of 1968 and TWO Beatles solo albums are on the way. George Harrison holds the honor of the first solo record released by a Beatle (if we're not counting the Family Way soundtrack by Paul two years prior) with Wonderwall. Wonderwall is a soundtrack album chockfull of jams and electronic sounds that pushed some major boundaries at the time.

Next up would be the most controversial release of any one Beatles' career: John and Yoko's Two Virgins LP. While the actual record did little to rouse the ire of the public, a selection of noises and mood along with the cover art became the focal point of worldwide attention. The LP depicted a completely naked and fully frontal John Lennon and Yoko Ono. John knew this statement would be met with backlash from the public, but it was the backlash from the other Beatles that surprised him. The others struggled to embrace this new life for John, and yet another wedge was driven into the group's relationship.

This wasn't the only rough patch for John and Yoko in the fall of '68 the couple were busted for possession of cannabis resin (in the form of "hash") in October. In November Cynthia's divorce suit was granted within days of Yoko suffering a miscarriage.

All on the eve of a new Beatles album...

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Episode 23 – Beatles ’68 pt7 Jul 09, 2018

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September 16, 1968 through October 11, 1968

With Ringo back in the group and Hey Jude continuing its domination on the charts, The Beatles made one last push to wrap their ambitious double album project in time for a holiday release. A hallmark of the sessions was the diversity of song style, with the band recording tender ballads like I Will, raucous rockers like Birthday, haunting epics like Happiness Is A Warm Gun and Long Long Long, to borderline novelty tracks like Honey Pie and The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill. While this diversity reigned, the double album did find itself dominated by "stripped-down" acoustic tracks that would be a shocking departure for fans who had grown accustomed to the lavish studio creations of 1967. The fall of 1968 also saw the publication of The Beatles authorized biography by Hunter Davies perhaps the last vestige of influence by the band's late manager Brian Epstein. If Brian's influence was finally dissipating, the influence of John's new girlfriend Yoko Ono was expanding by the day, and by October the couple would proclaim themselves inseparable...

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