Yesterday and Today

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Episode 22 – Beatles ’68 pt6 Jul 02, 2018

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August 22nd, 1968 is a landmark day in Beatles history: the day a member of the biggest band on the planet...quit. The Beatles' double album sessions were growing more tense by the day, and in the dog days of the summer of 1968 tensions finally boiled over. Accounts of what specifically happened vary; some claim it was a clash with Paul McCartney over his domineering direction in the studio, some say it was simply insecurity on Ringo's part, but whichever the case Ringo Starr made history as the first Beatle to quit the band. Of course, Ringo's holiday would be short-lived, as his bandmates realized just how unloved their drummer felt and lured him back with flowers and postcards in time for the biggest release of their career. Hey Jude, backed with John's Revolution, was the debut single on Apple Records and would go on to sell over 8 million copies and shatter records around the world. If the group was on the verge of shattering, the music surely wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. National Apple Week, as they called it, also saw the debut of Mary Hopkin's McCartney-produced smash-hit single Those Were The Days, which itself dominated charts and sold gangbusters -- in most cases only seconded by Hey Jude. Jackie Lomax and The Black Dyke Mills band rounded out the releases and once again John, Paul, George and Ringo found themselves at the top of the world. But Apple's rot was about set in...

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Episode 21 – Beatles ’68 pt5 Jun 25, 2018

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Once upon a time...or maybe twice...it was the summer of 1968! The so-called "summer of love" was in full swing as the Beatles continued work on their ambitious new double album project. From Paul's raucous "Helter Skelter", to John's vicious "Sexy Sadie", the Lennon-McCartney songwriting duo continued to dominate and the double album was looking to be their most successful release yet. But George's contributions to the new record were no slouch either, with Eric Clapton guesting on what some consider to be his finest Beatles work: "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". George was well on his way to proving his songwriting mettle, but resentment still lingered from the Maharishi experience leading George to also pen the defensive "Not Guilty" - worked on relentlessly though ultimately left off the album. This wasn't the only unrelenting song the group covered - the infamous "Ob La De, Ob La Da" session nearly resulted in a break-up and caused longtime engineer Geoff Emerick to quit the sessions completely. The double album sessions were packed with highs and lows, but outside the studio the Beatles' successes continued to mount - this time in the form of the animated YELLOW SUBMARINE film and its corresponding soundtrack album, which both became instant classics after the movie's premiere in July of '68. As if all that wasn't enough, John's first art exhibit "You Are Here" received it's grand opening, the Apple Boutique closed down, and the band spent a "mad day out" amassing hundreds of new promotional photos for use on the double album and beyond...

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Episode 20 – Beatles ’68 pt4 Jun 18, 2018

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It's June 1968 and The Beatles' double album is finally taking shape. Kicking things off this month was the very first all-original composition by Ringo Starr, a years-in-the-making honky tonk number called Don't Pass Me By. And the Beatles wouldn't pass it by, spending as much time and energy on Ringo's first track as they had for any of those that came before. It was moments like these that drew a sharp distinction from the tension that was beginning to haunt these sessions - a tension never before experienced on a Beatles project. The four boys who had entered the EMI studios 5 years earlier were now four men who were beginning to lead separate (and sometimes intense) personal lives of their own. As John's marriage to Cynthia broke down, his passionate love affair with artist Yoko Ono became public knowledge, and while a divergence into the avant-garde was good for Lennon's soul, it also alienated many longtime friends and fans. George's attempt to bring Indian spiritualism to his bandmates may have been a rocky road with mixed results, but his heart remained in Indian culture even if his brothers-in-arms didn't. With Apple in full swing, Paul's attention was set squarely on talent development, both his own (recording tracks like Blackbird and Mother Nature's Son to name a few) and that of his musical proteges like Mary Hopkin. The band would have to hang on to periodic shows of unity, because the woes of the double album sessions would be far from over...

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Episode 19 – Beatles ’68 pt3 Jun 11, 2018

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It's April 1968 and The Beatles are back from India and open for business with a new company: APPLE. The concept of Apple Corps began as a clever way to reinvest money into creative endeavors, rather than pay it all to the taxman...but it soon blossomed into, as Paul put it, a type of "western communism" that sought to change the world of pop music from the top down and the bottom up. The company would be divided into several sectors including records, manufacturing, retail, publishing and technology, each designed by the Beatles themselves to promote art, music, culture, innovation and talent that they each believed in. At the heart was Apple Records, and John, Paul, George and Ringo each set out to discover, nurture and promote talented fresh faces of music such as Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, The Iveys, Jackie Lomax and others. Apple was a massive undertaking, and could not have come at a more unstable period for the group. Upon returning from Rishikesh with a renewed sense of inner self, John put months of secret correspondence to bed (literally) with Japanese conceptual artist Yoko Ono Cox, sending his marriage into a tailspin. George, meanwhile, became the increasing target of bitterness and resentment from his bandmates for having involved them with the Maharishi in the first place, whom John especially felt personally betrayed by. All this while the boys readied themselves to return to the studio and begin the most challenging sessions of their musical career...

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Episode 18 – Beatles ’68 pt2 Jun 04, 2018

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It was a long road to Rishikesh, but in the spring of 1968 The Beatles had finally arrived. Eager for a much-needed holiday and in search of spiritual regeneration, they found themselves in India on the foothills of the Himalayas with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for an extended seminar in transcendental meditation ("TM"). TM was an effective alternative to the abuse of drugs and alcohol, and enthusiasm for it was shared by fellow members of the pop elite such as singer/songwriter Donovan, Mike Love of the Beach Boys and actress Mia Farrow (along with her sister, Prudence) who joined the boys on their trip. For the musicians in the camp, hundreds of songs were written over their respective stays, all the while sharing stories, verses, inspiration and encouragement with one another. Techniques such as Donovan's finger-picking guitar style were a revelation, and the songs written during this period would seed their way into countless recordings for years to come. It's only natural for a trip like this to bring people closer together, and it would for a time...but the quest for inner peace would also bring about an introspective transformation in each of its disciples. The John, Paul, George and Ringo that went to India were not the John, Paul, George and Ringo that returned, and in learning about themselves by looking inward, the four boys who had been so close for so long had begun to truly grow up, and to grow apart...

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Episode 17 – Beatles ’68 pt1 May 28, 2018

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It's 1968! After a year of incredible highs and dizzying lows, The Beatles took on the new year with energy and enthusiasm. The boys entered the studio to record rockers, pop tunes and ballads that would be counted among their very finest, as well as a segment for the upcoming Yellow Submarine film still in development. Macca's ode to Fats Domino, Lady Madonna, and John's rocking Hey Bulldog roared with the kind of sound and energy of the band's pre-psychedelic recordings, while Across the Universe grew from the type of poetic song-craft of the year prior. The early weeks of the year also saw John and Paul produce the band Grapefruit - one of the first groups connected to the as-yet-to-be-fully-up-and-running Apple and whom share their name with a book published by Japanese artist Yoko Ono. They were named by John Lennon, who at this time was focused on finding himself under the tutelage of the Maharishi. John made amends with his father Freddie, who had abandoned him at an early age, and looked inward with meditation as a way to peel back the layers of anger and pain that had driven him to substance abuse. Life was good, and change was coming as the band made its final preparations for an extended holiday in India...

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Episode 16 – Beatles ’67 pt6 May 21, 2018

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Roll up! Roll up for the epic finale to 1967! The year that changed so much in the lives of The Beatles would continue its transformative effects in the fall and winter, with new music, a new film, a solo project and a new business venture all happening at once. The boys' latest single, Hello Goodbye, would dominate the charts in November and serve as a bridge between the Sgt. Pepper era and the group's next record, Magical Mystery Tour. Released as an EP in Britain, and as an LP in North America, Magical Mystery Tour was a collection of new songs that provided a soundtrack to the group's made-for-television film of the same name. While the record was a smash success on both sides of the pond, the film...well, not so much. Headlines around the world proclaimed the effort a "FLOP" and for John, Paul, George and Ringo the shine of psychedelia was well on its way to erosion. George, meanwhile, had begun work on the Wonderwall soundtrack which would (not counting The Family Way soundtrack by Paul from 1966) amount to the first Beatle solo album. And to top it all off, a little company called Apple was about to take off in a big, big way...

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Episode 15 – Beatles ’67 pt5 May 14, 2018

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Still riding high on the critical and commercial success that Sgt. Pepper brought, the Beatles entered the so-called "summer of love" as the spokespeople for their generation. Beloved by both fan and critic alike, John, Paul, George and Ringo took to the biggest audience of their career, representing Great Britain in the worldwide telecast "Our World" and debuting for it their new smash single "All You Need Is Love". With another chart topper in the bag, the band also made great strides toward ditching the harder drugs that had begun to take a destructive toll earlier in the year under the guidance of a spiritual leader named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Discovered by George and Patti, the Maharishi and his transcendental meditation seminars brought the boys some much needed peace of mind, especially John, whose chemical-laden escapades were starting to become a serious problem. But just as the Beatles began their retreat, tragedy struck. Manager Brian Epstein, the man most responsible for their fame and success, died suddenly of an apparent drug overdose at the age of 32. It was a terrible blow, and one that many (including the Beatles themselves) point to as the single event most responsible for the truly dark times ahead...

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Episode 14 – Beatles ’67 pt4 May 07, 2018

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We're back with a detailed look at side B of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band! To open the second half of the record, George Harrison picks up where he left of on Revolver's "Love You, Too" with the Indian-influenced "Within You, Without You". A moody choice for the otherwise bright record, George's exercise in writing western pop for eastern instrumentation is a beautiful exploration of the soul through the lens of a young man on the verge of the biggest period of spiritual enlightenment of his life. Of course the follow-up, Paul's "When I'm Sixty Four" is an exploration in abrupt, sharp turns! One of the very first songs a young McCartney crafted in his teen years, this was also one of the first recorded for the record in the winter of 1966. From there the Paul train rolls on with "Lovely Rita", followed by John's "Good Morning, Good Morning". If his songs on side A of the record were to be considered "workman-like", this track is certainly no exception - with it's principal hook lifted from a corn flakes commercial. The Sgt. Pepper Reprise then leads us into what is considered by many to be the band's finest work of song-craft, the beautiful and haunting "A Day in the Life." As we leave this album behind and proceed through 1967, it's clear that the good times will never be this good for the Beatles again. So love it or hate it, Sgt. Pepper is the peak. Enjoy the view.

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Episode 13 – Beatles ’67 pt3 Apr 30, 2018

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At long last, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has arrived! It's the spring of 1967 and The Beatles have unleashed their eight LP on the world -- and the reactions are pouring in: "ALL HAIL SGT PEPPER!" While many would argue that song-for-song, Revolver was a stronger effort, Pepper tapped into the cultural zeitgeist like no other pop record in history, simultaneously reflecting the culture whilst also guiding it to the path forward. The album begins with its eponymous title track, and scorching lead guitar kicks in the door to let the listener know this isn't quite the Beatles you remember. The entire first side of Pepper, detailed in this episode, is an exercise in the progressing song-craft of Lennon and McCartney which was growing in bold new directions by the day. Drugs and drink may have hindered some of John's interest, but you'd never know it from the expressive poetry of songs like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite". Meanwhile the Macca creativity explosion continued to soar with tracks like "She's Leaving home" and "Fixing A Hole", while "Getting Better" only served as further proof that Lennon and McCartney were, and would always be, stronger together.

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