Any analysis of the Get Back documentary would be remiss in not factoring in insights gleaned from those who've followed in The Beatles' professional footsteps: working musicians. To that end, I assembled a panel of some illustrious pros who also happen to be hardcore fans. Three are returning guests; one is new to SATB: Luther Russell: (Those Pretty Wrongs) - multi-instrumentalist Currently performing as one half of the duo Those Pretty Wrongs alongside ex-Big Star Jody Stephens, Luther has bec...
Jan 15, 2022•1 hr 16 min
In which returning guest Gary Wenstrup and I continue our ranking conversation of faves, discussing A Hard Day's Night and Beatles For Sale. Along the way, we analyze their vocals and blendings, as well as what personal experiences may inform the writing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jan 01, 2022•52 min
In which we pull away from the Get Back film for a while and converse about something completely different. Returning guest Gary Wenstrup and I conduct a conversation going through the first four Beatles albums, selecting our picks for Gold, Silver and Bronze status. Along the way we examine our criteria for what constitutes "favorite" songs, and how the criteria is fluid and evolving. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 25, 2021•1 hr 7 min
In the third and final hour, Dan Rivkin (They May be Parted blog) and I explore more of the Get Back project with its director. Among the subjects discussed: ~ Coordination between the Get Back book, the Let It Be album reissue and this film (hint: none) ~ Directives from the Beatle heirs and Apple (hint: none) ~ Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s original draft of Let It Be ~ The missing Nagra audio ~ An extended cut? Be sure to check out party one and two, as well as the write up in Forbes. Learn more abo...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Dan Rivkin (They May Be Parted blog) and I continue our conversation with director Peter Jackson about the innovation used to create the film - some technique used to advance the story - and a number of other observations gleaned from viewing so many hours of footage, both in and outside of the final cut. The history of the Get Back project is at last coming into focus, challenging a number of previously held assumptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 13, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Well, it's finally here. Worth the wait? Oh, we think so! But before we get into discussions on SATB about what we thought about it, we thought it would be worthwhile to discuss the making of it - the intent behind it; the goals; the challenges; the nuts-and-bolts - with someone who worked on it. To that end, a listener in New Zealand offered himself up as a guest who could offer an insight or two. My co-host for this one is Dan Rivkin (They May Be Parted), who of course is one of the leading sc...
Dec 02, 2021•1 hr 3 min
We have all made compilations of Beatles solo material, but within this large group, a smaller group has imagined taking some of this material and arranging it as The Beatles might have, had they recorded this material and issued it as "Beatles," the collective. There's actor Ethan Hawke's famous Black Album; Spencer Leigh's Finishing School, as well as any number of other efforts out there. Then, there are the ones created by myself and my guest, Glenn Greenberg. You can find his list here, or ...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 20 min
SATB has touched on the Sgt. Pepper album in the past, but never like this. My guests, Pat Sansone (of Wilco and The Autumn Defense) and Luther Russell (Those Pretty Wrongs) are each accomplished singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalists/performers/producers/engineers AND hardcore Beatle geeks. This album became a touchstone for both of them during their formative years, and it is with decades of insight that we discussed the magic and mystique of the landmark release. Luther has been working on ...
Oct 03, 2021•2 hr 9 min
In 1969, Bill Rotari was Regional Managing Director with Capitol Records in Quebec when he received word that John and Yoko were coming. As label rep, it was his job to see to it that John's needs were met; ultimately this included securing recording gear for tracking the first Plastic Ono Band record, "Give Peace A Chance." Bill has led an interesting life; as record company executive, recording artist...and minor league pitching prospect for the Atlanta Braves. His group, The Favorites, record...
Aug 29, 2021•1 hr 34 min
In June and again in July, the director of the upcoming The Beatles: Get Back series gave interviews - in Vanity Fair and in GQ - holding forth on what to expect from his re-tooling of the Beatles Let It Be project. Though there was a certain amount of rehashing what had already been said, there were also things that provided much to discuss and analyze as we approach the countdown to broadcast. I therefore reconvened Dr Duncan Driver and Dan Rivkin (They May Be Parted blog) for a discussion on ...
Aug 02, 2021•1 hr 25 min
In late summer 2020, my guest Kyle Driscoll penned this wonderful analysis of the three 1970 releases by three artists whose paths had intertwined and who, as it happened, all found themselves at similar crossroads at the time. You can read it here (which I strongly urge you do) and then listen to the deeper discussion we had on these artists and their impact on each other's work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 17, 2021•1 hr 23 min
You may recall my returning guest from his first appearance in late 2020: Mike Pachelli is an accomplished jazz guitarist and recording/performing artist, as well as a major Beatles fan. His series of popular Youtube videos deconstruct Beatle songs and show each guitar and vocal component. He's back now with a new release: 16 Beatles songs performed instrumentally, Beatles on Guitar. In this conversation, he details his insights into the challenges of selecting and presenting their music and doi...
Jul 03, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Back in 2018, I had a conversation with Dr. Robert Hieronimus and Laura Cortner, authors of Inside the Yellow Submarine: The Making of the Beatles' Animated Classic - the definitive history of the 1968 film. But they are back with a sequel, delving deeper into the story: profiling others who made the vision a reality as well as exploring the greater context of the times and the deeper meanings to be gleaned from the film in It's All In The Mind: Inside The Beatles' Yellow Submarine. This newly-p...
Jun 25, 2021•1 hr 26 min
There's been loads of speculation as to the exact nature of the friendship between John Lennon and Paul McCartney; during and after The Beatles. And when I say "loads," it runs the gamut from former bandmates who recalled each other fondly from a distance to something encompassing a physical nature. What does seem clear is that between the two of them, while Paul's descriptions of their relationship stayed pretty constant, John's went from demonizing Paul in print and song to describing him as h...
Jun 05, 2021•1 hr 25 min
In this discussion, Dr. Duncan Driver (SATB 205, Fab4ConJam, One Sweet Dream podcast) springboard off of the title Paul McCartney quote, in which he asserted that each Beatle was as important as another to the group's success. We explore the shifting power dynamics within the group and the question of leadership; we also discuss Duncan's thesis of the four distinctive elements of the Beatles collective identity: live performers - singles makers - album makers - songwriters. Learn more about your...
May 04, 2021•1 hr 36 min
In this episode, we examine the process of a song becoming a record, as heard through the ears of those in the producer's chair. Luther Russell, previous SATB guest and Fab4ConJam star, has operated as a composer, performer, collaborator, engineer and producer and is therefore more than qualified to offer his insights as a musical idea gets transformed into a production and how creative decisions are made along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 25, 2021•1 hr 16 min
My guest Tim English (Sounds Like Teen Spirit, Popology) discuss his newest book, examining the artists that John was listening to in the last few years of his life and how certain artists and records influenced the recordings he (and Yoko) made during the summer of 1980. Some of the acts we've known about for awhile (B-52s, Lene Lovich, etc) but many others were less obvious (The Selecter, Christopher Cross, The Doobie Brothers). John Lennon: 1980 Playlist is out now. Learn more about your ad c...
Mar 31, 2021•55 min
Back in SATB 205, Dr. Duncan Driver (showcased 2+xs at Fab4ConJam) and discussed his article on the timeline to The Beatles break-up. In this episode, returning guest Gary Wenstrup and I dissect the subject further: when exactly did The Beatles - or individual members within - decide they were quits exactly? The answer - like so much else in Fab history - is not as straightforward as you might think. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 12, 2021•1 hr 28 min
It was in 1968 that a young Canadian filmmaker, seeking solace in TM for a broken heart, was befriended by The Beatles in Rishikesh during their immersive study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In 2000, Paul Saltzman published his wonderfully immediate photos in a book (The Beatles in Rishikesh), later augmented and re-published as The Beatles in India in 2018. 2020 saw the release of his documentary, Meeting The Beatles in India - a film that brings together others who were there (Pattie and Jenny B...
Feb 02, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Big things take much time to execute: both this episode and the long-awaited event I've been teasing for the last few months.... First: the new show. SATB 210 features n guests and no host; instead, it depicts in rigid but scaled down time, the unfolding of their career from the October 5, 1962 issue of "Love Me Do" to the May 1970 issue of "The Long and Winding Road" as a final US single. What lies between is the sounds of their hectic pace, with interviews, shows, projects, radio, film and TV ...
Jan 24, 2021•2 hr 46 min
In which Luther Russell and myself detail our picks for the things in the vault known to exist, group and solo, that we one day hope for Apple to release, in well-presented packages. This episode was the live round-the-world broadcast we did from Chicago back in September 2020, powered by in.live (thanks David Simon!) and that is why you get to hear a bit of the city in the background, along with loads of rare audio detailing what we're talking about. Happy Holidays to all and onward and upward ...
Dec 22, 2020•1 hr 44 min
If you aren't already aware of this veteran jazz/blues guitarist's Youtube channel with loads of deconstructions of their music, by all means, check it out. Mike has been performing and recording for decades (18 solo albums), as well as with artists ranging from Phil Keaggy to Micky Dolenz. Like so many others, his life was changed on the evening of February 9th, 1964. Much of the what he absorbed beginning then became the basis for his career, which he now shares in the form of informative vide...
Dec 07, 2020•1 hr 21 min
This episode features a conversation between Luther Russell and I with producer John Leckie - if you aren't familiar with his name, you may be with the acts he's worked with (working backwards chronologically): My Morning Jacket - New Order - Radiohead - Robyn Hitchcock and The Egyptians - The Posies - Stone Roses - XTC - Dukes of Stratosphear - Human League - Simple Minds - Magazine - Be Bop Deluxe - Wizzard - Mott The Hoople - Barclay James Harvest - Syd Barrett - Pink Floyd - Roy Harper - Pau...
Nov 24, 2020•1 hr 53 min
Returning guest Jack Petruzzelli of The Fab Faux has been playing Beatles music onstage all over the world since 1998. In this conversation, he goes into detail about what goes into the effort to replicate heavily-produced music not necessarily intended for live performance, by a core of five members. Given the current conditions, the band is on hold, but Jack can be seen performing online on his Facebook page ("Thursday night service"November 19th 8pm ET), as well as his interactive Beatle clas...
Nov 10, 2020•1 hr 8 min
I got something to say that won't cause you pain... Contact Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 10, 2020•8 min
With so many conflicting accounts and blame laid for the series of events that led to The Beatles' split, it's hard to detect a coherent narrative that, fifty years on, makes any sense as to exactly what went down and how. But Dr. Duncan Driver, in an article published earlier this year in Beatlefan magazine, has laid out a timeline detailing the sequence of events, from which some measure of patterns emerge. You can (and should) read the full-length piece here. We discuss the direction that thi...
Oct 30, 2020•1 hr 28 min
Back in May 2020, my guest Gary Wenstrup and I presented the first half of our conversation, where we offered up our respective lists of what people in Beatle world we would like to be able to sit down and interview: insiders who knew The Beatles well - worked with and for them - and essentially operated as part of the infrastructure; people who haven't been tapped out as interview subjects. Here are more names we came up with of folks still among the living that may end up on the show yet - tim...
Oct 21, 2020•1 hr 42 min
As you may recall: back in July, SATB featured the first part of a conversation covering The Beatles in the studio in 1968, during the White Album sessions and just before. Here's the continuation, featuring SATB semi-regular Luther Russell (singer-songwriter/producer/performing artist). As always, the talk goes where it goes, covering a lot of Beatle ground. Jerry's volume 5 of The Beatles Recording Reference Manual series will be out later this year; it covers all of the 1969 recordings, inclu...
Oct 05, 2020•1 hr 15 min
Coming on what would've been the 80th anniversary of his birth, this collection of Lennon material - Beatles and solo - is being presented by a number of artists associated with Beatles music, among them The Weeklings and The Gripweeds. Consider this one a "new phase" SATB show - the first to feature a guest host: Tom Frangione. You may know him from his writings in Beatlefan magazine - his role twice annually at The Fest for Beatles Fans, or as one of the three hosts heard on the Sirius XM Beat...
Sep 28, 2020•1 hr 35 min
You may know her as the award-winning veteran rock journalist (Creem, Kerrang!, Mojo, and so forth) who also penned the best-selling biography of Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen (2011), as well as Debbie Harry's memoir, Face It (2019). But as a music-stricken child growing up in London during the 1960s, she became what she'd describe later as "Beatle damaged" at an early age. Here, Sylvie recounts that backdrop when music was absolutely everything; so much so that, startin...
Sep 25, 2020•1 hr 23 min
