Something About the Beatles Parading Press

Returning guest Terry Zobeck (234: Paul McCartney Lyrics ) spent his career studying drug addiction and its effects. With a PhD in anthropology besides, this Beatles scholar is uniquely qualified to discuss the Joe Goodenn's book, Riding So High: The Beatles and Drugs. (Here's Erin Weber's review.) 
 
Our conversation covers a lot of ground, but mostly concerns itself with an informed perspective on how particular drugs affect the brain and behavior of users. 

This podcast is sponsored by Better Help. Please go to betterhelp.com/satb to get 10% off your first month.  

In the time since publishing his memoir, The Redhead on the Roof and first appearing on SATB (160), Beatles equipment manager Kevin Harrington has now become known to millions of fans by his ubiquitous presence captured on film and presented in the eight hours of Peter Jackson's Get Back. It therefore was time to bring him back to get his reaction to the film and drill down deeper on his experiences working with The Beatles. 

As part of the Fab4ConJam online fan event, I convened these two Beatles insiders to take questions and reminisce. Chris O'Dell came from Tucson, AZ (yes! home of Jo Jo AND Linda) and was pulled into the Apple Press Office by Derek Taylor. She was a rooftop attendee as well as a one-time resident of Friar Park, witnessing the daily drama of the group as it ended, along with George and Pattie's marriage. She recalled her experiences in 2009's Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, the Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and the Women They Loved.
 
Nancy Lee Andrews was a model, actress and briefly, in the music biz as well as a photographer. More importantly, she was Ringo's romantic partner from 1974 through 1980, and likewise a witness to much of the inside relations between the former Beatles. (She also attended the Concert for Bangladesh as a guest of her then-boyfriend, bassist and future Domino, Carl Radle.) Nancy's book of spectacular photos was published as A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll in 2008. 

These women have maintained a close friendship since the 70s and it was our treat to hear them recall those days during this terrific conversation. 

He's known to millions, in the words of Arthur C. Clarke, as “The most famous unknown actor in the world.” Richter was a mime (and a poet) during the 1960s, but also gained cinematic immortality as "Moonwatcher" in the iconic "Dawn of Man" sequence in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. This in itself would be enough to stir our interest, but Dan was also intimately involved with John and Yoko as a personal assistant for five years, during which time he helped manage their film and recording projects while kicking his heroin habit. He tells his story in compelling detail in his book, The Dream is Over: London in the 60's, Heroin and John and Yoko. 

Joining the conversation is guest co-host Ian McNabb (see SATB 234). The conversation covers Dan's time with the Lennons, as well as work on 2001 with Stanley Kubrick.   

One of the things that's kept Beatles fans captivated was their refusal to stay still and how each album felt like a progression into new territory. That said, as you delve deeper into the structures and configurations of the band's music across their discography, there are certain tools, tricks, and ideas that they used and repurposed to great effect. In today's episode, returning guests Jack Petruzzelli (Fab Faux) and Cameron Greider (Sean Lennon) sit down to discuss some of the most notable and how the band helped rock 'n roll to expand, becoming richer in the process. (Rock, not The Beatles, though there's that too...)

We discuss Paul's links to Bach, John's connection to the blues and more static melodies, and how all the strands of musical history came together to create the vocabulary that we can observe and appreciate in their music.
 
Jack and Cameron operate the RPM School (Rock Pop Music) and their next session is just days away: details can be found here: 
https://www.rpm-school.com/ 

Two master craftsmen of pop/rock, born two days apart; both possessing a good number of commonalities as well as some major diverging paths. My returning guest, journalist Glenn Greenberg (Paul McCartney at 80) and I discuss their friendship and rivalry, as well as what each learned from the other. 
 
Here's the 1967 CBS TV special, Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution:
https://youtu.be/vyiGFRj5b-k 
 
The Brian Wilson/"Surf's Up" sequence appears 50 minutes in, but the earlier "debate" between Graham Nash and Peter Noone is worth the price of admission alone.