Something About the Beatles

1969 was a tremendous year, in the world generally and with The Beatles as well. We find ourselves commemorating (if not celebrating) a number of 50th anniversaries this year, among them the infamous Tate-LaBianca murders; tangentially tied to the "White Album" by Charles Manson's (mis)reading of certain lyrics. That he was able to incite a bunch of confused misfits into sociopathy remains a fascinating area of study, and SATB has previously explored the purported ties between Charlie's "gospel" and what the rest of the world heard as simply great music.

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An area heretofore unexplored on SATB is jazz: specifically, which artists took raw material from The Beatles and took it in a new direction. It is our good fortune to have within reach a true legend of the idiom: Ramsey Lewis, a multi-Grammy-winning keyboardist whose work spans decades and genres. In late 1968 - mere weeks after The Beatles' "White Album" was released - Ramsey issued a 10-song collection drawing from the Beatles' fresh work. Mother Nature's Son was hailed as a classic, with bold re-imaginings of songs familiar to us fans - but not like this. His reading of "Julia" became a standard in his repertoire, alongside his well-known hit take on "The 'In' Crowd."

Ramsey hosted a jazz show for years on radio, so he is well-familiar with the sonic landscape. But joining us to shed further light is a friend to both me and to Ramsey, going back years: Radio Hall of Fame deejay Terri Hemmert. In addition to spinning records on WXRT since the 1970s until announcing her retirement this year, she also hosted a jazz program for many years (and many of you know her as the MC in Chicago at The Fest for Beatles Fans). Together, listen to these two explore the intersection between Beatles and jazz.

Artists heard in this show:

The Beatles - Ramsey Lewis Trio - Ella Fitzgerald - Count Basie - Duke Ellington - Louis Armstrong - Wes Montgomery - Ramsey Lewis - Esther Phillips - Vince Guaraldi Trio - George Benson - Earth, Wind and Fire - Paul McCartney - Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Fats Domino - John Scofield - Danger Mouse

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My guest has produced one of those rare books in The Beatles' literary canon not penned by an insider (or by someone named Lewisohn) that has arrived with a tidal wave of press; in advance and since. Ian Leslie, who in the past has written about psychology, has put together a thesis examining the singular personal and professional relationship between Lennon and McCartney, and how it manifested in their art. That's a lot to unpack but we cover a lot of ground in our conversation.

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In this episode, Richard and Robert reveal their picks of George’s finest moments in his traditional Beatle role. Songs include “Till There Was You” and “Here Comes The Sun.”

Find Robert’s books here.

Find Richard’s books here.

The post 68: Beatle George, Guitarist – Our Favorite Moments appeared first on Something About The Beatles.

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Beginning with the 2017 Sgt. Pepper 50th anniversary release, a series of deluxe reissues (The Beatles, Abbey Road, Let It Be, Revolver, 1962-1966, 1967-1970) featuring remixing and the application of MAL (“machine-assisted learning”) to deconstruct and re-assemble the master recordings have hit the streets. Supervised by engineer Sam Okell and Giles Martin, these issues have met with mixed reactions from fans, especially those who hold the original recordings sacrosanct. For some they are revelatory; for others, an abomination.

I convened a 2-man panel of returning guests with expert ears to assess them. John Leckie (Abbey Road engineer for John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pink Floyd and producer for Radiohead, XTC, The Stone Roses, The Verve, New Order) has one of the finest sets of ears in the business, as does producer/engineer/author Jerry Hammack (https://www.beatlesrecordingreferencemanuals.com/), whose newest work, The Beatles’ Recording Techniques: Recreating The Classic EMI Studios Sound In Your Home Studio, has just been published.

This conversation is front-loaded with techie-talk, but soon finds its level with an analysis of the work done for these new sets and whether or not they achieved a clear-cut goal.

For Jerry’s newest: https://www.beatlesrecordingtechniques.com/

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