Something About the Beatles

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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

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/

Songs heard in this episode include: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Reprise,” “A Day In The Life” (with the “humming” ending), “Hey Bulldog” and Humphrey Lyttelton’s “Bad Penny Blues.”

The post 09: Was Sgt. Pepper The Beatles’ Creative Peak? appeared first on Something About The Beatles.

In a slight departure from the SATB norm, I present an account of the career of a Beatles peer: session guitarist Vic Flick, whose work appeared in 1960s music charts alongside The Beatles. Every Fab fan will know his soundtrack work on their first two United Artist films, but in addition to this, he contributed to a McCartney solo project, worked with George Martin (and Beatle acolytes Peter and Gordon), as well as scores of other “British Invasion” acts.

And yes – it was he who played the iconic 007 James Bond theme guitar riff.

Check out his memoir, Guitarman, on Amazon or direct from Vic (http://vicflick.com/).

Special thanks to Bob Rush!

The post 156: A Conversation with Vic Flick appeared first on Something About The Beatles.

• The role of women in setting examples for The Beatles when they were young.
• The effects that The Beatles had on the women who enjoyed watching them.
• Perspectives on screaming at concerts and what it expressed.
• How The Beatles held themselves played a role in changing cultural norms for women.
• How The Beatles have helped people to see the beauty in everyday life.