Episodes

  • 282: The Women’s Revolution (Or: The Beatles’ Effect)

    282: The Women’s Revolution (Or: The Beatles’ Effect)
    May 10 2024
    My guests are three very special ladies whom have all appeared on the show before, but this time, all three have memoirs out. Debbie Gendler was the first to appear on SATB (121: New York Stories) and her story as the 1st US fan (as far as I’m concerned) was initially laid out there. But now HER memoir has been published, I Saw Them Standing There: Adventures of an Original Fan During Beatlemania and Beyond. Debbie joins returning guests Carol Tyler (146: Fab 4 Mania) and Sibbie O’Sullivan (273: My Private Lennon) as they react to each other’s books. What ensued though was something bigger than what we anticipated, as the notion of collating their stories and those of other 1st-generation fans into something bigger and grander took shape. Something About The Beatles is now an Evergreen podcast.
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    1 hr and 35 mins
  • 281: The Beatles and The Cars with Elliot Easton

    281: The Beatles and The Cars with Elliot Easton
    Apr 28 2024
    Of the 73 million Americans who viewed The Beatles’ live debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, we know with absolute certainty that a high percentage had their lives changed forever – this is not hyperbole. And of those, many were moved to take up instruments or start bands. And of that fraction, a handful went on to stellar careers in music, producing art that became a part of our lives in the years to come. Today’s guest is one such example. Elliot Easton was the lead guitarist in The Cars, but he was put on a path to music as a livelihood at the tender age of three; The Beatles merely codified the trajectory he was on. Elliot went on to hit virtually every checkmark a musician could desire: a successful career with hit singles and albums, induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, even recording with a Beatle. And Elliot also happens to be student of music and rock history, The Beatles especially. He comes to the show as a fellow fan as well as an artist inspired by The Beatles to live his dream.
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    1 hr and 38 mins
  • 280: All You Need is the Love You Make with Steven Gaines

    280: All You Need is the Love You Make with Steven Gaines
    Apr 26 2024
    As the first insider Beatles tell-all (not counting Francie Schwartz’s Body Count – because why would I) – 1983’s The Love You Make, a collaboration between Brian Epstein’s protege Peter Brown and today’s guest, shocked fans with what was perceived as an airing of dirty laundry. Drug use, infidelity, betrayal, wife-swapping, and overall bad behavior was chronicled in detail, and Brown’s insider status gave credence to the reporting. But many Beatle historians recognize the inaccuracies and questionable decision making, rendering what was once a best-selling book into something with considerably less esteem, to put it one way. But the original interviews with an array of insiders, many of them now dead, has arrived as a sort of unfiltered access to the source material. All You Need is Love is out now, and presents many witnesses, sum of questionable veracity, but with little comment, allowing the reader to judge their truthfulness for themselves.
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    1 hr and 27 mins
  • 279: The Mal Evans Project Part One with Ken Womack

    279: The Mal Evans Project Part One with Ken Womack
    Apr 25 2024
    At last: the SATB conversation with the man who brought The Beatles’ road manager’s long missing manuscript to press. Living The Beatles Legend is the story Mal wanted to tell before his life ended at 40 in Los Angeles in a hail of gunfire in 1976. But perhaps the wait was worth it to get his insider eye-witness story augmented by research and interviews Ken has conducted to fully flesh out the story. This talk covers the first volume of this must-read book. Another volume, presenting the Evans photo archive and diaries, is due out later this year
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • 278: An Hour With Pattie Boyd

    278: An Hour With Pattie Boyd
    Mar 17 2024
    Today is her 80th birthday, and given the attention being brought by the auction of some personal items through Christie's (see https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/pattie-boyd-collection/lots/3508 ), the time was right for a conversation. We made the most of the hour, given the demand for interviews right about now, but among the things discussed were: Meeting George on the set of A Hard Day's Night Her views on how fans see her The Fool Apple boutique Rishikesh Get Back Philip Norman The happiest time and more...
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • 277: "Mike Tree" in Nutopia with Michael Meideros

    277: "Mike Tree" in Nutopia with Michael Meideros
    Mar 10 2024
    Listeners: you may recall my conversation with Robert Rosen (245), detailing the blocking of a pair of books by reputable authors that detailed the "househusband" years of John's life; it evolved out of an essay Robert wrote. Well, one of those writers is here to tell his story himself. Michael Meideros was hired in 1977 to work on the indoor gardening at the Lennon's Dakota apartments. But as he performed his assigned tasks, his role grew to ad hoc personal assistant and eventually, archivist. His memoir, Barefoot in Nutopia, remains unpublished - yet. But Michael wanted to share some stories and insights and we're happy to have him, in what we project to be the first of at least two conversations. Subjects include day-to-day life, Yoko, Bermuda, Fred Seaman, and the night the unspeakable occurred, and its aftermath.
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    1 hr and 43 mins
  • 276 Filmtrack Olympiad: Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine

    276 Filmtrack Olympiad: Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine
    Feb 25 2024
    Picking up where we left off (259: Sgt. Pepper Olympiad ), lecturer/professor Gary Wenstrup and I resume the Olympiad series with a pair of releases featuring film score music, the 1967 Magical Mystery Tour EP/album and 1969's Yellow Submarine release. Owing to the unique issues, with the latter representing only four new Beatle songs and the former being a six-song double 7" set, we got creative with the tracks reviewed. Previous installments can be found here. Gary Wenstrup's site is here.
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    2 hrs and 1 min
  • 275: Anomalies in the Assassination of John Lennon with David Whelan

    275: Anomalies in the Assassination of John Lennon with David Whelan
    Feb 9 2024
    There's no joy to be had in this subject, but it is an important topic for an open discussion. We have been fed a narrative for 43 years regarding the murder of John, yet there were aspects that either lacked detail or, upon closer inspection, made little sense. At least a couple of of authors have published books on the case, but documentary-maker David Whelan has approached the subject with fresh eyes, resulting in three years of research and interviews that he presents in Mind Games: The Assassination of John Lennon. He makes the case that virtually nothing we were ever told about what happened is supported by evidence and much is substantially contradicted. We managed to touch on only part of his research in this conversation, but you can learn more through the book, David's Substack site, and his YouTube channel.
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    1 hr and 46 mins