Beatles on January 13, 1969 Podcast

Here’s another look at the Beatles session from 40 years ago today. George quit the band Friday. Paul and Ringo fill in the director on what happened at the band meeting at Ringo’s house yesterday. The reason George left leads me to examine some of the (true?) myths about the Beatles’ final years. I’ll also see if I can put my foot in my mouth by talking about racism and sexism.

I need to introduce a few people not everyone has heard of:

Neil Aspinall – He was the Beatles’ first employee. They hired him to drive them around because he had a van. He stayed with them until last year, running Apple.
Michael Lindsay-Hogg – He was the director of Let It Be.
Mal Evans – He was the Beatles’ second employee, also from Liverpool. They wouldn’t have let him run something as complicated as Apple.

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Check back tomorrow for more discussions about what to do without George in the band. We also get to listen in on Paul as he fools around at the piano.

Beatles on January 9, 1969 Podcast

Let’s take a look at what the Beatles did 40 years ago today.  Paul frequently spent the first part of the session alone at the piano.  Today is a great example of Paul’s solo piano sessions.  Something happend at these sessions that gave the impression that the Beatles were racist.  We will examine these events in context.  We will also see why George might feel excluded by John and Paul, so it won’t be a surprise when he drops a bomb tomorrow.  Come back tomorrow for the most dramatic day of the sessions.

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