Something About the Beatles

Beatles proteges Badfinger released six studio albums between 1970 and 1974. Two of their hits were produced by Beatles ("Come and Get It" by Paul, "Day After Day" by George) and another by The Beatles' road manager ("No Matter What" was produced by Mal Evans). But their catalog is filled with rich, tuneful pop/rock for anyone who hasn't already explored it. ALL FOUR members (Pete Ham - Tom Evans - Mike Gibbins - Joey Molland) were accomplished songwriters and since their demise, an astonishing array of releases has been pouring out, including several demo collections from Pete. Additionally, their earlier pre-Joey iteration as The Iveys has seen the commencement of five Anthology collections of demos and live material surface, including the newest, Miniskirts and Rainbows. 2024 saw the long-awaited issue of the final Badfinger album from 1974, Head First, featuring Pete, Tom and Mike with Bob Jackson. For this conversation, I spoke with Mark Strothmann, who's part of team that's been working on getting these treasures to the public, as well as curating several YouTube channels featuring music and videos of The Iveys and Badfinger. It's an overview of the ongoing labor of love keeping the group alive in the wake of Joey's passing last year.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

316: Anthology 2025Presented here is an analysis of the current streaming version of the Beatles documentary first produced 30 years ago. This is less a discussion comparing a cut by cut A/B comparison so much as an overview of some changes that HAVE been made, and much discussion into what the intent behind the new presentation may be, who it is made for, what the strategy is (if any) behind some of the changes and where there is room to go forward in presenting the group's history. SATB welcomes two new additions to the Beatles podcasting pool: Mike Vaccaro and Jesse Pollack, who host All You Need Is Pod. You can find it on Apple podcasts and follow them on Instagram.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sir Paul McCartney, 1t 63, has just completed his Got Back tour of North America. But at the 60th anniversary of Rubber Soul, it's good to look back at how that album marked a turning point in his approach to his primary instrument: the bass. Paul was an innovator, taking its use where no one in pop/rock had ever gone before. With bass historian/musicologist Rob Collier (www.beatlesbasslines.com), we thoroughly examine HOW and WHY Paul was so exceptional, and what influenced him. Providing color commentary: veteran musician/bassist Arion Salazar (ex Fungo Mungo and Third Eye Blind). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thirty years after the first Anthology collection was released, several years after the Special Deluxe Edition (SDEs) series commemorating individual albums became a thing, and on the eve of an unexpected 4th Anthology series installment, we take stock. Are The Beatles (or Apple or otherwise those overseeing these re-packages) doing as good a job as they can be? There are plenty voices in the world of Beatle "authorities" that insist that we should be grateful for anything we are given - they don't owe us anything. But at SATB, we take a different position: no one is above criticism and that once upon a time, The Beatles were simultaneously the cutting edge and the gold standard in what they produced. Those days are long gone and we now find ourselves in a world where many an artist with a fraction of their following is showing how it's done. So in the name of hashing this out, I invited a couple of returning guests who are the world authorities on what exists in the vaults, on tape: Beatles scholars Doug Sulpy and Chip Madinger. Between the two of them, they have been going deep for years on the contents of the proverbial Beatle (and solo) vaults and are therefore in position to not only suggest where things could be done better but what kind of material is sitting around, awaiting the day the official curators deem it time to go public with these treasures. Hopefully, some of us are still around.  You can find Doug's writings (books like Drugs, Divorce and a Slipping Image and informational newsletters) at dougsulpy.com  Chip Madinger's works (which include Eight Arms To Hold You and Lennonology: Strange Days Indeed - A Scrapbook of Madness) can be found at lennonology.com  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Badfinger is bookended with The Iveys as prequel and the Head First album on the other end, months before the tragic suicide of Pete Ham. We explored the latter with Bob Jackson earlier this year (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/304-badfingers-head-first-with-bob-jackson/id1483392342?i=1000706620569 ) but this time it's the pre-history we examine, with Ron Griffiths, bassist and vocalist. He was recruited by Pete Ham and in turn was responsible for the addition of drummer Mike Gibbins. Tom Evans joined in 1967 and within a year, they were signed to Apple. Ron was there as a witness to the band's development, and interactions with Ray Davies of The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles' Mal Evans, who led them to the start-up label. It was directly because of Ron that Paul offered them "Come and Get It" as what became the first Badfinger single and a worldwide smash, but Griffiths did not make the transition to Badfinger. He remains a lucid witness to their history even after being sidelined, and his connections remain to the present day and performances with Bob Jackson and the current Iveys reissue program. Tune in and hear his unique perspective on the triumphs and tragedies of this mightily talented band. Episode playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWJwXBl8_fsfzV0dB-9cLPbUZC9_Js0rD&si=Oh_KxNaVUZJn5qK9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices