『Beatles Rewind Podcast』のカバーアート

Beatles Rewind Podcast

Beatles Rewind Podcast

著者： Steve Weber and Cassandra
無料で聴く

このコンテンツについて

 Beatles. All day, every day. Eight Days a Week !!!

beatlesrewind.substack.comSteve Weber 音楽
エピソード
  • 🎄 The Beatles’ Christmas Records: Seven Years of Holiday Flexi Discs

    🎄 The Beatles’ Christmas Records: Seven Years of Holiday Flexi Discs
    2025/12/20
    Between 1963 and 1969, if you were a member of the official Beatles fan club in the UK or US, you received something special in your mailbox each December: a plastic flexi disc containing a personalized Christmas message from the Fab Four. These weren’t commercial releases—they were exclusive gifts for the “loyal Beatle people” who paid their annual membership dues and wrote thousands of letters that the band could never hope to answer. What started as a practical solution to an overwhelming fan-mail problem evolved into one of the most fascinating documents of the Beatles’ transformation from cheerful mop-tops to experimental artists to a band barely holding together. Listening to all seven Christmas records in sequence is like watching the Beatles’ entire career arc compressed into holiday greetings: from polite thank-yous and Christmas carols in 1963 to abstract sound collages and barely disguised tension by 1969. 🎁Fans who wrote to the Beatles wanted autographs, answers to questions, acknowledgment that their devotion mattered. Someone—likely Beatles manager Brian Epstein or fan club secretary Freda Kelly—had the idea to create an annual Christmas record that could be sent to all fan club members simultaneously, providing that personal connection fans craved without requiring individual responses to every letter. The flexi disc format was perfect: cheap to produce, light enough to mail inexpensively, and novel enough to feel special. The exclusivity was part of the appeal—these recordings were only for fan club members, creating an insider feeling that you were part of the Beatles’ inner circle, receiving messages that the general public would never hear. 📬The first Christmas record, released in December 1963, set the template: the Beatles collectively thanking their fans, some light humor, a bit of seasonal cheer, all delivered with their charm and wit. John, Paul, George, and Ringo took turns wishing fans happy holidays, acknowledging their support, maybe singing a snippet of a Christmas carol. It was sweet, sincere, exactly what fans wanted: proof that the Beatles knew their fans existed and appreciated them. 🎄You can listen to these records free online at the Internet Archive (click the title below):Christmas Time Is Here AgainAs the years progressed and the Beatles evolved, so did the Christmas records. By 1964 and 1965, they were getting more elaborate, incorporating skits and comedy bits alongside the seasonal greetings. The band discovered that these annual recordings could be playgrounds for experimentation and humor that wouldn’t fit on their commercial releases. They could be silly, try out comedy ideas, mess around with recording techniques—all without the pressure of creating something that had to sell millions of copies. 🎭Then came the 1967 Christmas record, which included “Christmas Time (Is Here Again)”—an original composition that would be the only song from these recordings to achieve any kind of official release (in heavily edited form as part of The Beatles Anthology project in 1995). This recording represents the Beatles at peak experimental weirdness, creating a droning, repetitive, hypnotic holiday song that sounds nothing like traditional Christmas music. 🌟The 1968 Christmas record is where you can really start to hear the cracks forming. The band recorded their sections separately rather than together, which was becoming increasingly common in their regular studio work as relationships deteriorated. The humor feels more forced, the warmth more obligatory, the whole enterprise more like checking a box than genuine connection with fans. By the 1969 Christmas record—the final one—the Beatles are barely pretending anymore. It’s chaotic, fragmented, with each member contributing separately and the whole thing feeling like it was assembled rather than created collaboratively. You can hear the band falling apart in the spaces between the jokes, in the lack of cohesion, in how little they seem to be enjoying this annual ritual. It’s simultaneously fascinating and sad: the last Christmas message from a band that would break up the following year. 💔What makes these recordings historically significant is that they were never meant to be analyzed this way. They were throwaway items, holiday greetings for fans, not intended as artistic statements or historical documents. But precisely because they were low-stakes and informal, they capture something honest about the Beatles’ evolution that their carefully crafted albums sometimes don’t. You can hear them relaxing, experimenting, being silly, getting weird—and eventually, coming apart. 📖The fact that these recordings remained unreleased to the general public until a vinyl box set in December 2017 is remarkable. For over 50 years, these were genuinely exclusive items—if you wanted to hear the Beatles’ Christmas records, you needed to either be a fan club member from the ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    5 分
  • 📝 The Man John Lennon Called “B******t” Gets Another Crack at Beatles History

    📝 The Man John Lennon Called “B******t” Gets Another Crack at Beatles History
    2025/12/19
    Here’s a story about second chances, scribbled napkins worth millions, and the complicated relationship between a biographer and the band that made him famous.In 1970, John Lennon sat down with Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner for what would become one of the most brutally honest interviews in rock history. Lennon was in his truth-telling phase, vigorously dismantling the carefully constructed Beatles myth that the world had swallowed whole. When Wenner asked about Hunter Davies’ 1968 authorized biography “The Beatles,” John didn’t hesitate: “Well, it was really b******t.” 💥Fast forward to 2014, and there’s Hunter Davies again, publishing “The Beatles Lyrics: The Stories Behind the Music, Including the Handwritten Drafts of More Than 100 Classic Beatles Songs” (the hardcover edition is out of print, but it’s just been rereleased in paperback.) This is the author that John dismissed. The same writer who sanitized the Beatles’ story, pretended they didn’t curse much, downplayed the drugs, and, despite having permission from the Beatles to mention that their late manger Brian Epstein was gay, avoided the subject. The thing that makes the book valuable, though, is its photos of the Beatles’ handwritten song lyrics—complete with cross-outs, rewrites, and words scribbled on the backs of envelopes and hotel stationery. 📚The book is still generating controversy because of Davies’ analysis of those lyrics. Some fans think he should have just shut up and let the documents speak for themselves. 😅How Hunter Davies Became the Beatles’ Biographer (And Why John Hated It)Davies was a successful Scottish journalist and author when he approached Paul McCartney in 1966 about writing a theme song for the film adaptation of Davies’ novel “Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush.” Paul wasn’t keen on writing the song, but he was interested in something else Davies mentioned: a proper biography of the Beatles. 📖At that point, the Beatles were drowning in misinformation. Tabloids made up stories. Fans believed myths. Nobody had yet written a serious, comprehensive account of who the Beatles actually were and how they got there. Paul saw value in an authorized biography that would set the record straight—or at least establish an official version of events. Davies got approval from Brian Epstein, and for 18 months in 1966-1967, he had unprecedented access to the band. 🎬He attended recording sessions. He interviewed the Beatles extensively, along with their families, friends, and associates. He observed them at work and at home. He was there during the creation of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” He collected the foundational stories that would become canonical Beatles mythology—the Quarrymen, John meeting Paul at the Woolton fete, Hamburg, the Cavern, Brian’s discovery, Pete Best’s firing. Every Beatles book written since then uses Davies’ 1968 biography as a foundation stone, whether they acknowledge it or not. 🏗️When the book was first published in September 1968, it was considered shockingly candid by the standards of the time. Using the word “f*ck” in a biography? Admitting to LSD use? This was daring stuff for 1968, when biographies of popular heroes “revealed no warts,” as Davies later wrote. But by 1970, when counterculture had exploded and authenticity was everything, John Lennon looked back at Davies’ book as part of the mythology he was desperate to destroy. 💣In his famous Rolling Stone interview, Lennon called the book “b******t.” He complained it didn’t mention the Beatles’ orgies because they didn’t want to hurt their wives’ feelings. He wanted something “real,” not sanitized for mass consumption. Davies was hurt—who wouldn’t be?—but he also understood what was happening. John was in demolition mode, tearing down everything about the Beatles myth, including the people who helped construct it. 😤The strange thing is, John later apologized. According to Davies, Lennon eventually called him and said “you rotten sod” but admitted he’d been too harsh on Davies. By then, though, the damage was done. For decades, Davies’ authorized biography carried the stigma of being the “whitewashed” version.So here’s Hunter Davies in the 21st century: the guy who wrote the biography John called b******t, who had to compromise his journalistic integrity for access, who became known as the authorized biographer who couldn’t tell the whole truth. What could he possibly do to rehabilitate his Beatles credentials? 🤔Turns out, he had the receipts. Literally. 📜The Handwritten Lyrics: How Davies Ended Up With Beatles GoldHere’s the part of the story that transforms everything: during those 18 months Davies spent with the Beatles in 1966-1967, the band gave him their original handwritten lyrics. Just... gave them to him. Scraps of paper. Backs of envelopes. Hotel stationery. Birthday cards with verses ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    11 分
  • 🎸 The Artists Each Beatle Hated Most: The Fab Four’s Most Savage Takedowns 🔥

    🎸 The Artists Each Beatle Hated Most: The Fab Four’s Most Savage Takedowns 🔥
    2025/12/18
    The Beatles preached love, peace, and universal harmony. They sang about coming together, giving peace a chance, and all you needing being love. They were, by most accounts, the nicest rock stars on the planet—polite Liverpool lads who changed the world with their infectious optimism and revolutionary music. 🎵But what doesn’t get mentioned too often is the Beatles could be absolutely savage. And when they hated something—or someone—they didn’t just privately grimace and move on. They went public. They gave interviews. They named names. They threw shade with the precision of seasoned snipers. 💣The funny part? Each Beatle had completely different taste in who deserved their scorn. John Lennon, the sharp-tongued revolutionary, took aim at folk singers and former heroes. Paul McCartney, Mr. Diplomatic himself, nursed grudges against pop stars who crossed him. George Harrison, the “Quiet Beatle,” turned out to have the sharpest tongue of all when discussing his musical contemporaries. And Ringo? Well, Ringo mostly just wanted everyone to get along, though even he had his limits. 🥁This isn’t about petty feuds or manufactured beef for publicity. This is about genuine artistic contempt—musicians who rubbed the Beatles the wrong way, whose work they found offensive, whose success they resented, or whose artistic choices they fundamentally rejected. These weren’t casual dislikes. These were passionate, articulate hatreds that the Beatles were surprisingly willing to discuss in public. 😤Sometimes the most interesting thing about icons isn’t who they loved—it’s who they absolutely couldn’t stand. ⚡John Lennon: The Revolutionary Who Turned on His HeroesJohn Lennon never had a problem telling you exactly what he thought. He was brutally honest about his own work, dismissing some of his Beatles songs as “abysmal” and “b******t.” So when it came to other artists, he was equally frank. 🎤Bob Dylan: From Hero to ZeroThis one stings because of how much John once worshiped Dylan. Bob Dylan wasn’t just an influence on Lennon—he was transformative. Dylan introduced John to marijuana, which altered his songwriting. The Beatles’ entire artistic evolution from “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “Norwegian Wood” happened largely because Dylan showed them there was more to pop music than jelly-bean love songs. 🌿But by 1979, Lennon had soured completely. When Dylan released his born-again Christian album “Slow Train Coming,” John recorded a long rambling monologue tearing into it. His assessment was devastating: “He wants to be a waiter for Christ. The backing is mediocre, the singing’s really pathetic, and the words were just embarrassing.”This from a man who once considered Dylan his creative equal. The irony is thick—Lennon, who spent years exploring Eastern mysticism and radical politics, couldn’t stomach Dylan’s religious conversion. It felt like betrayal, like watching your revolutionary friend join the establishment. John, the strident atheist, had no patience for what he saw as Dylan selling out to Christianity. ✝️Folk Music’s “Fruity” StarsLikewise, Lennon had no patience for the folk revival of the 1960s. When Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner made the mistake of comparing Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” to Bob Dylan’s work, John went off on the entire folk scene. “I never liked the fruity Judy Collins and [Joan] Baez and all of that stuff,” he declared bluntly.“Fruity” was John’s way of saying precious, overwrought, performatively sincere. He saw that era of folk music as pretentious middle-class people cosplaying as the working class—something that particularly irked him as someone who grew up in Liverpool (even though he was raised middle-class). Joan Baez and Judy Collins represented everything John hated: bourgeois guilt dressed up as authenticity, beautiful voices singing about struggles they’d never experienced. 🎻The savage part? These were massively successful, critically acclaimed artists. Baez was a civil rights icon. Collins had hits. But to John, they were phonies playing dress-up with other people’s pain. His contempt was absolute. 👎Blood, Sweat & Tears: The Anti-Avant-GardeHere’s one that surprised people: John Lennon hated Blood, Sweat & Tears. This might have been because their self-titled album won the Grammy that “Abbey Road” was up for—an understandable gripe. But John’s dismissal went deeper than Grammy resentment.He saw Blood, Sweat & Tears as the antithesis of everything rock and roll should be. They were slick, professional, technically proficient—and utterly soulless in his view. They represented the commercialization and sanitization of rock music, turning rebellion into easy listening for suburban parents. For John, who saw the Beatles as avant-garde revolutionaries, Blood, Sweat & Tears were the enemy: corporate rock dressed up with horns. 🎺John despised phoniness, ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    13 分
まだレビューはありません