Everything Fab Four

In this episode, host Ken Womack welcomes award-winning actor and writer Brendan Hunt! Best known as "Coach Beard" on Apple TV's "Ted Lasso" (which he co-created alongside star Jason Sudeikis and friends), Hunt is now starring in his own one-man stage production, "The Movement You Need," currently showing at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. The play explores Hunt's bittersweet memories of his Chicago childhood, a love for the Beatles that sustained him, and the tongue-tied moment he met Paul McCartney. Through it, he and Womack discuss his lifelong journey with the band's music.

Host Kenneth Womack welcomes acclaimed documentary filmmaker Morgan Neville to discuss his new film on Paul McCartney's career after the Beatles, "Man on the Run." Neville's films include "20 Feet from Stardom," which won an Oscar and a Grammy, and "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" about the legendary TV host Fred Rogers. "Man on the Run" is out in select theatres February 19, and will be streaming on Amazon Prime on February 27.

Born in February 1980, Jake has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 2012, when he was tapped to play saxophone in place of his late uncle, the renowned Big Man himself, Clarence Clemons. Jake has toured extensively with Springsteen and the E Street Band, handling saxophone, percussion, and backing vocal duties on the Wrecking Ball World Tour, the High Hopes Tour, The River Tour, 2017's Australia and New Zealand Summer Tour, and the recently completed 2023-2025 tour. He has also mounted tours with the Jake Clemons Band, which has crisscrossed the globe, including stints in North America, Europe, and Australia. In 2017, Jake released his debut solo album entitled "Fear & Love." Critics lauded the LP's honest storytelling and powerful emotional resonance. Jake will be performing at the inaugural Everything Fab Four Fest, November 6-8, 2025, at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey, where we'll be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Beatles' "Rubber Soul" album. Visit www.ef4fest.com for more information and to book your tickets.

On today's episode, American jazz fusion guitarist and singer-songwriter George Benson drops by to discuss what gave the Beatles "prestige" and how the band helped Black musicians succeed. Benson recorded his first album The New Boss Guitar, at 21, and followed it up with It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet. In 1969, he recorded his homage to the Beatles' album Abbey Road, entitled The Other Side of Abbey Road. Things really took off for Benson in the mid-1970s, beginning with the LP Bad Benson, which topped the Billboard jazz charts in 1974. Benson scored a triple-platinum hit with his 1976 album Breezin', and in 1978, he earned a Grammy award for his live rendition of "On Broadway." In 1980, Benson took the pop charts by storm with his studio album Give Me the Night. Produced by Quincy Jones, the LP yielded several hit singles including the upbeat, jazz-infused title track. Benson's latest LP Dreams Do Come True features orchestrations that had been lost for 35 years, and were recently unearthed from his archive. The collection includes Benson's takes on such standards as "Autumn Leaves," "At Last," "My Romance," "A Song for You," and the Beatles' "Yesterday." Over the years, Benson has earned 10 Grammy Awards, while seeing his career memorialized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

On this episode of Everything Fab Four, actor and activist Rosanna Arquette shares her favorite Beatles song and recounts where she was when John Lennon died. As part of a large show business family—including siblings Patricia and David Arquette—Rosanna began acting as a child. Her father, character actor Lewis Arquette, was well known as "J.D. Pickett" on The Waltons, while her mother Mardi was a poet, political activist, and therapist. Rosanna started working professionally as a teenager and has never stopped. She has since appeared in over 70 films, which have earned over $450 million in domestic box office sales. In addition to such early successes as The Executioner's Song and Baby, It's You, Arquette has appeared in such beloved classics as After Hours and Pulp Fiction. Arquette expanded her talent as a filmmaker by directing and producing the documentaries, 2002's Searching for Debra Winger and 2005's All We Are Saying. She is currently developing projects for both television and film through her company, Flower Child Productions.

On this episode, legendary singer-songwriter Darius Rucker joins Everything Fab Four to share how he first discovered the Beatles at five, and which Beatles album he thinks is the "most perfect album ever made." Rucker first achieved multi-Platinum status in the music industry as lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the GRAMMY Award-winning band Hootie & the Blowfish, who have sold more than 25 million albums worldwide. Their Double Diamond-certified (21x Platinum) debut Cracked Rear View remains among the best-selling studio albums of all time. Since releasing his first country album in 2008, Rucker has earned four No. 1 albums on the Billboard Country chart, 10 No. 1 singles at Country radio, and 11 Gold, Platinum or multi-Platinum certified hits. Rucker was also inducted as a Grand Ole Opry member in 2012, and his GRAMMY-winning version of "Wagon Wheel," has become one of the top five best-selling Country songs of all time. His brand-new album Carolyn's Boy is available everywhere now and his first book, a memoir titled "Life's Too Short," is set for release via Dey Street Books on May 28th. A lifelong philanthropist, Rucker co-chaired the campaign that generated $150 million to help build the MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital in his hometown of Charleston, S.C., and has raised over $3.6 million for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital through his annual Darius & Friends benefit concert and golf tournament. In addition, Rucker has advocated for over 200 charitable causes supporting public education and junior golf programs in South Carolina through the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation and serves as a National Chair for the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee.

On this episode, acclaimed actor and Beatles fan Jeff Daniels joins "Everything Fab Four" to discuss his experience filming a movie scene with George Harrison and getting his guitar signed by the Quiet Beatle. Across his five decade-long career, Jeff Daniels has worked with some of the world's most revered filmmakers. He made his screen debut in Miloš Forman's Ragtime, and followed with James L. Brooks's Terms of Endearment, Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo, and Mike Nichols's Heartburn. Daniels has been nominated for numerous Golden Globe and Screen Actors Awards for his dramatic turns, including such films as Jonathan Demme's Something Wild and Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale. In 2012, Daniels joined the cast of HBO's political drama The Newsroom, which earned him a Prime Time Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Playing Will McAvoy, Daniels' monologue about American exceptionalism in the series pilot has been viewed more than 22 million times on YouTube. His acclaimed television work also includes his portrayal of John O'Neill in the Hulu miniseries The Looming Tower and FBI director James Comey in Showtime's The Comey Rule. In May 2024, stars in the new Netflix limited series A Man In Full, based on Tom Wolfe's novel of the same name.

To celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, our guests revisit the evening that the Beatles graced their living rooms for the first time, on this special episode of Everything Fab Four. These Beatles lovers include Steven van Zandt from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, R&B singer Darlene Love, actor Billy Bob Thornton, and even one lucky audience member from that first Ed Sullivan performance. It's almost impossible to imagine what it was like to be at ground zero of American Beatlemania on February 7, 1964, when the group landed at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, which had been renamed some fifty days earlier in honor of the fallen leader. The band's Pan Am flight was met with the screams and fanfare of some 5,000 people, whom the Beatles claimed to have heard—incredible as it may seem—even as the plane was taxiing along the runway. As writer Stephen Glynn presciently remarked, "The spirit of Camelot, shot down in Dallas, Texas, had flown over from Liverpool, England, and the unprecedented euphoria that greeted the group seemed part of an expiation, a nation shaking itself out of its grief and mourning." There is little question that the Beatles' timing in the history of the United States was uncanny, as well as a welcome respite from the national malaise, but one cannot overlook the power of marketing in a new media era unlike any that the postwar world had ever seen. Capitol Records had saturated the city with posters announcing, "The Beatles Are Coming," while New York's WMCA and WINS radio stations had given away T-shirts—and, rumor has it, $1 each—to thousands of teenagers who greeted the Beatles that Friday afternoon on the JFK tarmac. Released in December 1963 by Capitol, "I Want to Hold Your Hand" had sold more than one million copies by mid-January, an astounding feat for a group that had been largely unheard of on American shores scarcely a month before. On Sunday, February 9, the Beatles launched into a spirited rendition of "All My Loving" to begin their set on the Ed Sullivan Show before some 73 million television viewers, a figure that accounted for nearly 40 percent of the population of the United States at that time. It was popular music's big bang, and like that incredible instance in the birth of the universe some 13 billion years ago, it is still resonating.

On this episode, Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez joins host Ken Womack to share her memories of meeting the Beatles for the first time and witnessing their final live concert. Baez's time-eclipsing folk music often champions songs of protest and social justice. Over the years, she has recorded 30 albums in genres ranging from folk rock, pop and country to gospel music. As a performer, Baez has specialized in interpreting the work of other composers, recording songs by such luminaries as the Beatles, Woody Guthrie, Bob Marley, and many others. Baez began her recording career in 1960, producing a trio of successful LPs in Joan Baez, Joan Baez, Vol. 2 and Joan Baez in Concert. During her early years, Baez was one of Bob Dylan's first major collaborators, steadfastly working to popularize his impact upon folk music. She was also a featured performer at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, singing fourteen songs on that vaunted stage. In addition to her musical career, Baez has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to political and social activism in the areas of nonviolence, civil rights, human rights, and the environment. In 2017, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2023, Baez was the subject of the acclaimed documentary "I Am A Noise."

This week's guests are Margo Precht Speciale and Andrew Solt, who join host Kenneth Womack for a special episode devoted to celebrating the 75th anniversary of The Ed Sullivan Show and its lasting impact on American culture, including Beatles fandom. The granddaughter of Ed Sullivan, Precht is a documentary filmmaker, as well as a UCLA graduate with a degree in Sociology. Her latest project traces her grandfather's life and work as a television pioneer who reigned as the medium's longtime tastemaker. In particular, Precht's documentary explores a little-known aspect of Sullivan's legacy, which involves his radical dedication to diversity that would act as an inflection point for igniting conversations about race in America. Andrew Solt is an Emmy- and Grammy-winning, producer, director, writer and documentary filmmaker. Over the years, Solt has released a number of documentaries on the history of rock and roll. His collaboration with television documentarian and producer David Wolper included their work together on "Imagine: John Lennon" in 1988. In 1990, Solt purchased the rights to The Ed Sullivan Show library, which consists of 1,087 hours of kinescopes and videotapes that CBS broadcast between 1948 and 1971 on Sunday nights. Included in the archive are over 10,000 live performances by virtually every popular entertainer of the post-war era, highlighted by appearances from Elvis Presley and the Beatles.

Ken Womack's guest this week is Grammy-nominated American jazz guitarist Dan Wilson. Hailing from Akron, Ohio, Wilson made his recording debut with pianist Joe McBride and performed to worldwide acclaim with Joey DeFrancesco and Christian McBride's Tip City, eventually recording his debut as a band leader with "To Whom It May Concern" in 2012. Over the years, Wilson has shared the stage with a host of jazz greats including Eric Marienthal, Russell Malone, Les McCann, René Marie, Jeff Hamilton, David Sanborn and Dave Stryker. In 2017, Wilson earned a Grammy nomination for his work on DeFrancesco's "Project Freedom" album. He also served as a guitarist on Van Morrison's recent albums "You're Driving Me Crazy" and "The Prophet Speaks." In 2021, Wilson released "Vessels of Wood and Earth," which includes the standout cut "Who Shot John." The album was produced by McBride for his Brother Mister Productions label. In 2022, Wilson was named a Letter Rising Stars Jazz Winner. His latest LP, "Things Eternal," features his innovate take on the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby."

Legendary singer-songwriter, author, and rock 'n' roll star Ian Hunter's illustrious career is now in its seventh decade. His rock 'n' roll life has long been marked by collaboration, from the golden age of Mott the Hoople to his fabled partnership with Mick Ronson and 21st-century renaissance with his crack backing combo, the Rant Band. Over the years, Hunter has enjoyed numerous chart successes, especially Mott the Hoople's international hit "All the Young Dudes," the David Bowie composition that emerged as a countercultural anthem in the 1970s. Hunter would later recount the trials and tribulations of his life with Mott the Hoople in his autobiography "Diary of a Rock 'n' Roll Star." During his solo career, Hunter's best known work includes the song "Once Bitten, Twice Shy", later covered by Great White, and "Cleveland Rocks," (originally "England Rocks") the popular theme song for "The Drew Carey Show." With his latest album DEFIANCE PART 1, Hunter takes creative solidarity to an unprecedented new level with accompaniment from a truly awe-inspiring roster of special guests, famous fans, and lifelong friends. DEFIANCE PART 1 sees backing from luminaries such as Ringo Starr, Jeff Beck, Todd Rundgren, Joe Elliott (of Def Leppard), Guns N' Roses' Slash, Jeff Tweedy and – in one of his final recordings – the Foo Fighters' late, great drummer Taylor Hawkins.

On this episode, host Kenneth Womack welcomes Grammy winner Kenny Loggins, whose songs have left a musical imprint on "the soundtrack of our lives." Over the last four decades, his chart-topping songs have included "This Is It," "I'm Alright," "Footloose," "Danger Zone," and so many more. "Danger Zone" was featured once again in Paramount's "Top Gun: Maverick," the biggest theatrical release of 2022, earning over $1.5B in box offices globally. "Danger Zone" earned over 1 million streams per day across streaming services at its peak. On June 14, 2022, Hachette Books published "Still Alright," Loggins' long-awaited memoir. In "Still Alright," Loggins gives fans a candid and entertaining perspective on his life and career as one of the most noteworthy musicians of the 1970s and '80s. In addition to his string of successful recordings, both solo and as a member of the famed duo Loggins & Messina, Kenny became the first major rock star to dedicate himself to recording music for children and families. His album "Return to Pooh Corner" remains the best-selling children's album of the last 20 years. His gift for crafting deeply emotional music is unparalleled, and it's been a part of his life as long as he can remember. His generous support of countless local organizations has made a lasting impact on the causes that are close to his heart. And in 2016, he was a recipient of the ASCAP Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award at the annual Chapin Awards hosted by WhyHunger.