Something About the Beatles

On March 25, 1966, photographer Robert Whitaker - a surrealist - took The Beatles into his studio to capture a concept piece he called "A Somnamulant Adventure," envisioned as a triptych commentary on the group's fame. But the project slid away from him when one frame, depicting The Beatles with slabs of meat and doll parts, was sent to the US for Capitol to use on their latest compilation album. The blowback was fierce and Whitaker never got to complete his work, but the so-called "butcher cover" became an interesting piece of folklore (and collectible), the first of many controversies for the group that year. Beatles scholar Erika White details the entire history of not just the shoot, but Whitaker's association with The Beatles, as well as the path that made the group amenable to his concept and what the repercussions were in her forthcoming book, Meat The Beatles: The Butcher Cover - The Complete, Untold Story of the Fab Four's Most Controversial Album Artwork. This episode sponsored by DistroKid. 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

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

Back in May 2025, two hardcore Beatle historians haling from down under came on the show for an analysis of the conventional wisdom regarding Beatles instrumental credits and how, in certain instances, it was found to be lacking. They're back again, and this time we examine: "Long Tall Sally" "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" "Michelle" "We Can Work It Out""Paperback Writer"/"Rain" "Sgt. Pepper (reprise)" "Piggies" "Don't Pass Me By" "Not Guilty" Marcus Phelan and Andrew Shakespeare have been studying the recordings for decades, as fans and as musicians themselves. The sources critiqued included: Ian McDonald's Revolution in the Head Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Recording Sessions Kevin Howlett's liner notes to The Beatles special deluxe editions The public pronouncements of Giles Martin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are we still talking about these guys? Does a band that stopped recording together over half a century ago have any relevance in the 21st century? Have we reached the bottom of the barrel yet in terms of exploring every aspect of their story? If you answered yes and no respectively to the last two questions, press on, because in this conversation with author Sean Murphy, we dive into the continued appeal and inspiration that The Beatles gave us, as potent in 2025 as it was in the '60s. Check out Sean's work here: Twitter & Insta = bullmurph FB = / authorseanmurphy LinkedIn = / sean-murphy-4986b41 Substack = seanmurphy.live / https://murphlaw.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This special episode is, in effect, a part two of episode 308 (The Politics of Beatles), again with Candy Leonard, as an examination of the decision made by Universal Music Group (with the tacit approval - if not agreement - of the Lennon estate) to reissue the 1972 John and Yoko album, Some Time In New York City, as a background component of the Power To The People set, showcasing the pair of One To One concerts and removing the lead off track, "Woman is the Nigger of the World" from both the parent album AND the concerts. We discuss the possible reasoning behind this call and whether this is one statue that needed to be torn down or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices