Yesterday and Today

Episode 58 – Beatles ’72 pt3

The Wings University tour has drawn to a close, and Paul McCartney’s plan to start from scratch had taken shape exactly as he had hoped it would. Wings was now a tested group, with a tight set and the kind of camaraderie you can only get from dividing up pound notes in a pub along the open road. And so the band embarked again into the studio, ready to put their new sound to record on a brand new LP project...but Paul’s lucky streak was about to run out. The latest Wings single, Give Ireland Back to the Irish, was banned on the BBC and under-performed on the US charts (though did manage to climb to the #1 spot in Ireland and...Spain?). While controversy may have been expected on their protest song single, producer and old friend Glyn Johns walking out on the new Wings LP recording session came as more of a surprise...and a shock. Ringo, meanwhile, found himself on a hot streak of singles, this time with the monstrous Back Off Boogaloo - inspired by newfound friend Marc Bolan of T.Rex. The pair would even film a movie on the grounds of John & Yoko’s former Tittenhurst Park estate, which was made possible by the Lennons’ finding a permanent new home across the pond in New York City. That is, if the Nixon administration doesn’t get to them first... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 57 – Beatles ’72 pt2

Already an album deep and plus one new lead guitarist, Paul McCartney’s new band was poised for takeoff in the early months of 1972. But Wings had a ways to go before flying high, and Paul wisely resolved to break the band in on a low-stakes, unannounced English University tour to help find and focus their sound. From York to Newcastle and everywhere in-between, Paul, the Dennys, Linda and Henry loaded up the van to take their rock and roll on the road. Meanwhile, in New York City, John and Yoko continued to settle into their new home with a weeklong stint on popular late night talk show, The Mike Douglas Show. This extended appearance would carry with it iconic musical performances, interviews with celebrities and political radicals alike, and a very special meeting between John and his boyhood idol Chuck Berry. It was an unforgettable event and helped to remind the American public that the Lennons were here to stay. As winter turns to Spring, both Lennon and McCartney would find themselves back in the studio preparing new solo albums... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 56 – Beatles ’72 pt1

It’s 1972! While the dream of The Beatles may have been left behind in sixties, this new year saw with it a boom in activity from the solo careers of John, Paul, George and Ringo. John & Yoko’s new home of New York City certainly made the couple feel welcome, despite the David Frost Show exchange that had ended in a shouting match with audience members the December prior. Undeterred from their political endeavors, the couple launched into another series of protests in the new year, as well as a new series of recordings to capture the various protest songs they had written over the past several months. While John may have been the most outspoken activist of his former bandmates, one issue managed to capture and inspire both Lennon and McCartney to songwriting action: Bloody Sunday. The plight of the Irish drove Paul’s new band Wings into the recording studio in early 1972 to record Give Ireland Back to the Irish, which would join John’s Luck of the Irish and Sunday Bloody Sunday in the cannon of former Beatle support for the Irish cause. Another major move for Paul McCartney and Wings was also around the corner, in the form of a planned university tour of Great Britain in the weeks and months to come... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 55 – The Story So Far... (feat. Ryan Brady)

Welcome to the story so far! In this episode we discuss some of the key events from the winter of 1969 right up until the end of 1971, and a LOT has transpired in those two short years. Hosts Paul, James and Wayne discuss the Beatles break-up, the formation of Wings, John and Yoko’s evolution and the ascendance of George Harrison as a musical force to be reckoned with. With a lot to unpack in this episode, you’d think we wouldn’t have time for much else...but abandon your sorrow - we have something special up our sleeves! This episode of Yesterday features a crossover with the hit Paul McCartney solo podcast TAKE IT AWAY, as co-host Ryan Brady journeys out into the Los Angeles night with Paul Kaminski to witness a screening of the Wings concert film “The Bruce McMouse Show” at the Arclight in Hollywood. Paul and Ryan discuss Wings, podcasting and the pluses and minuses of anatomical correctness on cartoon mice in this ride along the red rose speedway. So join us for recap, fun on the open road and some surprises along the way in this very special episode, and be back again in 2 weeks for the beginning of 1972! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 54 – Beatles ’71 pt8

It’s the end of 1971 and John and Yoko have truly made New York City their home. Newfound neighbors such as self-proclaimed dirty hippy David Peel and fellow cyclist Bob Dylan were helping the couple fit right in to the big apple (pun) lifestyle. But it was their new friends in the radical community such as Jerry Rubin who were making the biggest impression on the politically outspoken Lennons. Tangible success at last befell the couple in the cause of the imprisoned MC5 manager John Sinclair, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for attempting to give two joints to an undercover police officer two years earlier. Following a rally headlined by John and Yoko, who penned a new song for the occasion, Sinclair was released from prison and New York’s newest residents found themselves emboldened to use their celebrity for similarly targeted causes. From the plight of the Irish to the women’s liberation movement, John and Yoko made their voices heard...but it was the tragedy of Attica State which would spark the most heated debate between the former Beatle and his new neighbors. One cause the couple was no longer ready to fight for? The conflict with Paul McCartney. At last a reconciliation between the most influential songwriting duo of the 20th century was reached, but by the end of 1971 the last thing on the minds of John, Paul, George and Ringo was a reunion. Political activism, starring film roles, unlikely success and new bands were just the tip of the iceberg for the rest of the 1970’s to come... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 53 – Beatles ’71 pt7

Emboldened by the slow-burn success of RAM, and anxious to prove himself in life beyond The Beatles, Paul McCartney was at last ready to reveal to the world the ambitious new project he had been working on for months. Enter: WINGS. In the years since The Beatles left live performance behind, John, George and Ringo had each found themselves back in the spotlight for concerts in one form or another, but curiously the Beatle who loved playing before an audience the most had shied away from taking the stage the longest. Those days were now over, as Paul McCartney’s new band prepared to take flight on the back of a brand new album: Wild Life. This was a rough-edged, garage-rock-ey band effort that was perhaps more akin to the Get Back project than its more polished predecessor - with jam tracks like the unruly Mumbo and wandering organ crooning on its eponymous Wild Life. Like nearly all of McCartney’s initial solo endeavors, Wings was off to a shaky start with this LP, failing to crack the top 10 in his native England and spawning no single-worthy tracks to help buoy sales. But Paul wasn’t the only former Beatle struggling with a launch in the fall of ‘71 - when George Harrison appeared on the Dick Cavett show to promote the Apple film Raga, America learned of the struggle to release the long-awaited Concert for Bangladesh soundtrack album, stemming from a sales dispute with Apple’s American distributor Capitol Records. The struggles of solo flight would continue into the winter, but prove to be the growing pains of four artists who were discovering just what it meant to pave their own path forward... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 52 – Beatles ’71 pt6

The success of the Imagine LP was a welcome one for John and Yoko, who were settling into their new permanent residence of New York City in the fall of 1971. Immersed in both the art scene and the radical political underground, the couple had fallen in love with their new home and immediately set to work on a myriad of creative projects. On October 9th, Yoko’s This Is Not Here art exhibition premiered in Syracuse, which featured contributions from Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and others in addition to Yoko’s showcased body of work. Noticeably absent from the festivities (aside from a drunken singalong by John & party-goers of Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey) was Paul McCartney, still warring with his bandmates and stinging from Lennon’s vicious How Do You Sleep? Cut off of Imagine. McCartney was busy putting an as-yet-nameless band together, including RAM drummer Denny Seiwell, former Moody Bluesman Denny Laine and wife Linda McCartney. The group was already in rehearsal for a new LP, choosing to double down on musical endeavors rather than be swallowed whole by the endless turmoil of the Beatles split. Inspiration for a name soon came with the birth of Paul and Linda’s second child, Stella, when complications and an emergency c-section gave Paul a vision of angel’s wings saving his sweet new baby daughter. With George championing Ravi Shankar’s Apple film Raga, and Ringo knee-deep in a saddle on the set of the spaghetti western Blindman, all four former Beatles continued to stay active and productive as fall turned to winter... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 51 – Beatles ’71 pt5

John Lennon was not about to back down from a challenge. With his former songwriting partner achieving commercial success with the runaway US single Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey from the UK #1 RAM album, John’s solo work took a turn toward the charts. The Imagine LP was in many ways the culmination of everything John’s music had been over the years - equal parts catchy, light, heavy, political, hard-rocking, tender and introspective - missing only the kinds of radical experimentation that had alienated the general public in the past. From the downright bubbly Oh Yoko, to the haunting ballad Jealous Guy (a re-worked “Child of Nature” which had been kicking around since Rishikesh), to the iconic title track, Imagine was a home run for both critics and fans alike. John’s spite and anger toward Paul was on full display in the vicious How Do You Sleep, which Lennon explained to confused Beatle fans as a retort to Paul for messages directed toward him on RAM. The partnership was no more, but in its place a heightened sense of competition would drive both Lennon and McCartney to interesting new heights in the decade to come. But perhaps the biggest change for John Lennon as Summer turned to Fall in 1971 was his permanent relocation to New York City, where he (unbeknownst to him at the time) would call home for the rest of his life, and never again return to his native England... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 50 – Beatles ’71 pt4

With RAM sitting high atop the charts, It Don't Come Easy blaring across radios worldwide and the finishing touches being placed on the Imagine album, the summer months of 1971 were bustling with former Beatle activity. Though mocked for its perceived underperformance by George and John, Paul McCartney's second outing was a steady seller that leap-frogged early criticism and seemed to only improve with age, even to this very day. But while a success for Paul was welcome news in the McCartney camp, it was another former Beatle in the summer of '71 that would steal the show...by putting one on. The Concert for Bangladesh was conceived and executed by George Harrison after his friend and mentor Ravi Shankar expressed to George the plight of refugees from war-torn Bangladesh. George was moved by his friend's plea and hastily prepared what was, at the time, an unprecedented benefit concert that included the likes of Eric Clapton, Billy preston, Leon Russell, Billy Preston, Ringo Starr, Badfinger, Jesse Ed Davis, Klaus Voorhman and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, Bob Dylan. It was a charitable event that would go on to inspire an entire movement, from Live Aid to Farm Aid and many more in the decades beyond. The spotlight may have been uncomfortable for Harrison, but in the summer of 1971 it was blazing as brightly upon him as the star underneath, and George rose to the occasion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 49 – Beatles ’71 pt3

While the rift between Paul McCartney and his former bandmates grew wider by the day, the bond between John, George and Ringo seemed to only strengthen in the summer of 1971 against their common enemy. The RAM album was slow to gain momentum, though eventually found its footing at #1 on the UK charts, and “Beatle Ed” (as the other ex-Beatles privately dubbed him) had recently won the first round of litigation in his bid to free himself from the Beatles contract. The anger was palpable and tensions at their peak when Lennon was pushed over the edge by several antagonistic messages left for him within the RAM album itself by Paul. John was quick to pen a rebuttal in the form of the stinging How Do You Sleep, who enlisted George to play a brutal slide solo and lend his support to John against Paul. This track and several others were in development for Lennon’s new solo LP, a more commercial-sounding follow-up to the acclaimed but depressing Plastic Ono Band LP from the year prior. Ringo Starr, who was still basking in the glow of the #1 single It Don’t Come Easy, stay above the fray as best he could and spent his summer portraying a bloodthirsty bandit in a new spaghetti western movie titled Blind Man. While George, himself still riding high from his uber-successful solo releases, was busy participating in records from Badfinger and pal Ravi Shankar. While recording Ravi’s album, the sitar master expressed deep sadness toward the Bangladeshi refugee crisis which would set the gears into motion for George to hatch a plan to help... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.