This special mini-episode previews the upcoming Beatles60 podcast series: Early 1964. Also, a fond farewell to the informative and witty podcasts ‘Nothing Is Real’ and ‘I Am The Eggpod.’ Their archives remain evergreen, and will be there to enrich our 60s knowledge as our timeline progresses. The upcoming four-part series delves into the Beatles’ early 1964 experiences, from their American triumph to their stunningly great first film. The series culminates in a candid look at how the Beatles handled their newfound celebrity, a journey documented through photos and films. Join us as we revisit these moments, drawing from the rich insights provided by past podcasts and the enduring legacy of the Beatles’ early days.

In this episode of Beatle60 Live, Dr. Kenneth Womack and historiographer Rob Geurtsen discuss Ken’s upcoming book Living The Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans.

Mal and Neil (Aspinall) were both employed directly by the Beatles and played significant support roles. Despite being compensated better than most laborers in similar positions, Mal was grossly underpaid.

The book aims to provide significant glimpses into Mal’s life, including the moments when he could no longer steer away from his collision with his own history. The Beatles’ success story was made possible in part by their willingness to take enormous risks, and Mal fit right in.

The book is available for pre-order now and is scheduled for release on Tuesday.

Do you know the name Leslie Cavendish? If you don’t, you will soon! Here’s a long Beatles60 post with (no podcast this month but) lots of discussion (transcribed to text) between Adrian and Larry along with lots of images, video clips, audio clips and links.

They reveal the solution to the Facebook (B60 group) mystery and, along the way, mention Nancy Kwan, Paul’s hair stylist, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Vidal Sassoon, Ringo & Maureen, David Bailey, “Paul isn’t dead,” “John isn’t bald,” conspiracy theorizing, Kurt Vonnegut, and big human brains.

Swinging London was a term used to describe the cultural scene that flourished in London in the 1960s, especially among the young and fashionable people. It was a period of social and artistic change, marked by new trends in music, fashion, art, cinema, and politics.

My formula for describing the early Beatles genre as having been derived/developed/created from four roots (see the blog post) is so obvious and confident that we almost have nothing further to discuss. But there’s always room for more specificity. We all know how their amalgamation of genres created something new, their own hybrid. But if you asked me how exactly that gets them to ‘She Loves You,’ I’d be stumped. The Beatles themselves probably didn’t know what the genre was as they’d grabbed ideas from so many different sources. It’s like all their influences mixed up in a blender.

He phones in. We never expected that Beatles60 would have this kind of reach. Very surprising.

And Andy interrogates Larry about research terminology -- longitudinal, phenomenological, historiographic...

Fun ensues!!

Hey, this is just half an hour. Give it a listen. There's a surprise ending.

[AUDIO] 60 years ago this week, Parlophone released the Beatles' debut album. Fourteen songs. How were the songs chosen? Listen and find out. The songs themselves are all here, all fourteen. What else...? Lots of confident, researched musicology quoted from reliable authors.

The full story of the Beatles’ group naming and their logos.

'From Indra to Ed.' From the clubs of Hamburg and the dancehalls of Merseyside they rise to international pop stardom. In this episode of The Beatles60 Podcast, Larry and Andy talk about The Beatles’ amazing journey to beyond the toppermost of the poppermost. We focus some on the importance of 1962 and then look ahead and divide 1963 into seven segments that would pave the way for the Beatles bring it to America in February of 1964. We offer a way to remember how the year 1963 progressed with the exponential growth of 'mania.'

The Big Freeze of 1962/63 in the UK was coincidentally followed by a period of social change as the 1960s really started to look like the 1960s. Women wore shorter skirts and mod hairstyles. The Profumo Affair scandalized an already weak establishment. Over a decade of Tory government would be ending. Fashion, scandal, and the pill were turning the UK into something different. The Beatles would be a large part of the transition. In this episode we talk about some of the confident eccentrics who influenced the Beatles, fellow travelers who marched to the beats of different drummers.

At the end of 1962 we look ahead to an historic winter freeze that immobilized most Britons for three months. But it was a great time to be the Beatles. ‘Love Me Do’ was enjoying a long run on the UK Top 20 Singles Chart. To go along with that, The Beatles were booked for more appearances on radio and television programs. There was also a change in music publishers that they hoped would help with promotion for the group. In this episode, we talk about those things, and we also give a brief introduction to the next periods in Beatles development, leading all the way up to February of 1964. Guest: Rob Geurtsen.

5 October 1962. The Beatles’ first single, 'Love Me Do,' was released in the UK. Interestingly, the first 'Bond film,' Dr. No, was released on the same day. This started the period we’re calling 'proto-mania.' The beginnings of nationwide Beatlemania were imminent and the transition of the UK into the cool place for entertainment was on the horizon. Over the next six months, after the release of the 'Please Please Me' single, but before the release of The Beatles’ first full-length LP, proto-mania was a happening thing. We call this episode 'Between the Singles.'

The summer of 1962 was heading towards autumn. The Beatles were heading towards the release of their first single. In this episode of The Beatles60 podcast we talk about the convoluted path ‘Love Me Do’ followed to be that first single. It included some drama for Ringo. We talk about what must’ve been going through his mind. By the time ‘Love Me Do’ was released, there was a feeling that the relationship between George Martin and the Beatles was starting to solidify. We talk about all that and we have a little discussion with author Jude Southerland Kessler about John’s mother, Julia. An episode packed with insights. Don’t miss it!

The summer of 1962 brought a new world to The Beatles. They were recording for Parlophone Records, who was deciding on a first single to be released. John and Cynthia were about to get married. And oh, yeah, there was that new drummer coming in to join the group. Exciting times happening as we say goodbye to Pete and finish up the first season of The Beatles60 Podcast.

A slightly different presentation of The Beatles60 Podcast for this episode. Andy spends some time talking to Eric Howell, creator of “A Day in THEIR Life,” an audio drama about the Beatles story. We discuss Eric’s series (all episodes of which can be heard at BeatleDrama.com) and how painstakingly researched dramatization brings something more to the narrative than just a list of factual details. For good measure, we also talked a bit about Andy’s recent trip to Hamburg, and how it helped him imagine what it was like to be there between 1960 and 1962. Listen and dig along with us.

Artists usually didn’t write their own songs. But John Lennon and Paul McCartney did. George Harrison’s cheeky wit could break the ice and highlight the charisma of the whole group. It was serendipity that the group was thrust upon George Martin. In this episode of The Beatles60 podcast we’re talking about how all of these things resulted in the birth of the phenomenon known as The Beatles.

The fairy tale version of George Martin taking to The Beatles right away and immediately signing them to EMI’s Parlophone Records has been pretty well dismissed at this point. In this episode of The Beatles60 podcast we talk about what really happened, how and why The Beatles were given to George Martin so that EMI’s Ardmore and Beechwood could obtain publishing rights to their original songs.

Stuart Sutcliffe was an important member of The Beatles. He helped come up with the name and was always the first to adopt a new clothes or hairstyle. He was also John’s closest friend. John and the others would be forced to endure an unexpected tragedy on April 10, 1962. In this episode, we’re talking about the circumstances and atmosphere surrounding the death of Stuart Sutcliffe.

The Beatles in Manchester. This page of links accompanied our podcast episode on the topic.

The Beatles’ rejection by Decca Records is one of the most famous and most talked about events in the early stages of The Beatles’ career. But how did it really happen and just how important was it, really? We’re talking about it in this episode of the Beatles60 podcast! We also catch up with Stuart Sutcliffe and Ringo Starr in early 1962.