What John Lennon described as “the most miserable sessions on earth” were recalled by George Harrison as “the low of all time”. Yet, while such statements may have accurately reflected their respective mindsets, they also helped fuel widespread misconceptions about The Beatles’ January ’69 ‘Get Back’ project that evolved into the ‘Let It Be’ film and album.

The fragmented, shoddily-edited Michael Lindsay-Hogg-directed ‘documentary’ has also played a significant role in spreading the negativity, as have certain self-acclaimed experts’ uninformed opinions because of their failure to listen to all of the tapes. For, therein lies a very different, far more rewarding story that will likely be revealed in Peter Jackson’s new version of the movie. Regardless, that’s what Richard Buskin and Allan Kozinn (pinch-hitting for Erik Taros) focus on here: the many ups as well as the downs that took place at Twickenham Film Studios in the run-up to George temporarily quitting the group—and the project then relocating to The Beatles’ own Apple facility.

In so doing, Richard and Allan not only examine the long as well as short-term causes for the disharmony—including the personalities involved and their invariably fascinating, often-enlightening interactions; they also provide a fly-on-the-wall perspective on the thoughts and discussions that helped shape the Fab Four’s still-reverberating artistic decisions.

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While The Beatles were at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, performing their final concert for a paying audience, The Doors were in Hollywood recording their first album, an Englishmen was attempting to sail solo around the world—and many people were marveling at the first photos of that world taken from outer space.

It was a time when adventurers and new technology still captured the public imagination, as reflected in films and TV shows on both sides of the Atlantic—along with a rising interest in social realism and hallucinogens, as expressed on-screen and on record. With parents predating the rock era and popular music having a major impact across the generations, eclectic singles and album charts represented sharply contrasting tastes.

The 1960s were now in full swing and it was an exciting time to be alive—so long as you weren’t among those suffering poverty, persecution or the atrocities of war.

The Music

• ‘Summer in the City’ – The Lovin’ Spoonful
• ‘Guantanamera’ – The Sandpipers
• ‘Summertime’ – Billy Stewart
• ‘With a Girl Like You’ – The Troggs
• ‘Black is Black’ – Los Bravos
• ‘Lovers of the World Unite’ – David and Jonathan
• ‘We Can’t Go On This Way’ – Teddy and the Pandas
• ‘Theme from Star Trek’ – Alexander Courage
• ‘The Man Called Flintstone’ – John McCarthy
• ‘Theme from The Avengers’ – Laurie Johnson
• ‘High Wire’ – Edwin Astley
• ‘Secret Agent Man’ – Johnny Rivers
• ‘Theme from Mission: Impossible’ – Lalo Schifrin
• ‘Yesterday’ – The Beatles
• ‘Eleanor Rigby’ – The Beatles
• ‘I Want You’ – Bob Dylan

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It was a new age: the young were going to rule the world—well, parts of it. And they were certainly taking hold of the music business… or so they thought.

1967 was a halcyon year in the annals of psychedelic rock and the counterculture movement on both sides of the Atlantic. Yet, high hopes and lofty ambitions were soon brought back down to the earth by the powers-that-still-were. L.A.’s Sunset Strip riots of November ’66 would prove to be a harbinger of things to come. And the British Government banned pirate radio while launching its own rock-oriented, more sanitized broadcast station. So it was that the ‘Summer of Love’ started to fade.

Musician/producer/songwriter Ben Rowling joins Richard Buskin as guest co-host for this episode while Erik Taros participates via the phone. However, Erik’s back in the studio to hear David ‘Mr. Bonzai’ Goggin talk about his own psychedelic West Coast experiences in 1967 – as well as his phenomenal up-close experiences with The Beatles.

The Music

• ‘We Love the Pirate Stations’ – Trinity
• ‘Radio One Theme’ – Jimi Hendrix
• ‘For What It’s Worth’ – Buffalo Springfield
• ‘I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)’ – The Electric Prunes
• ‘She’s a Rainbow’/‘We Love You’ – The Rolling Stones
• ‘Somebody to Love’ – Jefferson Airplane
• ‘Viola Lee Blues’ – The Grateful Dead
• ‘Light My Fire’ – The Doors
• ‘Intruder’ – Big Brother & The Holding Company
• ‘I Am the Walrus’ – The Beatles
• ‘Purple Haze’ – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• ‘Sunshine of Your Love’ – Cream
• ‘The “Fish” Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag’ – Country Joe and the Fish

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There’s a notion that American popular music was in the doldrums when The Beatles first touched down in New York City. The original rock ‘n’ rollers had either gone soft (Elvis Presley), gone to jail (Chuck Berry), gone into the church (Little Richard), gone with their 13-year-old cousin (Jerry Lee Lewis) or gone from this world (Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran). In their place: a bunch of smiling, clean-cut, parent-friendly twisters and crooners, performing antiseptic pop material for the middle-class white market.

There’s truth to this. But it’s far from the whole truth. The American music charts during the year preceding the ‘British Invasion’ were actually packed with a broad range of artists and eclectic variety of songs—many of them now regarded as solid-gold classics that underscore the ingenuity of their highly talented creators. Some would be swept aside by the coming tidal wave; others would continue to flourish—although in a very different world to that characterizing the first half of the decade.

Featured Tracks:

• ‘He’s So Fine’ (The Chiffons)
• ‘Sugar Shack’ (Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs)
• ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ (Peter, Paul and Mary)
• ‘If I Had a Hammer’ (Trini Lopez)
• ‘Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah’ (Allan Sherman)
• ‘Pipeline’ (The Chantays)
• ‘Sukiyaki’ (Kyu Sakamoto)
• ‘The Night Has a Thousand Eyes’ (Bobby Vee)
• ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me’ (The Miracles)
• ‘Pride and Joy’ (Marvin Gaye)
• ‘Fingertips’ (Little Stevie Wonder)
• ‘I Will Follow Him’ (Little Peggy March)
• ‘Louie Louie’ (The Kingsmen)
• ‘The End of the World’ (Skeeter Davis)
• ‘Who Do You Love?’ – Ronnie Hawkins
• ‘Can’t Get Used to Losing You’ (Andy Williams)
• ‘Sally Go ’Round the Roses’ (The Jaynetts)
• ‘Devil in Disguise’ (Elvis Presley)
• ‘In Dreams’ (Roy Orbison)
• ‘It’s My Party’ (Leslie Gore)
• ‘Judy’s Turn to Cry’ (Leslie Gore)
• ‘Walk Like a Man’ (The Four Seasons)
• ‘My Boyfriend’s Back’ (The Angels)
• ‘One Fine Day’ (The Chiffons)
• ‘Wipe Out’ (The Surfaris)
• ‘Surfin’ U.S.A.’ (The Beach Boys)
• ‘Another Saturday Night’ (Sam Cooke)
• ‘On Broadway’ (The Drifters)
• ‘Ring of Fire’ (Johnny Cash)
• ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ (Bob Dylan)
• ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ (The Crystals)
• ‘Be My Baby’ (The Ronettes)
• ‘From Me to You’ (Del Shannon)

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