Episodes
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#127 – Not Guilty with guest Sam Whiles (host of “Paul or Nothing”)
"We made a mistake," said John. "We thought there was more to him than there was, you know?" said Paul. After their stay in Rishikesh ended, the Beatles' overall disillusionment with the Maharishi lead to John and Paul publicly distancing themselves from the Eastern philosophy and path to enlightenment that George had lead them all to pursue...
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#128 – Baby You’re A Rich Man with guest James C., host of The Oasis Podcast
They say there's no rest for the wicked, but throughout the 60s, there was often no rest for the Beatles. As soon as work was done on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, they began working on more songs with an eye towards the recently-contracted-Yellow Submarine film. Inspired by an acid-fuled evening spent at the 14 Hour Technicolor Dream...
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#129 – Things We Said Today with guest Laurie Jacobson (author, “Top of the Mountain: The Beatles at Shea Stadium 1965”)
Paul McCartney seems to always have a fondness for looking through time. He looks to older age in songs like "When I'm 64," too his own passing in "The End of The End" from Memory Almost Full. He presents quasi case studies in the music of yesteryear with songs like "Honey Pie" or "Your Gave Me The Answer." With "Things We Said Today," he's looking to the future...
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#130 – Revolution 9 guest James Campion (author, TAKE A SAD SONG… The Emotional Currency of “Hey Jude”)
Hindsight being what it is, one can only imagine the reaction listeners had when they first reached the back half of side 4 of the White Album in November 68, and the sounds of "Revolution 9" came out of their stereos for the first time. While adjectives such as "bewilderment" or "confusion" probably are safe bets, The Beatles had been sowing seeds of avant-garde & outside influence in their music since...
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#131 – I Me Mine with guest Micah McKee (singer, songwriter)
It only took a few days of the Get Back project for George to lose any real optimism he may have entered it with. Malaise, indecision, and ego had been building for a while, and as they took root in the project, George took to pen to put down his feelings towards his song-writing bandmates...
Reviews
Ranking the songs of the Beatles? What could possibly go wrong? But somehow this podcast gets it just right thanks to the wit and charm of the co-hosts and their guests. The listener quickly discovers the rankings are used not to incite heated arguments but rather as a starting point to spark a positive deep dive into every Beatle song. Put simply, Ranking The Beatles is a welcome addition to the Beatle podcast universe.
Required listening if you like The Beatles at all. Great guests every week and Jonathan and Julia are fun and genuinely funny (even the tired Mike Love jokes). I listen every Tuesday morning as soon as I wake up. One week around Christmas they took the week off so I just slept the whole week until there was a new episode. It was worth the wait.
Nice to see a truly excellent new Beatles podcast. This one is hosted by a very appealing young couple, who along with their well selected guests, have a winning combination of professional musical knowledge and the enthusiasm of fans. It’s an interesting format that by definition promises to only get better as it goes along. If they can make the “Only a Northern Song” episode good then they’re unstoppable