#216 – If You’ve Got Trouble & #215 – How Do You Do It? w/ Jeffrey Roedel (writer, director, producer)

This week we travel back to 1963 and 1965 via 1995 with previously unreleased tracks from The Beatles Anthology. The Fabs had a great knack for self-editing and knowing when something wasn’t quite working. In the case of “If You’ve Got Trouble,” that knack helps when your song has got “stupid words” and is “the naffest song” (George said so himself. This shelved Ringo vocal from the “Help!” session is a perfect example. He’s GOT to have a song on the record, but this one just never really connects. 

Another element to their story is how they were always willing to bet on themselves. While the powers that be wanted to release “How Do You Do It?” as their debut, but the boys insisted on one of their own compositions. How would history have been different if this had been their debut though, and does their version have that razz-a-matazz that made it a hit for someone else? 

Joining us this week is Jeffrey Roedel, a writer, director, producer, and fellow hardcore Beatlemaniac.  We discuss coming of age during the Anthology renaissance and how that impacted our experience of the Beatles story, Jonathan and Julia reminisce about their pilgrimage to Liverpool,  and we talk about the often-missed humility and humbleness of the young John Lennon. Wait, what?

Check out Jeffrey’s literary magazine Wonder South at www.wondersouth.com and on Instagram @wondersouth, and you can also check out his writing and film endeavors at www.jeffreyroedel.com.

Listen to Jeffrey’s Anthology and Outtakes Playlist!