SATB Newsletter #63

Hello friends,

Welcome to another week in January. Typically in Beatle world, this is the time of the year that the 1969 sessions that turned into the Let It Be album get commemorated, but I feel like that was done a year ago in the newsletter and barring any significant anniversaries going forward, we can give that a rest for now. As I've said on the show, on social media, and here, you can do no better than Dan Rivkin’s ongoing writings on the subject in his They May Be Parted blog.(And Adambound’s YouTube channel features loads of collated footage.)

NEWS

Happy to report no new obituaries this past week, but I do want to post the follow-up to the notes on the passing of the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir. I vaguely remembered seeing some kind of video collating Linda's pictures of the band a while back, but didn't find it quickly when I was putting last week's newsletter together. I have found it since and here it is.

But perhaps equally disturbing to the loss of an artist is the disappearing of reliable online resources that fans including myself have come to depend on. I'd mentioned the Daily Beatle last week as part of that piece on Beatles-related music videos, both as a reliable Beatles news source and as a research tool. Roger Stormo's site was loaded with invaluable content.

But in an unsettling development this past week, Roger has announced his shut down of the blog (he may continue it in some form indefinitely on Facebook

) but his wasn't the only one: Sara Schmidt reports the end of other fan-run Beatle related sites, including Places I Remember and the Beatles Photo Forum. Why? Apparently due to copyright claims being made against these not-for-profit fan-based information sharing sites. 

This is very sad and disturbing news, and I have to wonder what's next: podcasts? Just continue to watch this space and if SATB gets disappeared one day, you'll know the reason why. A wise person knows when to pick their battles, while everyone else will shotgun threats out there without taking the time and trouble to see what is problematic and what in fact is actually promoting their brand, but we are living in some really tough times, and at the moment, it feels like the Blue Meanies are winning. I have no idea what's going to happen in the future, but Beatles people are nothing if not clever and resourceful, so stay positive...

Other news: a long time fan from Litchfield in England has put her autograph book up for sale,

containing signatures from not only all four Beatles (obtained at a 1963 gig where they also signed her left arm) but also the Rolling Stones, Billy Fury, and other top acts of the day.

I am supposing many of us have seen Hamnet. It stars Paul Mescal, whose name is becoming increasingly familiar, as he will be playing the other Paul in the upcoming Sam Mendes films.

And on the subject of that guy, this. 

SATB

Hopefully most of you by now have checked out my conversation with Oliver Murray, writer and director of some recent Beatles projects. We spoke for a couple of hours, but a lot of that was on his background in other works. I may put that part of the conversation online as bonus content. I really felt like he is a good guy to represent us the fans in Beatles world, but I also felt an implicit sense that not everything we get to see is under his full control.

Coming up next: a return to the SATB Olympiad series with Gary Wenstrup. The last one came out in spring of 2025, and if you remember that, you should be able to anticipate what is next.

Also in the queue: something completely different. It was at a turning point in this show’s history that, in response to listener suggestion, I first reached out to Jeff Martin, resulting in (among other things) that Simpsons episode as well as an ongoing friendship with a terrific guy (who knows something about the Beatles). Anyway, this time around, an idea has come from a previous guest on an area that never would have occurred to me but along parallel lines. It also gives me the opportunity to bring a new guest from that very world onto the show. I am confident that, in a sense, history will repeat.

Also coming: a NEW musical guest to discuss their musicality (and gear).

Last: to anyone who volunteered themselves for the Illustrated Record show, I will be reaching out this week. If you don't hear from me by the time of the next newsletter, shoot me an email!

HISTORY

January 27, 1970: OTD, “Instant Karma” was “ritten, recorded, remixed”

Heard here : an isolation as best can be had from the Spector production.

Inspiration (and the actual title phrase) came from Melinda Kendall, the new wife of Yoko's ex, Tony Cox, with whom the Lennons were staying with in Denmark for most of the month. The concept of the repercussions of one's actions being felt immediately, rather than over the course of lifetimes, appealed to the ever-impatient Lennon, who was becoming particularly enamored with the idea of getting his thoughts as expressed musically out to the public as quickly as he formed them (April 1969's "The Ballad of John and Yoko" being one example; "Cold Turkey" - rebuffed by the Beatles for reasons of timing rather than content being another).

Upon arriving back home, the title and concept came swiftly and was fully realized in song, one so inherently catchy that he couldn't get it out of his head and decided to book a session and record it that very day. There is a matter of small dispute as to whether the idea of bringing Phil Spector in to produce originated with George Harrison, who'd run into him in London or with John. What IS known is that Spector - fresh off the heels of renewed success with the production of Sonny Charles and the Checkmates "Black Pearl," had given an interview to Rolling Stone (published in November 1969), wherein he'd expressed an interest in producing the Beatles. Allen Klein saw an opportunity to get the Let It Be project finished and released and summoned Spector to London. Before being handed over the pile of January 1969 session tapes, the opportunity was recognized to perhaps "audition" him with John's newly-composed song.

George was already part of the mix and Ringo might have been (as he'd been of service for "Cold Turkey" months before) but he was in LA at the time, appearing on Laugh-In that very day. Summoning Paul and recording this as "Beatles" apparently never occurred to John: in his head, it was one more Plastic Ono Band release - as he said at the time, whether a record went out under one handle or another was more or less entirely contingent upon who was around at the time. Also on hand: Billy Preston and Klaus Voormann.

John's directive to Phil - long accustomed to doing his thing with dozens of other musicians around - was to make it "50s." This manifested with his characteristic applied delay, as well as the doubling and tripling of instrumental parts. Drummer Alan White (who’d played Toronto with John) was directed to focus on his toms (rather than high-hat); when the touches of production were applied, the drums were front and center and epically thunderous. Kicking off with chords of "Some Other Guy," the song sounded as though it was very much a deliberate call back to The Cavern. Charged with rounding up an ad hoc "choir," Billy and Klaus secured the vocal talents of patrons of the nearby Hatchett Club. (Among them happened to be an actual professional singer who knew The Beatles from Liverpool: Beryl Marsden).

While the record took another ten days to actually hit UK shops (Phil pleaded with John for permission to add orchestration for the US release, which was denied), it really seemed to satisfy John's desire to get a record out nearly as quickly as it was conceived. His promotional interviews at the time expressed his receptivity to future Beatle endeavors, tamping down any thought that a full-blown solo career was being initiated, though if one examines the timeline of events, it becomes clear that at least one observer may have concluded otherwise.