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Since I do so much driving on my lecture tours, I listen to lots of music and audiobooks. I'm currently about half way through Richard Dawkins' autobiography An Appetite for Wonder. As he illustrates his educational background, Dawkins describes the ultimate goal of any lecture irrespective of topic: "The purpose of a lecture should not be to impart information. There are books, libraries, nowadays the internet for that. If a lecturer drones information as though reading it, the audience might as well read it, possibly in the lecturer's own book. [Rather,] A lecture should inspire and provoke thought. You watch a good lecturer thinking aloud in front of you, reaching for a thought. Sometimes grabbing it out of the air. A good lecturer thinking aloud, reflecting, musing, rephrasing for clarity, hesitating and then grasping, bearing the pace, pausing for thought, can be a role model in how to think about a subject and how to transmit a passion for it." I could hardly agree more! The ultimate goal of my Beatles lectures, then, is "not to impart information" (though that is a major component), but to "inspire and provoke thought" and "transmit a passion" for the subject. Amen, Dawkins. Amen. I'll attempt to transmit that passion for The Beatles tomorrow evening:
Tuesday, 31 January 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Vernon Parish Library, 1401 Nolan Trce, Leesville, LA The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members.
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The Neapolitan chord (the major flat supertonic, or bII) is quite rare in Beatles music. It is heard in only 11 tracks: [7] 'Do You Want To Know A Secret' bII: 1 approach: bIII x1 progress: V x1 [14] 'It Won't Be Long' bII: 1 approach: II x1 progress: I x1 [28] 'If I Fell' bII: 2 approach: ii x2 progress: Ø x1, I x1 [35] 'Things We Said Today' bII: 6 approach: II x2, bVI x4 progress: i x6 [55] 'You're Going to Lose That Girl' bII: 2 approach: Ø x2 progress: I x2 [85] 'I'm Only Sleeping' bII: 2 approach: Ø x2 progress: i x2 [132] 'Revolution' bII: 1 approach: V x1 progress: I x1 [135] 'Sexy Sadie' bII: 2 approach: II x2 progress: I x2 [171] 'Oh! Darling' bII: 1 approach: I x1 progress: I x1 [181] 'Sun King' bII: 2 approach: Ø x1, I x1 progress: Ø x1, ii x1 [185] 'Because' bII: 5 approach: bVI x5 progress: bii° x5 These 11 songs employ a total of 25 Neapolitan chords, which are approached by... Ø: 5 instances (20.0%) in 3 songs
I: 2 instances (8.0%) in 2 songs
II: 5 instances (20.0%) in 3 songs
ii: 2 instances (8.0%) in 1 song
bIII: 1 instance (4.0%) in 1 song
V: 1 instances (4.0%) in 1 song
bVI: 9 instances (36.0%) in 2 songs
... and progress to: Ø: 2 instances (8.0%) in 2 songs
I: 8 instances (32.0%) in 6 songs
i: 8 instances (32.0%) in 2 songs
bii°: 5 instances (20.0%) in 1 song
ii: 1 instance (4.0%) in 1 songs
V: 1 instance (4.0%) in 1 song
This data is represented visually in the following pie graphs.   Technically, Neapolitans can only be major. And The Beatles never used a minor Neapolitan (bii), so there's nothing to document or analyze there. But they did use a diminished Neapolitan (bii°) five times in 'Because': [185] 'Because' bii°: 5 approach: bII x5 progress: Ø x1, i x3, IV x1 It is the most harmonically unstable concluding chord of any Beatles recording, which sets up the massive 'Abbey Road Medley' that immediately follows. I won't be discussing Neapolitan chords at all tomorrow evening...
Monday, 30 January 2017, 6:00-7:00 p.m. Beauregard Parish Library, 205 S Washington St, DeRidder, LA The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. Fridays are the most difficult day of the week to book, and so yesterday being a rare off day I took a Swamp Tour.  The first thing I noticed was the vegetation - a great many trees and plants growing out of the water, which our guide identified as one of the defining features of a swamp. While the flora was on full display, the fauna was somewhat scarce. We spotted several interesting birds, including a great blue heron, red shouldered hawk, and osprey (all pictured below), and a kingfisher and several turkey vultures (not pictured below). Most impressive, though was the alligator. The guide said the dominant male in the area was about 15 feet long and over 400 pounds, but we saw a baby that was about 2 feet long and maybe 10 pounds. According to Donald Trump, however, it was "the largest gator ever witnessed". Another fascinating scene were all the fishing shacks along the banks, accessible only by boat. My favorite is the one that looks like it was stepped on by a giant! This is one of my tangential blogs - about events not directly related to The Beatles but events experienced during my Beatles lecture tours. (Please no ignorant comments on Facebook this time - it is a Beatles blog, you just need to keep reading to find the Beatles part!) And tomorrow I'll be delivering my signature presentation once again. At 30.22 degrees north latitude, it will be the most southernly stop on the current trip.
Sunday, 29 January 2017, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lafayette Public Library - South Regional Branch, 6101 Johnston St, Lafayette, LA The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. I first heard of Greg Alexander (a.k.a. Professor Moptop) when, following a delivery of "The Influence of American Rock 'n' Roll on The Beatles" at the Aspen Drive Library in Vernon Hills, IL, a man in the audience mentioned him. He entered my radar again a few days ago when I found a link to this video on Facebook: A sucker for all things Beatles, I immediately subscribed to his YouTube channel and again searched "Professor Moptop" on Google. This time I found his website, www.professormoptop.com, and discovered his kickstarter campaign "Professor Moptop has written a textbook Beatle book!!!!". I also sent him an email through his website and proposed an interview to help promote his work and kickstarter fund. That interview can be found below: The Beatles are perhaps the most famous and popular rock band ever. Why? A very simple answer to an extremely complex question that there is an unmistakable amount of joy and positivity surrounding the band, from the very beginning, through the break up and beyond, not just in their music but in their films, interviews, photography, and all things surrounding them. And why have you chosen to study The Beatles so extensively, as opposed to other artists? As soon as I discovered music I always wanted to know more about whoever the artist was and where the music came from, studying record labels and liner notes. I discovered the Monkees after seeing their reruns on tv at a really early age and would listen to the oldies records that my parents had around. Always knowing about the Beatles I knew I enjoyed them, only getting interested, and then quickly fascinated by them around the age of 17, snapping up all of their cds quickly and learning “the basics” by reading up on their history, I suppose I never stopped. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were one of the greatest songwriting tandems ever. What made them so special? To what extent do you explore that relationship in the book? Another simple answer to a complex question is that they were a wonderful combination, and they each brought out the best in one another. As young and above average thinking men the two songwriters both lost their mothers, which bonded the two of them beyond just a couple of kids who liked the same music. As they each developed as songwriters they pushed one another to come up with better ideas in what wasn’t a competition but a focus on the greater reward. The book covers many of the specifics as to how the two would write in the early days, and then after the fame struck and more pressure was upon them. You use the terms "Professor MopTop" and "Beatle University" to describe yourself and your work. What exactly do those terms mean to you, and what made you chose them? Beginning in 1997 I would produce an all-day Beatle show on WXRT called “Rampant Beatle-Mania Sunday” hosted by Terri Hemmert. She and I began talking about a way to present a segment that I could do and the concept of teaching “college level facts about the Beatles “ was presented and the name “Moptop” came up (I’ve been a long haired man most of my life) and the Professor and it just stuck. After doing a few shorter segments for a few years, expanding them when Breakfast With The Beatles became a weekly show I have covered such topics as “great days in Beatle history” “songs they gave away” “BBC tracks” “original versions of songs they covered” and a wide range of very focused lessons on the band, always trying to find a new way to present a subject matter that has been thoroughly examined. Several years back I began doing song by song by song, album by album by album, week by week and am currently almost finished with the white album. You're planning to publish a book about the early, formative years of The Beatles (1957-1964). Why did you decide to focus on this period? There is a lack of books that are written for fans of the Beatles that are beginners, which can also shed some light on the subject for aficionados, that can also be used a reference book for anyone who may re-listen and revisit Beatle, and Beatle related music. Ultimately I wanna get through an thorough examination of every song the Beatles recorded, and starting at the very beginning, when John and Paul met, what I call the dawn of time seemed to be a logical beginning. I also feel that too many books attempt to cram too much information into too few pages, and the end of ’64 was a perfect jumping off point. Since your book focuses on the band's early years, does that mean you're fondest of their early albums? Which would be your favorite and why? As a listening fan, '65 and '66 are my favorite years, but from a historical standpoint, the early years are fascinating, and I eventually wanna get to discuss and analyze every song of all, and beginning from the beginning was an obvious choice for me. I also think the early years are a bit under discussed and haven't been properly reported on. There are a great many Beatles books already available. Why do you feel another book is needed? How will your book differ from other authors’ books? Many of the Beatle books written about them are simply lists of facts about the band, without any real analysis or reasoning for these lists. I have researched far and wide to not only discuss the music that the Beatles created and performed, but what else was going on around them, and how it helped in shaping their sound. American Rock and roll, skiffle, the British invasion, songs that mention the Beatles, the bands early influences as well as George Martin productions prior to the Beatles are all examined thoroughly in the book. There are also quite a few “alternative facts” or speculations that are reported as truth. I think it’s important to specify what is a theory, was is a possibility, and what is a documented fact. Have you written any other books? About The Beatles, or on other topics? I have never written a full book but had written several lengthy essays about some of my favorite bands and music related subjects, most notably The Blues Brothers, The Muppets, The Wizard of Oz, Shel Silversteen and Joe Meek. One day I would like to publish each of these in some fashion. Many authors cite John F. Kennedy's assassination as a contributing factor to The Beatles' meteoric rise in popularity a few months later. And just as many seem to dismiss any such connection as mere coincidence. Where do you fall in the JFK/Beatles debate? While it wasn’t the only factor in the large series of events that led to the international “mania” of Beatle stardom, it certainly was an important one. I tend to feel that Americans would have come around and taken an interest in the craze of British bands eventually, the fact that the country needed something positive to rally behind may have hurried the process along. After years of collecting facts and sharing them I have compiled my thoughts and wrote them all down. I discussed books and publishing with several authors and decided that self-publishing is the way to go, although a rather spendy process. I have set up a kickstarer campaign titled “Professor Moptop has written a textbook” that lasts until February 13th, hopefully I will hit my goal in time. To promote the crowd sourcing fundraiser I have been doing some radio interviews and have created a “Beatle University” youtube channel where I have been posting the most recent lessons that I have done, the Professor Moptop soundcloud also has many of them. Professormoptop.com is up and running and has direct links to the Professor Moptop has written a textbook Kickstarter campaign, where you can see some of the rewards that can be earned for donating, including signed copies of the book, posters, a Professor Moptop 45 1/3 record and some Beatle University stickers! The Kickstarter campaign is for $4,489. How will that money be spent? Technically the amount of the goal is $4,489.09 because I wanted it to end with a 909, but they round off the loose change. The path to getting a holdable, readable book involves setting up a company and then hiring the best people for editing, formatting, compiling the bibliography and indexing the book, paying the artists and then getting the rewards into the hands of the donors. With this I should be at about even when the book is finished, which will hopefully allow me to “take my show on the road” more often and give presentations at assorted libraries, taverns or other locations. The Professor's Kickstarter project runs through February 13. I'll be contributing shortly, and I eagerly await reading the book! As Prof Moptop resides in the Chicago area, I have hopes to co-present with him this coming August, when I make my next Chicago tour. Since his emphasis is on the early years, it might work well to have him open with the band's formation and early recordings, then I could discuss their later work.
But that's several months down the road. More immediate, tomorrow afternoon I return to my signature presentation: Saturday, 28 January 2017, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Denham Springs: Walker Branch, 8101 US Highway 190, Denham Springs, LA The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. As a follow-up to my blog from the other day on how The Beatles used flat mediant chords, this one examines how The Beatles use mediant chords. The most common mediant chord is the minor mediant (iii), which, being heard 282 times in 46 songs, is the 9th most common chord The Beatles used. If you really want the nitty gritty blow-by-blow account, here's a PDF documenting every single one of those 282 iiis: 
For those who would rather skip the details and cut to the good stuff, here's how those minor mediants are approached (the chords immediately preceding) and how they progress (what chord comes immediately next), represented via pie graphs:   The next most commonly used mediant is the major mediant (III), heard 62 times in 18 tracks, making it the 15th most frequently used chord in The Beatles' catalog. Here's documentation for every single one of those 62 IIIs:
And the corresponding graphs:   In the meantime, I continue even further south and a little west to enter Louisiana for the first time in my life, making The Pelican State the 30th of the 50 United States to host one of my programs. I will be participating in a friendly debate with the excellent and authoritative Beatles author Bruce Spizer regarding whether or not John Kennedy's assassination had any influence of The Beatles' meteoric rise to fame in the US a few months later.
Thursday, 26 January 2017, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Tangipahoa Parish Library, 314 E. Thomas St, Hammond, LA From the Shadow of JFK: The Rise of Beatlemania in America Many Beatles authors have cited John F. Kennedy's assassination on 22 November 1963 as a cause of the Beatles' sudden popularity in the United States in early 1964. Their logic: Kennedy's assassination made America sad, then the Beatles made America happy again. But this commonly accepted answer is overly simplistic. The real answer is that Kennedy's life and death inadvertently primed the nation for the Beatles' arrival and success. This 60-minute program will explain how and why. "She Loves You" famously incorporates an added sixth chord at the end of the introductory and concluding choruses (0:10 and 2:15). But the song also contains another, far less well-known added sixth: The penultimate "Yeah Yeah Yeah" (2:10) is an e minor chord with a C# thrown in making it an e minor with an added sixth. That added tone it not heard in any of the previous 14 e minor chords used in the song. Why would the band save that extra note for the end? Why not use it earlier, too?Because it creates descending chromatic voice leading (shown in red in the example below) that strengths its harmonic conclusivity.  The same progression without that added sixth wouldn't have the same chromatic voice leading and so wouldn't sound as harmonically conclusive. My thanks to Jacob Michael for pointing out this most unusual chord. I continue south to Hattiesburg tomorrow:
Wednesday, 25 January 2017, 6:30-8:00 p.m. T-Bones Records & Cafe, 2101 Hardy St, Hattiesburg, MS Reinventing Rock 'n' Roll: The Beatles' Rubber Soul and Revolver The sophisticated songwriting and innovative recording techniques on the Beatles' sixth studio album Rubber Soul (1965) and seventh studio album Revolver (1966) exemplify the originality and experimentation for which the band is so famous. This 90-minute multimedia presentation discusses and analyzes highlights from both albums. 47 of The Beatles' 211 tracks employ a major flat mediant chord (bIII). Those 47 are listed below, along with exhaustive documentation of how they are approached (what chord comes immediately before it) and how they progress (what comes immediately after it): [3] 'Please Please Me' bIII: 4 approach: I x4 progress: IV x3, bVI x1 [6b] 'A Taste Of Honey' bIII: 5 approach: i x3, IV x2 progress: bVII x5 [7] 'Do You Want To Know A Secret' bIII: 1 approach: i x1 progress: bII x1 [9] 'Hold Me Tight' bIII: 4 approach: I x4 progress: I x4 [14] 'It Won't Be Long' bIII: 1 approach: I x1 progress: II x1 [20] 'Don't Bother Me' bIII: 10 approach: IV x10 progress: i x10 [35] 'Things We Said Today' bIII: 4 approach: i x4 progress: bVI x4 [48] 'Another Girl' bIII: 4 approach: Ø x2, IV x2 progress: Ø x2, V x2 [51] 'The Night Before' bIII: 4 approach: I x4 progress: I x1, IV x3 [52] 'You Like Me Too Much' bIII: 2 approach: I x2 progress: V x2 [61] 'Wait' bIII: 10 approach: Ø x6, i x4 progress: Ø x4, V x6 [71] 'Michelle' bIII: 3 approach: i x3 progress: bVI x3 [73] 'Think For Yourself' bIII: 6 approach: v x6 progress: IV x6 [74] 'The Word' bIII: 5 approach: bVII x5 progress: Ø x1, IV x4 [76] 'Girl' bIII: 5 approach: i x1, iv x4 progress: Ø x1, V x4 [84] 'Taxman' bIII: 1 approach: I x1 progress: I x1 [85] 'I'm Only Sleeping' bIII: 16 approach: iv x8, bVI x8 progress: V x4, bVI x12 [91] 'Here There And Everywhere' bIII: 1 approach: iii x1 progress: ii x1 [95] 'Penny Lane' bIII: 3 approach: Ø x3 progress: V x3 [96] 'A Day in the Life' bIII: 2 approach: bVI x2 progress: bVII x2 [97] 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' bIII: 2 approach: I x2 progress: IV x2 [100] 'Only A Northern Song' bIII: 5 approach: Ø x1, V x4 progress: Ø x4, IV x1 [102] 'Lovely Rita' bIII: 4 approach: bVII x4 progress: I x4 [108] 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)' bIII: 5 approach: I x5 progress: IV x5 [109] 'Magical Mystery Tour' bIII: 12 approach: I x12 progress: IV x12 [110] 'Baby, You're a Rich Man' bIII: 2 approach: IV x2 progress: I x2 [115] 'Your Mother Should Know' bIII: 5 approach: Ø x5 progress: V x5 [116] 'I Am the Walrus' bIII: 12 approach: I x6, II x4, IV x2 progress: II x2, IV x10 [128] 'Blackbird' bIII: 4 approach: IV x4 progress: II x2, IV x2 [129] 'Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey' bIII: 6 approach: I x3, bVII x3 progress: I x3, bVII x3 [134] 'Helter Skelter' bIII: 5 approach: I x5 progress: I x2, IV x3 [136] 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' bIII: 5 approach: bVII x5 progress: V x5 [138] 'Mother Nature's Son' bIII: 6 approach: I x6 progress: IV x6 [139] 'Yer Blues' bIII: 8 approach: I x8 progress: V x8 [142] 'Back in the USSR' bIII: 12 approach: I x4, IV x8 progress: IV x12 [143] 'Dear Prudence' bIII: 1 approach: IV x1 progress: bV x1 [144] 'Glass Onion' A MINOR: bIII: 6 approach: bvii x6 progress: bVI x3, bvii x3 [148] 'Happiness is a Warm Gun' bIII: 5 approach: I x5 progress: I x3, i x2 [150] 'Savoy Truffle' bIII: 8 approach: IV x8 progress: V x8 [154] 'The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill' bIII: 6 approach: i x6 progress: bVI x6 [167] 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' bIII: 8 approach: i x8 progress: IV x4, bVII x4 [170] 'Something' bIII: 6 approach: IV x6 progress: V x6 [173] 'You Never Give Me Your Money' bIII: 10 approach: I x4, II x3, bVII x3 progress: V x2, bVI x3, bVII x5 [176] 'Carry that Weight' bIII: 4 approach: Ø x1, I x1, bVII x2 progress: V x2, bVI x2 [177] 'Here Comes the Sun' bIII: 6 approach: V x6 progress: bVII x6 [180] 'The End' bIII: 1 approach: II x1 progress: IV x1 [183] 'Polythene Pam' bIII: 2 approach: I x2 progress: V x2 Those 47 songs use a total of 247 major flat mediants, making it the 12th most common chord in The Beatles' catalog. Here's how those 247 bIIIs are approached: Ø: 18 instances (7.3%) in 6 songs
I: 79 instances (32.0%) in 19 songs
i: 30 instances (12.1%) in 8 songs
II: 8 instances (3.2%) in 3 songs
iii: 1 instance (0.4%) in 1 song
IV: 45 instances (18.2%) in 10 songs
iv: 12 instances (4.9%) in 2 songs
V: 10 instances (4.0%) in 2 songs
v: 6 instances in (2.4%) 1 song
bVI: 10 instances (4.0%) in 2 songs
bVII: 22 instances (8.9%) in 6 songs
bvii: 6 instances (2.4%) in 1 song
 And here's how they progress: Ø: 12 instances (4.9%) in 5 songs
I: 20 instances (8.1%) in 8 songs
i: 12 instances (4.9%) in 2 songs
bII: 1 instance (0.4%) in 1 song
II: 5 instances (2.0%) in 3 songs
ii: 1 instance (0.4%) in 1 song
IV: 74 instances (30.0%) in 15 songs
bV: 1 instance (0.4%) in 1 song
V: 59 instances (23.9%) in 14 songs
bVI: 34 instances (13.8%) in 8 songs
bVII: 25 instances (10.1%) in 6 songs
bvii: 3 instances (1.2%) in 1 song
 Far less common is the minor flat mediant (biii), found 22 times in 3 songs: [7] 'Do You Want To Know A Secret' biii: 15 approach: iii x15 progress: ii x15 [13e] 'Till There Was You' biii: 5 approach: iii x5 progress: ii x5 [122] 'Lady Madonna' biii: 2 approach: ii x2 progress: ii x2 And rarer still is the diminished flat mediant (biii°), used 8 times in 1 song: [28] 'If I Fell' biii°: 8 approach: iii x8 progress: ii x8 CONCLUSIONS: So what do all these numbers means, and who really cares? My entire career is designed to answer one fundamental question: Why were The Beatles so great? Every presentation I deliver, every book I author, every interview I give, and every blog I write is designed to contribute to answering that inquiry. In traditional classical contexts, tonal chords function in relatively few ways: Certain chords are "required" to progress to others. But The Beatles often use chords that function in multiple ways. And the major flat mediant (by far the most commonly used variety of flat mediants) is a prime example, being approached in 12 different ways and progressing also in 12 different ways. In other words, we can better understand The Beatles' extraordinary use of harmony on a macro level by examining and understanding their use of harmony on a micro level - in this case by studying their use of flat mediant chords in great detail. The tour continues tomorrow as I head even further south.
Tuesday, 24 January 2017, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Amory Municipal Library, 401 2nd Ave N, Amory, MS The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. For the record, I won't be discussing flat mediant chords at all! Yesterday during "Songs The Beatles Gave Away" at the Cape Girardeau, MO library, I discussed the song 'I Call Your Name', a John Lennon song given to Billy J Kramer to record in 1963 and resurrected by The Beatles in 1964. A man in the audience pointed out that The Mamas and The Papas also released the song on their 196 debut album If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears - something I was unaware of until he mentioned it. Searching YouTube, I was able to find the recording in question. I proceed south to Mississippi tomorrow to deliver one of my favorite programs in an appropriate geographical location (Bruce is near Tupelo, where Elvis was born).
Monday, 23 January 2017, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Jesse Yancy Memorial Library, 314 North Newberger Ave, Bruce, MS The Influence of American Rock 'n' Roll on The Beatles Before the Beatles ever wrote their own songs or performed on stage, they were inspired to do so by American rock 'n' roll records. This 90-minute multimedia program will illustrate the influence of Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and other American recording artists from the 1950's on the Beatles through side-by-side comparisons and musical analysis of Beatles covers and original recordings. I stand six-foot-four, a good six inches taller than the average American male. But earlier this week during my stay in Alton, IL, the first stop on this first Beatles lecture tour of 2017, I met Robert Pershing Wadlow, the Guinness Book of World Records' tallest person in history at eight-foot-eleven. Robert was born in 1918 in Alton and died in the same city in 1940. In 1985, a life-size statue was erected in his hometown, where it remains to the present. This statue, of course, is what I met the other day.   Meanwhile the tour continues tomorrow:
Sunday, 22 January 2017, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Sikeston Library, 121 E North St, Sikeston, MO The Beatles: Band of the Sixties Explore the music of The Beatles in this 60-minute multimedia presentation (part history and part musical analysis) spanning the full 1960's: beginning with the band's seminal visits to Hamburg, continuing through Beatlemania, and concluding with Abbey Road. The program will be supplemented with audio clips of music and excerpts from interviews with the band members. Today, being the 20th day of the month, is the day I send out my free email newsletter. Inspired by popular interest, I began this free monthly email newsletter in March 2014, when I sent that initial issue to 6 people. Little by little, it's grown to the point where this morning's newsletter was sent to 982 recipients. Each newsletter details my schedule for the remainder of the current month through the end of the next month - which presentation I'm giving, where, and when. Here is this month's newsletter in PDF form: 
Anybody with a valid email address may register for the newsletter on my website: http://www.aaronkrerowicz.com/newsletter-sign-up.html. Just be sure to type the “prove you are human” part. (I get a lot of spam, so any submissions that skip that step are deleted.) Newsletter subscription is the best way to stay in touch. The emails are sent from my personal Gmail account, which allows recipients to respond easily and efficiently. This permits me to maintain a monthly dialog with Beatles fans across the globe. Plus, they feature adorable puppy pictures. In honor of my pooch, Abbey (as in Road), I started including a photo of her in each newsletter beginning in 2016. Here's February's, practicing her camouflage:  Meanwhile, my first tour of the new year continues tomorrow at the Cape Girardeau library with the debut of a new presentation:
Saturday, 21 January 2017, 2:00-3:30 p.m. Cape Girardeau Public Library, 711 N. Clark St., Cape Girardeau, MO Songs the Beatles Gave Away In addition to writing their own music, both John Lennon and Paul McCartney also regularly penned songs for other recording artists, including Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Peter and Gordon, The Rolling Stones, Badfinger, and others. This 90-minute multimedia program considers all 26 such giveaways, comparing and contrasting them to recordings actually done by the Beatles. |
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