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My interview on Richard Courtney (which I blogged about the other day) was broadcast yesterday morning and is now available for download here: http://frommetoyou.podomatic.com/
I'll be listening to it while driving back to Indiana this week during the final leg of this tour. Another interview, this one conducted by Donna Harris of The Daily Tribune, constituted the basis of an article promoting tomorrow's program: http://www.daily-tribune.com/newsx/item/4953-library-prepares-for-british-invasion-tuesday Tuesday, 1 March 2016, 6:00-7:00 p.m. Cartersville Public Library, 429 West Main St, Cartersville, GA 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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While all my tours are vacations in a sense, the lack of bookings on Friday and today made this weekend an ideal time for a "vacation within a vacation". On Thursday, I met up with my wife and in-laws at Wyndham Ocean Walk Resort in Daytona Beach. While my phone camera isn't adept at night photography, I managed to capture the lunar-lit scene that greeted us upon check in:  And while it's significantly cooler than it was earlier in the trip (mid-60s instead of mid-70s), that's not keeping us out of the four pools and three hot tubs! I depart the Sunshine State tomorrow, as I make my way North to Valdosta. Having delivered "Band of the Sixties" 14 times in the last 21 days, I'm not complaining that tomorrow's program is instead on Sgt. Pepper:
Monday, 29 February 2016, 6:00-7:30 p.m. South Georgia Regional Library, 300 Woodrow Wilson Dr, Valdosta, GA The Beatles' Alter Ego, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Since its release in 1967, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has often been regarded as the single greatest rock album ever made, and one of the first rock concept albums. This 90-minute multimedia presentation will observe and discuss the landmark album track by track, citing musical and historical precedents, and illustrating the development of the songs through excerpts from interviews with the band members and clips of discarded takes. Is it just me or does Tampa have better used book and record stores than anywhere else? During the four days I spent there, I visited several. Between those stores and the Tampa area libraries' book sales, I found quite a few books, CDs, and DVDs at wallet-friendly prices, many of which will enhance my Beatles research and analysis. In addition to the Capitol Records Volume 1, which I blogged about the other day, I also picked up CDs of Paul McCartney's Back in the USA, The Beatles Conquer America, The Beatles: Rare Photos and Interviews Volumes 1 and 2 (I already have Volume 3), The Beatles in Their Own Words: A Rockumentary, The Beatles Press Conferences 1964-66, and the DVDs The Beatles: Unauthorized, The Beatles: Love Me Do, and The Beatles: The Complete Ed Sullivan Broadcasts. I also found Len Garry's book John, Paul & Me Before the Beatles, Kevin Howlett's The Beatles at the Beeb: The Story of their Radio Career 1962-65, and Paul Trynka's The Beatles: Ten Years That Shook The World. The last of those I purchased with my grant money back in 2011 and I've been seeking a copy for my personal collection ever since. Unlike the CDs and DVDs, the books weren't cheap, but they're valuable and somewhat rare research materials. While my knowledge of the Beatles and their music extensive, it's somewhat embarrassing how little I know about other recording artists. Occasionally someone will ask me about some other band (CSN&Y, Kiss, The Byrds, U2, and many others) and I have to admit I just don't know their music much at all. Thus, I'm constantly on the lookout for inexpensive albums which can provide at least a basic understanding and knowledge of their songs. So when I found The Crash Test Dummies' A Worm's Life, Kiss' Hot Inside, The Goo Goo Dolls' Dizzy Up The Girl, The American Graffiti Soundtrack, and greatest hits collections of Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, James Taylor, Jimmy Buffet, Eric Clapton, and Neil Diamond for a dollar-ish each, I took my opportunity. And lastly, while none of these DVDs have any relation to my professional endeavors, I also picked up Kill Bill, 8 Mile, Nine Months, Pride of the Yankees, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Scarface, Date Night, Breaking Bad season 1 (which will keep me company on my next tour as I drive through New Mexico), and Robot Chicken Star Wars, most for $1-2 apiece. All in all, I probably spent a couple hundred dollars for materials that might have cost four to six times that amount new. If/when I return to Tampa, I'll be sure to make the rounds once again! The tour continues tomorrow with another rendition of "Band of the Sixties" in Orlando:
Saturday, 27 February 2016, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Orlando Public Library, 101 E. Central Blvd, Orlando, FL 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. Yesterday I gave what has to be both the best and worst interview of my career. Best because the interviewer, Richard Courtney, asked very detailed questions; worst because I was entirely unprepared for the quality and quantity of those inquiries.
I've done many interviews for radio stations, podcasts, newspapers, and blogs, most of which are brief (average of 5-10 minutes) and ask the standard questions: "How did you get into the Beatles?", "Have you ever met any of them, or seen them live?", "Who is your favorite Beatle?", "What does it mean to be a professional Beatles scholar?", "Which album do you like the best?", et cetera. While those aren't bad questions, they're not very detailed, and I have stock responses which I can rattle off without having to think too very long or hard. Richard, by contrast, asked really great technical questions (like "How did Carl Perkins influence the Beatles?" or "What is an aeolian cadence?"), and asked lots of them. Frankly, those are the kind of questions I wished I was asked every time I'm interviewed! So I went in expecting to answer three or four basic questions over about 7 minutes, and was taken completely by surprise to hear his plans to do an hour-long show! Had I known the depth and quantity of his questions, I would have prepared precise answers. Instead, I stumbled over several, not being able to remember exactly all the details. (On "All My Loving", was it George or John who sang melody on the third verse? Was "Not a Second Time" in G major or D major?) Almost all of my answers, therefore, were spontaneous, somewhat defensive, and nowhere near as authoritative as I usually am. I hope Richard edits the show to cover up some of my less erudite moments! Richard told me the interview would air via radio on Sunday, but would also be available as a podcast as soon as he finishes editing it. I'll be sure to post a link once I get it. I hope to do more interviews with Richard in the future - and next time I'll be sure to ask for his questions in advance! The tour continues today with the fourth and final presentation in Tampa, and tomorrow in Deltona: Thursday, 25 February 2016, 6:00-7:00 p.m. Deltona Regional Library, 2150 Eustace Ave, Deltona FL 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 did something yesterday for the first time on this trip: I listened to Beatles music in the car.
When driving (and I drive a lot - at least 55 hours on this tour alone), I am far more likely to play other bands' music, or an audiobook or podcast, or turn on the local country or hip-hop radio stations, than I am to play the Beatles. A woman once asked me after a talk in Illinois, "Do you ever listen to the Beatles just for pleasure?" Not really. It's not that I don't like the music (I wouldn't spend all this time and effort on music I disliked), but (1) I've already listened soooooo much that I have the music largely committed to memory, which is perfectly adequate when I want to "listen" for pleasure; and (2) as a scholar, my listening is analytic in nature. Every time I hear music (Beatles or otherwise), even when listening for pleasure, I'm engaging with the music by analyzing it - drawing connections between what I'm hearing how and what I've heard in the past. Some people think that's a shame - that I can no longer "just listen for enjoyment" - but I find the opposite true: I get exponentially more enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation from music by making these analytic connections. But yesterday on my drive to Ruskin I stopped by a store called Sound Exchange, a used music and movies retailer, where I purchased The Capitol Albums, Volume 1. It contains the Beatles' first four Capitol albums (the American releases as opposed to the English Parlophone releases), in both stereo and mono: Meet the Beatles!, The Beatles' Second Album, Something New, and Beatles '65 (all originally released in 1964). I've heard much debate over the value of the American vs. British releases, and also of the stereo vs. mono releases. Since I consider the 2009 stereo remastered set the definitive recordings, I have never given much thought to the alternatives. Nevertheless, while in Charleston, WV a week or so ago I encountered the U.S. Albums Box Set and briefly flirted with buying it, but the $200 price tag quickly muted any serious consideration. Still, I decided to keep an eye out. So when I found The Capitol Albums, Volume 1 at a price of just $25, I bought it. Granted, I only listened to a few of the tracks - and even then not that closely (I was driving, after all) - but they seemed remarkably similar to the British products I've studied so extensively. And while I certainly don't regret the purchase, I was slightly disappointed (and glad that I only spent $25 instead of $200). The way some fans discuss the differences, I was expecting much more pronounced distinctions between the two versions. From a musically analytic perspective, however, these differences are negligible and thus offer no insight. On the other hand, as I listen more perhaps I will find musically significant discrepancies. I have many hours of driving ahead of me to find out. Today and tomorrow, though, I'll spend less than an hour in the car as I drive to the Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library this evening, and to the New Tampa Regional Library tomorrow: Wednesday, 24 February 2016, 6:30-7:30 p.m. New Tampa Regional Library, 10001 Cross Creek Blvd, Tampa, FL 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. When not focusing on the Beatles, I'm often focusing on baseball. I have a substantial collection of MLB hats, but it's missing both Florida teams (the Miami Marlins and the Tampa Bay Rays). I've been keeping an eye out for both teams' hats since my arrival in Florida last Monday. I figured Florida team apparel would be pretty easy to find in Florida, but I guess Jacksonville as a city (even a Floridian metropolis) just isn't a fan of either team because I couldn't find a single hat for either team. But, having driven from Jacksonville on the Atlantic side to Tampa Bay on the Gulf side, I was sure to find a Rays hat. And indeed, I picked this guy up yesterday morning:  This addition bring my MLB hat collection to 17 of the 30 teams. (I'm still missing the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Miami Marlins, and the New York Yankees - but who wants a Yankees hat?) Back to Beatles, I visit the SouthShore Library in Ruskin, FL today (at 28 degrees North longitude, the most Southernly location to host one of my programs to date), and tomorrow I return to Tampa for a visit to the Platt Regional Library:
Tuesday, 23 February 2016, 7:00-8:00 p.m. Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, 3910 S. Manhattan Ave, Tampa, FL 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. The other day in Port Orange, the library made an announcement advertising my presentation over the PA system: "Please join us for a free program titled THE BEATLES: BAND OF THE SIXTIES by Beatles scholar Aaron Krerowicz in the auditorium starting in ten minutes." As soon as the announcement ended, a man to my left turned to me and asked if I knew anything about the band or if I was too young. "No," I said. "Too young." I was joking, but he thought I was serious. A moment later I confessed, "I'm actually giving the talk." This time I was serious, but he thought I was joking. It's quite common for audiences to be skeptical of my authority on a band that broke up a decade and a half before my birth, especially when those audiences lived through the time period on which I'm speaking. However, I actually find my age to be one of my biggest advantages when studying the Beatles. Not having lived during the Beatle years, I have a certain historical objectivity. By contrast, David Bowie just died a few weeks ago. I don't know much about him, but I do understand that he peaked in popularity in the mid-80s, right around the time I was born. Consequently, at the time I was growing up in the 90s and into the early 00s, Bowie was the kind of artist many new musicians were reacting against. The same can be said for Michael Jackson, who I grew up knowing as an accused child molester rather than one of the leading artists of his time. (I have a vivid memory of an elementary school friend telling me this joke: What does Michael Jackson have in common with WalMart? Boys underwear half off!) This inevitably inspires an inherent dislike of their music - not because it's "bad" music, but because my coming of age was too close chronologically to their periods of success. Watching news coverage of both Jackson's death in 2009 and Bowie's death in 2016 (both of which featured ample video recordings of their performances), I consistently thought to myself, "This reeks of the 80s!" I simply cannot be objective with David Bowie, Michael Jackson, or any number of other recording artists from the same time. Conversely, there are artists for whom I maintain affection entirely for nostalgic purposes rather than for their musical quality. I discovered the band Barenaked Ladies, for example, while in middle school. I remember receiving their album Stunt for my birthday one year, and to this day I still really like the music (in fact, it's in my car right now - it's perfect driving music). But for all my fondness of that album, I recognize it's not great music. Its appeal is based on the fact that I encountered their music as an adolescent (the point in life when I started to hone and develop my own musical tastes) rather than for any specifically musical merit. That album symbolizes and documents the beginning of my maturation and independence not only specifically as a musician, but also as a person in general. Thus, I can never be truly objective with the Barenaked Ladies, either. And the same goes for bands like the Goo Goo Dolls, Creed, Limp Bizkit, and countless other recording artists who were popular around the turn of the millennium. Of course, a lack of objectivity does not mean I cannot study this music, it just means that I can never be impartial - personal opinions (both good and bad) will inevitably influence my perception and color my analysis. With the Beatles, however, enough time had passed between the band's career and my own coming of age that I am able to maintain historical objectivity - and in a way that almost no other Beatles fan/author/scholar can since the vast majority of experts are those who lived through it. This is also why my career as a touring Beatles scholar and lecturer could not have been done any earlier. Ten years ago I was still an undergrad in college. There's no way I could have done this type of research and analysis in 2006 - I had to gain more experience as a musician and music theorist before I could conduct truly original analysis and yield historically objective insight. All of this means that we're now in a golden age for the Beatles because they've been around long enough to be taken seriously as a significant historical event, but simultaneously they're still young enough to be solidly in living memory. My tour continues this afternoon with my Tampa debut at the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library at 2pm, and tomorrow in Ruskin:
Monday, 22 February 2016, 2:30-3:30 p.m. SouthShore Regional Library, 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin, FL 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. One thing that has surprised me about Florida is the quantity of birds. I've seen scores of turkey vultures, dozens of egrets, and countless songbirds I cannot identify (where is my brother when I need him?). I even saw a bald eagle the other day in Jacksonville. But my biggest shock came during yesterday's visit to the Port Orange library:
Apparently a couple of hawks regularly nest in the trees just outside the entrance and take umbrage with library patrons encroaching on their territory by dive-bombing unsuspecting victims, according to this news article: http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20140329/NEWS/140329421 While I never saw any hawks, I did see several nests (though I have a feeling they were squirrel nests). In any case, 73 people braved the avian assaults to attend "The Beatles: Band of the Sixties" yesterday afternoon, establishing a new attendance record for this tour. One even showed up in an original English mini-cooper:  Yesterday began a stretch of 8 consecutive "Band of the Sixties" presentations, the second of which takes place today in Cocoa Beach, and the third of which will happen tomorrow:
Sunday, 21 February 2016, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library, 2902 W. Bearss Ave, Tampa, FL 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 Left Jacksonville this morning, and just arrived in Port Orange in preparation for this afternoon's "Band of the Sixties".
Tomorrow will be another, a little further South: Saturday, 20 February 2016, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Cocoa Beach Library, 550 N Brevard Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL 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 see why people live in Florida. When I arrived on the evening of February 15, it was about 75 degrees (compared to 10 back home in Carmel, IN). It's so warm that it's actually uncomfortable to wear my sweatshirt or to drive around with the windows up! In addition to the weather differences, I also keep finding scenes that I can't say I've ever seen in the Hoosier state (or, come to think of it, any place else I've ever been with the possible exception of Jamaica):
The Jacksonville Public Library originally booked me for five speaking engagements. A few weeks ago they canceled four of them, leaving me with no time to book substitutes, and costing me about $1,200 in lost income between the speaking fees and book/CD sales afterwards (not to mention my travel expenses, which unfortunately the library cannot cancel). On the other hand, the one program I did do in Jacksonville drew the biggest crowd I've had so far on this tour (at least 50 people), who were entirely engaged and asked some great questions (plus I sold quite a few books and CDs). These two factors leave me uncertain about future visits - I'm eager to return to Jacksonville since the crowd was so strong, but simultaneously hesitant to book anything more given the cancellations. We'll see how 2017 plays out.
In any case, the tour continues tomorrow with another round of "Band of the Sixties" in Port Orange, about 90 minutes South of Jacksonville: Friday, 19 February 2016, 2:00-3:00 p.m. Port Orange Library, 1005 City Center Circle, Port Orange, FL 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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