Transcript
Robert Rodriguez (0:02)
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Dr. Richard Mills (1:02)
This episode is brought to you by Paramount.
Robert Rodriguez (1:05)
Gladiator 2 is now streaming on Paramount. Rated R. Years after the death of Maximus, Lucius is forced into the Coliseum after his home is conquered by tyrannical twin Roman emperors. With the future of the empire at stake, he must find strength and honor.
Dr. Richard Mills (1:22)
To return the glory of Rome to its people.
Robert Rodriguez (1:24)
Gladiator 2 now streaming on paramountplus.com what.
Dr. Richard Mills (1:39)
I remember was these girls going crazy and the smell of piss. All these girls would faint instantly and they just piss. And all the dirt from your shoes would form tiny banks in the rivulets of pee. And that was the Beatles Experience.
Robert Rodriguez (2:09)
Hello and welcome to episode 296 of Something about the Beatles Podcast. First thing you might be wondering is why 296? Didn't we already hear 297 and 298 to close out 2024? Yes, you did. And this is 296, taped in November, and we made certain choices as to the order of things. But Anyway, it was Mark 296, 296. It shall stay. And yes, it's coming after 298, the first one of 2025, a year which promises to be full of good stuff from the Beatles and from this podcast and just events generally, one of which I will get to in a second. But first, my guest is Dr. Richard Mills, born in Ireland, grew up in England, an academic who has written extensively about the Beatles. The book he's got out currently, the Beatles and Fandom, is a terrific book, a Bloomsbury book if you can get your hands on it every once in a while. They have great discounts on these things. And he's got another one coming out in May 2025, the Beatles in Black Music, which we touch on in passing. But we'll have him back on the show for that when the time comes. Meanwhile, January 21 had been announced sort of informally as the publication date for my collaboration with Jerry Hammock called ribbons of Rust, Volume 1, the Beatles recording Career in context, that has been deferred to a date in February, a very portentous date in Beatle history. If you know, you know, if you follow my work, you know. But in any event, if you followed newsletter, which I would Recommend you do, satb2010 mail is how you sign up Subject Line Newsletter and join hundreds of people who already have done so and are very glad that they did, I think it's safe to say, because virtually everyone to a man and woman has requested copies of every single one. So make of that what you will. But anyway, Richard Mills, it was great discussion. His book is terrific. And fandom, one of those things, one of those overlooked subjects in plain sight that we have been getting more and more study of, whether through fan clubs, such as Sarah Schmidt's book that came out a year or so ago. We'll be talking about that in an upcoming show Fan Magazines. Alison Bumstead, you know her from this show and her book that came out recently, Teen Set, we did a book launch for that, but she'll be back discussing other aspects of fan magazine history and how it applies to the Beatles. So that is coming as well. Fandom itself. We've had different expressions of that on the show with the first generation fans I've interviewed, but this is a book that examines all kinds of aspects, including the Beatles Monthly Fan Magazine. He's a terrific guest. We have crossed paths a number of times without truly connecting till this show, so I am very happy for that. It will not be his last time on something about the Beatles, I can guarantee you that, and I hope you will enjoy that conversation. Speaking of past guests and this podcast, Jack Petrocelli, Walter Everett, Cameron Grider from the RPM School had them on the show a number of times independently, separately, collectively, I've been a guest at the RPM School when they have various semesters going on on specific album projects. And anyway, one of the things they've got going is coming this year, as I said, something to look forward to this year, June 24 through June 27. So the week before July 4, it is in upstate New York, not far from Bethel and Woodstock, and I think it's about two and a half hours from New York City. In any event, the Magical Mystery Camp, which is four days of immersion in symposiums, presentations, lots and lots of music and just a sort of informal gathering where you get absolute proximity to the guests, whether they're doing their thing or you just want to hang out. This is basically what it is. So plenty of people are into Beatles history and just want to learn more and hear it from people who know what's what. And then there are people that aspire to make music. Maybe some of them have taken the RPM school so far where Beatle music is deconstructed and broken down, and the class that signed on for the part where they actually walk you through how to perform and record this stuff. You know what I'm talking about. But Magical Mystery Camp is an in person, four day event in upstate New York. The guests this year, first of all, Jack, you know from his band the Fab Foe. They are of course Beatle tribute artists. Second to none, multi instrumentalists as well as in their stage presentation, often augmented with live brass, strings and harp player and whatever else is needed to replicate the Beatles studio recordings. So a terrific act. You've got that. But you've also got a number of musical guests as well. Steve Forbert, you may know him, remember him, late 70s, early 80s, his hit Romeo's Tune, as well as everything else he's done, which is considerable. He was a frequent guest on Richard Courtney's From Me to you radio show out of Nashville. Big Beetle guy. Joan Osborne, a frequent collaborator with Jack, who you know from her hit One of Us. And she's been on the road with all kinds of acts through the years, including the Grateful Dead and its various iterations. She's done the camp before actually. And Peter Asher, everybody knows as one half of Peter and Gordon, as well as being the producer of Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor. He discovered James Taylor produced his first album at Apple, as well as being the head of A and R at Apple. Very tight with Paul through the years and he's the host on Beatles channel Sirius xm, as well as author of the book Beatles A to Z. Those are your headlining guests and you've got other luminaries there as well, including yours truly and Jerry Hammock, who will be presenting about our book. You have to go to the site magical mysterycamp.com something that'll bring you to registration, but magical mysterycamp.com for all the information on all the guests and the accommodations. So it's Catskills, right? So you have mountains, you got a lake. So there's swimming, you can hang out when you're not engaged in Beetle activities and you've got arrangements ranging from a place to set up a tent to shared rooms and cabins. Depending on how you define camping, you can arrange it to your satisfaction, to your comfort level. But there's also, if you go to the site, if you need a little help from your friends, they do have scholarships as well. Because this is a learning experience as well as a fun Beetle hangout as well, you can easily make it part of a road trip and then visit Bethel or Woodstock or New York City. So a beautiful location and the beautiful Beetle vibe going on, immersed in art and music and cool people. So definitely check out the site. And again, it is magical mystery camp.com this is the Week Tuesday June 24th through the 27th, the week before July 4th. So it's a great way to kick off the summer travel season, vacation season, what have you. Any event? I'll be there, we'll be talking about more and in fact I've got a video I made with Jack I'll be sharing shortly. But again, anybody wants to know, for example, why it's been one month since the last show, sign up to the satbi newsletter satb2010mail.com and you'll be informed on all kinds of stuff. I've not been doing a ton of social media lately just to announce the new shows. That's pretty much it. So. So anything else you really want to know connected with the show and Beetle world generally, that's the place to be. I send them out every Monday, so that's that. I was really looking forward to talking with Richard Mills and he did not disappoint. It was a fun conversation. We talked about everything from Midas man to Jane Asher to fans views of Paul and a bit about Beatles Monthly, but lots to digest there. His book is, like I said, it's terrific and I'm really looking forward to his next one. But apart from that, we got some great shows in the works. I promise will not be a month between shows going forward, barring any contingencies. And more on my own book with Jerry Hammock coming up. That will be. Well, you'll find out stuff through the newsletter, everything there is to know. I'm sure we'll be doing all kinds of press and interviews and things about that. So without wasting any further time, Richard Mills have you seen Midas Man?