Episode 94- Shake It Up Baby!- The Beatles and 1963 with Ken McNab (Part 2 of 2)
Release Date: 09/26/2023
Glass Onion: On John Lennon
We end Glass Onion’s 6th year with the start of another multi-part series, the first 4-parter in the history of the podcast. Using (mostly) the John Lennon parts from Steve Turner’s excellent 2006 book ‘The Gospel According To The Beatles’, we trace our hero’s religious, spiritual and philosophical journey through its many twists and turns in his intense four-decade ride through life. Antony also comments on his own journey in these areas, some of which overlaps with that of John Lennon and The Beatles. Part 1 looks at the first two chapters of Steve’s book, focusing a lot on the...
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We conclude our look at John Lennon as an actor, starting from 1965’s ‘Help!’ and with particular emphasis on what was arguably his only ‘serious’ role, albeit in an anti-war satire ‘How I Won The War’. He also voices a famously sprawling Beatles TV film about a bus, and there’s a film cameo and brief comedy sketch in amongst it all as well. Antony is joined once again by professional actor Ross Marshall, and there are multiple audio clips to complement the conversation. Glass Onion will return in December for 1 or possibly 2 more episodes looking at John Lennon’s religious...
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The show keeps rolling with a look at John Lennon as an actor, both in films and TV sketches and also in his persona as Beatle John with the press and on stage. Antony is joined in this endeavour by professional actor Ross Marshall, and the conversation also looks at the craft of acting itself in terms of styles and John Lennon’s (un)suitability for it. Part 1 reaches the end of 1964, including discussion of John’s performance in ‘A Hard Day’s Night’. Part 2 will be out in a few weeks Enjoy! Feedback to Support the show at OR Facebook page ...
info_outline Bonus Episode #15- Antony interviewed by James Jarman in 2016Glass Onion: On John Lennon
For our latest bonus episode, we offer a diversion and a trip back to the past as your humble host is interviewed about his and other people’s music by a friend in Madrid in 2016. Topics touched upon include songwriting, creativity, performance, recording and (no surprise) The Beatles and John Lennon. Preceding the interview are Antony's thoughts after a reread of the Ray Coleman revised and updated 'Lennon' biography. The next regular episode will be out at the start of November Enjoy! Feedback to Support the show at OR Facebook page Twitter handle ...
info_outline Episode 102- Toronto 1969 Part 2: Sweet Toronto with Dave ThurmaierGlass Onion: On John Lennon
We complete our 2-part look at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival concert of September 1969 and the ‘white-suited apostle’ John Lennon’s involvement in it with the highly flexible Plastic Ono Band. Following ‘Revival ‘69’, Antony and Dave Thurmaier turn their attention to a 1971 film that should be in every Lennon fan’s video collection, namely D.A. Pennebaker’s film ‘Sweet Toronto’. Antony also reads some other articles and opinions about the event (Goldman despisers, please look away now) and gets Dave’s take on a few Lennon questions that used to be regularly tackled on...
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And so the next century of Glass Onion begins. We’ve got another fine 2-parter for you, with Antony joined by Dave Thurmaier, the co-host of the ‘I’ve Got A Beatles Podcast’ and former guest of the show way back in 2019 and 2020. The Toronto Rock and Roll Revival concert of September 1969 yielded a live album for John & Yoko plus D.A. Pennebaker’s film ‘Sweet Toronto’ (which will be reviewed in the next episode) and most recently a fantastic 2022 documentary by Ron Chapman. This latter doc is the focus of part 1 of our talk, and before that Antony and Dave discuss Beatle...
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And so we complete the milestone! Scott Phipps once again joins Antony to complete their whistle-stop, greatest hits tour through John Lennon and the 1960s. Scott gives us a brief sketch of each year through a few news events (some extremely random but no less interesting) before our two intrepid heroes each pick a Beatles/Lennon talking point, this time covering the years 1965 to 1969. Thanks once more to all those who’ve been on the Glass Onion journey. My heart has truly been touched by the interest shown in what has been a 5-and-a-half-year odyssey exploring the utterly unique...
info_outline Episode 100a- John Lennon In The 1960s (Part 1 of 2)Glass Onion: On John Lennon
What better way to mark Glass Onion’s century than with a traditional multi-parter? In the first of two shows to celebrate our milestone, Antony is joined again by Scott Phipps to take a whistle-stop, greatest hits tour through John Lennon and the decade that made him and which he helped propel into history. Scott puts on his ‘Rainbow Valley’ trousers (see show notes) to sketch out each year for us before we each pick a Beatles/Lennon talking point for discussion. This time we tackle 1960 to 1964 as our hero goes from pure rocker to public figure and part of a national obsession. He also...
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We felt it in poor taste to add show notes at such a sad time for the world...
info_outlineKen McNab and I complete our discussion about his new book 'Shake It Up Baby!: The Rise of Beatlemania And The Mayhem of 1963' and the general atmosphere and events of that breathless year. This time round, we cover the second half of the year as our four intrepid musical explorers continue their furious work rate and have their first proper brushes with the British establishment.
They also record and release their second album and yet more seminal singles, and slowly set their sights on the ‘land of milk and honey’ across the Atlantic while conquering their homeland completely and finding time to record the first of their special Christmas messages for their growing number of fan club members…
Links to Ken’s work can be found below
Enjoy!
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Twitter handle https://www.twitter.com/OnionLennon
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coaching) https://www.antonyrotunno.com
Antony's 'Life And Life Only' podcast (on Psychology and Alternative media)
https://www.lifeandlifeonly.podbean.com
links to Ken’s 1963 book and his other work
https://www.waterstones.com/author/ken-mcnab/1270697
Ken’s previous appearances on Glass Onion
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/episode-17-and-in-the-end-with-ken-mcnab-part-1-of-2
https://glassoniononjohnlennon.com/episode-18-and-in-the-end-with-ken-mcnab-part-2-of-2
episode links
Beatles 1963 timeline
https://dmbeatles.com/history.php?year=1963
The Beatles at the London Palladium (October 1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eBdUjrkCZ4
The Fabs rock out on Swedish TV!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYpVNpXCAls
The Beatles’ ‘rattle yer jewellery’ Royal Variety Show performance (colourised and sound-enhanced)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRr5uCSBvhw
The Beatles Come To Town (Manchester 1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-_hRHRtN8Q
The Beatles Xmas Record 1963
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzm8o3ytoRk
Beatles Studio Outtakes (funny!)