Episode 57: Guitarist George Benson on what makes Beatles’ songs so special: “They had great stories”
Release Date: 07/23/2024
Episode 61: Nellie McKay, singer-songwriter, actor, and comedienne
Everything Fab Four
Known for her genre-bending music, sharp social commentary, and activism for animal rights and social justice, Nellie McKay was born in London and raised in the United States, where she studied jazz at the Manhattan School of Music. Her performances at various New York City music venues, including the Sidewalk Cafe and Joe's Pub, drew attention from record labels, which resulted in her debut album Get Away from Me. Produced by Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, The New York Times lauded the LP as a tour-de-force. Nellie’s music can been heard on Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Weeds,...
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Episode 60: Psychedelic rockers Blac Rabbit, creators of our theme song "Seize the Day"
Everything Fab Four
Joining host Ken Womack on the first episode of season 7 is Blac Rabbit — familiar voices to our listeners. In 2018, Blac Rabbit released their first LP, "Interstella," which included the debut single “Seize the Day,” which has served as the "Everything Fab Four" theme song since our very first episode featuring Steve Lukather in September 2020. In 2018, a 48-second video of twin brothers Amiri and Rahiem Taylor, the guitarists and singer-songwriters who perform as Blac Rabbit, playing the Beatles' “Eight Days a Week” went viral, racking up millions of views. They went from staging...
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Episode 59 (Bonus): Singer-songwriter Peter Wolf on his musical upbringing: "It took me a while to warm up to the Beatles"
Everything Fab Four
On this episode of Everything American singer-songwriter Peter Wolf joins host Ken Womack to discuss Wolf’s life in music and his earliest musical influences.
A native of the Bronx, Wolf spent his youth soaking up New York City’s music scene, especially the Apollo Theater’s array of soul, rhythm & blues, and gospel performers. After moving to Boston, he attended Tufts University’s Museum of Fine Arts. During this period, he formed his first band, The Hallucinations, which perfo
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Episode 58 (Bonus): Paul Reiser's father "tolerated" the Beatles on Ed Sullivan
Everything Fab Four
On this episode of Everything Fab Four, actor and comedian Paul Reiser joins to discuss his first memories of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and share the Beatles song that “still kills [him].”
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Episode 57: Guitarist George Benson on what makes Beatles’ songs so special: “They had great stories”
Everything Fab Four
On today’s episode, American jazz fusion guitarist and singer-songwriter George Benson drops by to discuss what gave the Beatles “prestige” and how the band helped Black musicians succeed.
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Episode 56 (Bonus): How the Beatles inspired these 1970s television icons
Everything Fab Four
On this bonus episode of Everything Fab Four, we trace two television icons from the 1970s—both very different in terms of target audience, but united in the inspiration that they drew from the Beatles.
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Episode 55: Rosanna Arquette on growing up with the Beatles: "I always loved ‘Revolver’”
Everything Fab Four
On this episode of Everything Fab Four, actor and activist Rosanna Arquette shares her favorite Beatles song and recounts where she was when John Lennon died.
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Episode 54: Jamie Bernstein says her father Leonard Bernstein was “almost as obsessed with ‘Sgt. Pepper’ as I was"
Everything Fab Four
Author and filmmaker Jamie Bernstein joins Everything Fab Four to discuss growing up with a world-famous father, and why Leonard Bernstein chose Beatles songs to explain musical concepts.
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Episode 53: Darius Rucker on the Beatles' legacy: “Everybody else has to line up behind them”
Everything Fab Four
On this episode, legendary singer-songwriter Darius Rucker joins Everything Fab Four to share how he first discovered the Beatles at five, and which Beatles album he thinks is the “most perfect album ever made.”
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Episode 52: Joan Osborne on how the Beatles inspired her to try different musical styles
Everything Fab Four
Grammy-nominated American recording artist Joan Osborne joins Everything Fab Four to talk about hearing “Revolution 9” at a makeout party and how her music career began.
info_outlineOn today’s episode, American jazz fusion guitarist and singer-songwriter George Benson drops by to discuss what gave the Beatles “prestige” and how the band helped Black musicians succeed.
Benson recorded his first album The New Boss Guitar, at 21, and followed it up with It’s Uptown with the George Benson Quartet. In 1969, he recorded his homage to the Beatles’ album Abbey Road, entitled The Other Side of Abbey Road.
Things really took off for Benson in the mid-1970s, beginning with the LP Bad Benson, which topped the Billboard jazz charts in 1974. Benson scored a triple-platinum hit with his 1976 album Breezin’, and in 1978, he earned a Grammy award for his live rendition of “On Broadway.”
In 1980, Benson took the pop charts by storm with his studio album Give Me the Night. Produced by Quincy Jones, the LP yielded several hit singles including the upbeat, jazz-infused title track.
Benson’s latest LP Dreams Do Come True features orchestrations that had been lost for 35 years, and were recently unearthed from his archive. The collection includes Benson’s takes on such standards as “Autumn Leaves,” “At Last,” “My Romance,” “A Song for You,” and the Beatles’ “Yesterday.”
Over the years, Benson has earned 10 Grammy Awards, while seeing his career memorialized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.