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.
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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. Feb 16: "The Influence of American Rock 'n' Roll on The Beatles" at the Jacksonville Public Library2/13/2016 Yesterday's "Band of the Sixties" at the Mt Airy Public Library went very well, with about 30 people in attendance (right around average). One guy even gave me a poster of the Beatles' infamous "Butcher Cover": Tomorrow being Valentine's Day and Monday being being Presidents' Day, they're both days off for me as I drive down to Jacksonville, FL for my next speaking engagement at the Jacksonville Public Library:
Tuesday, 16 February 2016, 7:00-8:30 p.m. Jacksonville Public Library: Southeast Library, 10599 Deerwood Park Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 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. What is it with me and burst pipes?
Last October, two speaking engagements at the Bridgewater Public Library in Massachusetts were cancelled because a burst pipe flooded the program room. And now yesterday my airbnb host for the night, Trent, cancelled after a burst pipe flooded his entire house. He wrote to me yesterday: "Unfortunately, the house is a disaster. I just got home, and am seeing the damage for myself for the first time. The house doesn't have water at the moment. We are staying with family this evening since the repairmen could not make it out until tomorrow. Once again, I am so sorry that this happened! I feel terrible about having thrown your arrangements out of whack." That's bad news to receive while in the car driving to his house, but it's even worse for him! Anyway, that left me in the predicament of having to find overnight accommodations for that evening. Pulling off the highway, I found a McDonalds with free WiFi. Gheorghe, a customer service representative of Airbnb, was kind enough to offer to cover the difference in cost between my original reservation and the cost of my last-minute substitute, and I found a place in Greensboro, NC. While slightly out of my way, the extra driving was worth the peace of mind knowing I had a place to sleep! Crisis averted, I got back on the road and arrived in High Point, NC around 3pm. With a start time of 6pm at the High Point library, that gave me two hours to find a bite to eat before reporting to the library to set up. Now, granted, I only drove down one street, but that was main street, but the only restaurants I could find were fast food chains. It seemed like every single chain restaurant in existence could be found: I saw Wendy's, Arby's, Little Caesar's, Chick-Fil-A, Pizza Hut, Subway, Chipotle, Waffle House, Dunkin Donuts, Zaxby's, and McDonald's. But having had a Big Mac earlier, I wanted something other than more fast food. Wasn't there any decent place to eat??? Eventually I found Sumela, a Turkish and Mediterranean eatery (which happened to be just across the street from the library), and devoured a gyro in record time. The program went exceptionally well. The crowd of maybe 40 or 45 was completely attentive and engaged, and asked some great questions afterward. I've found that the number and quality of questions asked is the best barometer of how engaged a crowd is, and this group didn't disappoint. In addition to the common questions, "How did you get so into the Beatles?" and "Who is your favorite Beatle?", one guy asked about George Harrison's album Wonderwall, which was the first solo Beatles album ever released. Another asked about how receptive English audiences were to my presentations last July (they were skeptical at first - even American audience are skeptical when they realize I didn't live through the Beatle years - but by the end of my programs I had won them over!). And one woman asked about the inspiration for the song "Eleanor Rigby", to which I responded by citing the grave with her name at St. Peter's church, where John and Paul met for the first time in 1957. Today I backtrack a bit to Mt. Airy, NC for another "Band of the Sixties", and tomorrow I drive to Elkin, NC: Saturday, 13 February 2016, 4:00-5:00 p.m. Elkin Public Library 111 N Front St, Elkin, NC 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. This Elkin stop was the last to be added to my February schedule. Originally I had plans to speak at the Raleigh, NC library that day, but they flaked out on me, leaving no time to fill the spot as I typically book six months in advance. Then, out of the blue, Martha Smith, director of the Elkin Public Library, emailed me on January 28 asking if I could be there on February 13 - just two weeks later. Of course I could! Yesterday's "Band of the Sixties" at the Kanawha County Public Library in Charleston, West Virginia drew about 45-50 people - significantly more than my average of 30-35ish and more than twice as many as any of the earlier presentations on this tour. After the program and Q&A, we held a raffle for a free copy of Steve Turner's book "The Complete Beatles Songs", a revision of his earlier book "A Hard Day's Write". While I have the original, I do not yet have the revision, and I secretly wished I could have won it! On September 21 of last year, I received an email from Lucy Gibson of HarperCollins publishing offerin me a complimentary copy of the new version. I eagerly accepted the offer, but still have yet to receive the book. Lucy, if you're reading this, I'm still interested :-) With the raffle complete, the Beatles Tribute band RUBBER SOUL performed. I originally planned to leave right after my talk because I had an hour drive ahead of me, but since the band started before I was even done packing up (I had expected them to start playing about 7:30, but since their keyboard player Mark had to leave by 8, they started promptly at 7) I was able to catch the second half. I've heard LOTS of different versions of Beatles songs, but I don't believe I've ever heard the solo to "A Hard Day's Night" played on a euphonium before! When I realized what was happening, I immediately pulled out my phone to capture it on video: |
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