Stuart Maconie – broadcaster, prolific author – has a brilliant and original new perspective on the Beatles. His latest book With A Little Help From Their Friends identifies the 100 people who had the greatest impact on their story, from the inner circle to bit-part players – schoolfriends, girlfriends, managers, muses, support acts, advisors and exploiters. It’s immensely entertaining – and revealing, even for obsessives like us. Look out for these in particular …

… memories of his Mum taking him to see the Beatles in Wigan when he was three.

… the Shakespearian supporting cast – “we know the Othellos and King Lears but there are a lot of Rosencrantz and Guildensterns” such as Marsha Albert, Melanie Coe, Pablo Fanque, Mr Mustard and the night with the poet Royston Ellis that inspired Polythene Pam.

… villains of the piece who might have been misunderstood like the Maharishi and Allen Klein.

… what Derek Taylor shouted at Peter Blake at the Q Awards.

… the full extent of the Beatles’ American merchandise catastrophe.

… the “moving and spooky” sensation of standing on the spot in Woolton where John and Paul first met - and its repercussions.

… the Sliding Doors moments and why no other band merits this kind of depth and detail.

… the hoary redundant old saw about John v Paul – “guerilla genius v slick vaudevillian” and how Peter Jackson’s Get Back made us all fall in love with them even harder and deeper than before.

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… the regrettable question he asked McCartney about Gerry & the Pacemakers.

… the tragedy of Jimmie Nicol – “being a member of the Beatles, even briefly, was the nearest equivalent to going to the Moon”.

… the impact of Paul’s life with the Ashers on the band’s intersections with art, theatre and poetry.

… how the ‘Oldies But Goldies’ album broke the band beyond the Iron Curtain.

.. why Penny Lane is like a Play for Today.

… and the greatest song the Beatles recorded.

Order With A Little Help From Our Friends here: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/with-a-little-help-from-their-friends-the-beatles-changed-the-world-but-who-changed-theirs-stuart-maconie?variant=54870051815803

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Rob Caiger is one of those special people who turned their teenage obsession with music into a job

… from being the only one in ELO’s office who knew where the old tapes were

… to learning that what it says on the outside of the box isn’t always what’s on the tape

… through embarking on a ten-year project to put out the last Small Faces album from 1970 in its proper form

… via blindfolded journeys to mysterious destinations with the promise of finding some long-lost jewels

… and hearing a Rolling Stones out-take bleeding through a multi-track by the Move

… through the vault under Smithfield Market out of which tapes would sometimes emerge covered in blood

… to preparing for a future where nobody who was there will be able to explain how and why things were recorded

… this is the world as seen by the remarkably dedicated people who put together the box sets we all hanker for.

The Small Faces: The Autumn Stone record and CD - https://www.thesmallfaces.com/shop/

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Hoary old tales retold – ideally in an Irish accent - and new ones prized from the giddy carousel of rock and roll news which, this week, features …

… was there a better stage name than Rick Derringer?

… Linda Ronstadt, Ronnie Spector, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and other new biopics under construction.

… genuinely ‘iconic’ rock images – the Ziggy lightning stipe, Johnny Cash at San Quentin, Elvis dancing in Jailhouse Rock, Dylan and Suze Rotolo in Jones Street …

… our old pal Barry McIlheney, his Belfast band Shock Treatment and the time he asked U2 to draw a duck.

… the thin wall that separates hilarity and grief.

… how TikTok and a 1962 B-side booted the 87-year old Connie Francis.

… Banned words! – ‘iconic, circle back, reach out, Ramones-esque, eponymous sophomore effort’ and other clichés that MUST be banished!

… “Sgt Pepper: it’s like the Beatles on acid!”

… why 80 per cent of the stadium experience is beyond our control.

... how Freddie Mercury still makes headlines beyond the grave.

… the real Rikki in ‘Rikki Don’t Lose that Number’.

… and when you find yourself at a Springsteen gig next to a Trump supporter.

Watch the Barry McIlheney podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjw-6HZWa-E

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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