Everything Fab Four

On this episode, Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and activist Joan Baez joins host Ken Womack to share her memories of meeting the Beatles for the first time and witnessing their final live concert. Baez's time-eclipsing folk music often champions songs of protest and social justice. Over the years, she has recorded 30 albums in genres ranging from folk rock, pop and country to gos...

Sophie B. Hawkins, the Grammy-nominated American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter, joins host Kenneth Womack on the season five finale episode of "Everything Fab Four." Hawkins started her Beatles journey as a kid with "Revolver," and remembers playing along with tennis racket guitars and couch cushion drums. "Even as a non-musician, you can sing basically every part." In thi...

This week's guests are Margo Precht Speciale and Andrew Solt, who join host Kenneth Womack for a special episode devoted to celebrating the 75th anniversary of The Ed Sullivan Show and its lasting impact on American culture, including Beatles fandom. The granddaughter of Ed Sullivan, Precht is a documentary filmmaker, as well as a UCLA graduate with a degree in Sociology. Her latest project traces...

On this episode, the Boxmasters — an American rock band comprised of Grammy Award-winning recording engineer J.D. Andrew and Academy Award-winning actor Billy Bob Thornton — join host Ken Womack for a spirited discussion of songwriting, recording, and what Thornton says is "the most difficult thing about being a Beatles fan." Formed in 2007, the Boxmasters have recorded a diverse catalog of music...

Ken Womack's guest this week is Grammy-nominated American jazz guitarist Dan Wilson. Hailing from Akron, Ohio, Wilson made his recording debut with pianist Joe McBride and performed to worldwide acclaim with Joey DeFrancesco and Christian McBride's Tip City, eventually recording his debut as a band leader with "To Whom It May Concern" in 2012. Over the years, Wilson has shared the stage with a hos...

In this episode, Ken Womack talks with Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham. She made her recording debut in 2014 with the self-released gospel album "Authenticities," which reflected her exploration of faith. In 2017, Cunningham joined the cast of American Public Media's "Live from Here." In 2019, she released her breakthrough LP "Who Are You Now," nominated for the Best Amer...

Legendary singer-songwriter, author, and rock 'n' roll star Ian Hunter's illustrious career is now in its seventh decade. His rock 'n' roll life has long been marked by collaboration, from the golden age of Mott the Hoople to his fabled partnership with Mick Ronson and 21st-century renaissance with his crack backing combo, the Rant Band. Over the years, Hunter has enjoyed numerous chart successes,...

This episode's guest is Barbara Feldon, a model, author and actress best known for portraying "Agent 99" on the classic '60s sitcom "Get Smart." Feldon was born Barbara Anne Hall in a suburb of Pittsburgh and studied drama at Carnegie Mellon University. Soon after, she departed for New York City to pursue a career in acting, where a stint as a showgirl led to her appearance on the game show, "The...

On this episode, host Kenneth Womack welcomes Grammy winner Kenny Loggins, whose songs have left a musical imprint on "the soundtrack of our lives."  Over the last four decades, his chart-topping songs have included "This Is It," "I'm Alright," "Footloose," "Danger Zone," and so many more. "Danger Zone" was featured once again in Paramount's "Top Gun: Maverick," the biggest theatrical release of 2...

Pattie Boyd is an English model, photographer, and an eyewitness to key moments in rock 'n' roll history, particularly in terms of the lives and times of the former members of the Beatles, especially George Harrison. In 1962, Boyd began her modeling career, later appearing on the covers of Vogue and other leading magazines. In 1964, she met Harrison while working as an extra on the set of "A Hard...

Today's guest is Hayley Orrantia, an American singer and actress known for her role in the hit TV show "The Goldbergs." The show follows the hilarious and awkward lives of a colorful, suburban family in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania in the 1980s. Orrantia is a scene stealer as Erica, the eldest Goldberg sibling, who fans have watched transform from a socially awkward, nerdy high schooler to popular, co...

In this episode, bassist Dougie Payne of Travis joins host Kenneth Womack to talk about his Beatles influence, the 20th anniversary of "The Invisible Band" and why "everyone needs their own Mal Evans." The Scottish band, originally named Glass Onion after the famous "White Album" song, was formed in 1990 and later took its name from a character in the movie "Paris, Texas." Payne learned to play ba...

Ken Womack's guest this week is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Darlene Love (born Darlene Wright). Best known for her holiday hit "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," in addition to her vocals on records by "girl group" The Crystals and her acting roles such as in the "Lethal Weapon" film series, Love's beginnings were modest, having started out singing in the Los Angeles church choir where her...

May Pang is a former music executive and an eyewitness to key moments in rock 'n' roll history, particularly in terms of the lives and times of the former members of the Beatles, especially John Lennon. After growing up in Spanish Harlem and Manhattan, Pang's early jobs included working as an old-school record-plugger and at Allen Klein's management office, which represented Apple Records and thre...

German artist, musician and record producer Klaus Voormann, former bassist for Manfred Mann, has played on a number of iconic recordings, from Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" to Lou Reed's "Transformer" album, and with many projects of the former members of the Beatles, whom Voorman has known since their Hamburg days. The one-time London roommate of George Harrison and Ringo Starr won a Grammy for...

This week's guest is celebrated English guitarist, singer, and songwriter Peter Frampton. A musical prodigy, Frampton taught himself to play the guitar at age 7. Within the next few years, he mastered complex jazz, blues and rock riffs. He spent his pre-teen years performing with bands including George & The Dragons, a group that included fellow up-and-coming musician David Bowie. Eventually, Fram...

This episode's guests are the duo ensemble The Bacon Brothers — younger brother and veteran actor Kevin and his older sibling Michael, an award-winning composer. Since his breakout roles in the early 1980s, including a starring turn in "Footloose," Kevin has been a star on the big and small screens. And Michael, a music professor at Lehman College, has enjoyed a long and celebrated career as an ac...

This episode's guest is Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and musician Shawn Colvin. A participant in Greenwich Villages' Fast Folk Collective in the early 1980s, Colvin cut her teeth in the Buddy Miller Band and toured with Suzanne Vega after singing back-up on Vega's 1987 hit "Luka." Her 1989 debut, "Steady On," won a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Her 1996 album "A Few Smal...

American filmmaker Ken Burns is renowned for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture, such as "The Civil War," "Baseball," "Jazz," and "Country Music." Burns's documentaries have earned two Academy Award nominations and have won several Emmy Awards, among other honors. His latest documentary is "The U.S. and the Holocaust," which premieres...

In this episode, host Ken Womack and powerhouse rocker Ann Wilson go deep into Beatles songs and their influence on her own work, the high school politics of fandom, and what the Beatles taught her about gender as a young rocker. Wilson rose to fame alongside her younger sister, guitarist Nancy Wilson, as lead vocalist in the rock band Heart, the first hard rock group fronted by women. In their he...

Today's special episode features our good friends from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, here to discuss their new exhibition, The Beatles: Get Back to Let It Be. Designed to serve as an immersive complement to Peter Jackson's Get Back docuseries, the groundbreaking exhibition allows fans to experience The Beatles' creative journey through original instruments, clothing...

Scottish-born musician, singer, songwriter, and actor Colin Hay first came to prominence as the lead vocalist of the Australian rock band Men at Work, which won the Best New Artist Grammy in 1983. Their big break came in August 1982, when Men at Work toured Canada and the US to promote their first LP Business as Usual, supporting Fleetwood Mac. That October, their song, "Who Can It Be Now?" reache...

Kenneth Womack's guest on this episode of "Everything Fab Four" is English singer/songwriter Dave Mason, who first found fame and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with the rock band Traffic. He wrote and sang lead on Traffic's 1968 single "Feelin Alright?" which also went on to become a hit for Joe Cocker and throughout the years has been covered by a wide range of art...

Singer/songwriter Janis Ian started her music career as a folk prodigy, writing and recording "Society's Child," her groundbreaking 1966 song about an interracial couple, at age 14. She won a Grammy Award for her 1975 hit "At Seventeen" and the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008. Her new EP, "The Light at the End of the Line," her first album of new material in 15 years, will b...

On this episode of "Everything Fab Four," host Kenneth Womack interviews the Duchess of Coolsville herself, two-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Rickie Lee Jones. In their conversation, she breaks down the differences in how John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote women in their songs, how to keep a creative body of work innovative, how the Beatles' map of songwriting influenced hers, and...