Yesterday and Today

The Beatles are a big act to follow - but with Wings, Paul McCartney set his sights on not just surviving in a post-fab world, but soaring in one. From dingy college campus shows and rainy tour bus nights, to the astronomical heights of Wings Over the World, Macca's grand experiment grew to become one of the biggest musical enterprises in the world by the end of 1976. While earlier incarnations of...

It's the end of 1975, and this transformative year in Beatles history would in many ways set a new standard for John, Paul, George and Ringo in the latter half of the decade to follow. George Harrison's latest single, This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying), taken from his modestly successful Extra Texture LP, would be the last single released on the original Apple label, and subsequently fail to ent...

Paul McCartney may have been the former Beatle with the most to prove in the early days following the Beatles' breakup...but by the latter half of 1975 McCartney and his group Wings were the band to beat from his former colleagues. A slew of hit singles and 2 consecutive top albums made Wings one of the most influential and relevant sounds of the mid 1970s, with no sign of the group slowing down a...

It's the fall of 1975 and George Harrison's new LP Extra Texture is the most current musical offering from the former Beatles. For many, this album was a step in the right direction from the drug and depression-tinged Dark Horse LP from the year prior, in which the rock-bottom of George's personal life seemed to make its way to record. From the toe-tapping You (the album's first single and a top 2...

We're celebrating 100 episodes of the Yesterday & Today Podcast! This over-sized anniversary spectacular is packed with special guests, special features, music, memories and more - and we can't wait for you all to hear it. On January 27th, 2018, the Yesterday & Today podcast went live for the first time, bringing to the internet airwaves a Beatles chronology over 20 years in the making. No...

It's the fall of 1975, and the decade that brought so much music from the four former Beatles has reached its halfway point. It seems John, Paul, George and Ringo have each made peace with the band's demise, but big changes were still in store for their respective personal lives in the coming months. Paul McCartney was at the top of the singles and LP charts with his mega-hit Venus & Mars albu...

It's summertime 1975 and the wave of Beatles nostalgia and reunion rumors that had persisted for several months prior is continuing to grip the world of popular music. With relations warm between John, Paul, George and Ringo -- and with Allen Klein out of the picture -- all seemed prime for the fab four to join forces once more...but short of a David Frost television tribute special, the public di...

The spring of 1975 saw some of the most candid and nostalgia-laden interviews ever from each of the four former Beatles since their split over five years prior. First up on April 19th was George Harrison, talking with WNEW FM about everything from his plans for Dark Horse Records, to a brand new studio album, to his struggles with the rock music press - specifically those of the recent harsh revie...

From the streets of New Orleans to the heat of Los Angeles, Paul McCartney and Wings were at last finished with Venus And Mars, the follow-up LP to the wildly successful 1973 Band On The Run album -- and it was time to celebrate! What ensued was a veritable who's who of the Los Angeles music scene partying heartily aboard the permanently-docked ocean liner The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California....

It's March of 1975 and a flurry of activity is once again stirring in the world of John Lennon. Newly reunited with wife Yoko Ono and flying high off the heels of his successful Walls & Bridges and Rock And Roll LPs, the reinvigorated ex-Beatle was making preparations to enter the studio to record his next album of original material - tentatively titled Sally & Billy. The prolific John had...

February of 1975 saw the official release of John Lennon's most laborious, expensive album project in the entirety of his solo career: Rock & Roll. This collection of oldies may have seemed like an effortless cash-grab from the recesses of John's nostalgia, but the truth, drama and love behind the project ran far deeper than any listener at the time could have expected. The concept of an oldie...

In the early weeks of 1975, the burst of productivity and music that characterized John Lennon's so-called "lost weekend" continued on in its typical, blistering pace. But the "weekend" was almost over, and while John didn't know it at the time, these last few projects at the beginning of 1975 would be among his last major works as a solo artist. First up? Pal David Bowie invites John into the stu...

It's 1975! A new year brings a new locale and recording project for Paul McCartney and Wings, who are headed down south to celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans! While this newest Wings line-up continues to solidify, the band drinks in the sights and sounds of the Louisiana atmosphere, capturing moments and melodies destined for the follow-up LP to Paul's December '73 masterpiece Band On The Run. Bu...

It's the end of 1974 - a year of productivity, transformation, music and the definitive ending for The Beatles partnership. After four long years of litigation, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr (plus a parade of their respective attorneys) put pen to paper on the document that would once and for all conclude the greatest pop music enterprise the modern world had ever seen before or since. But...

In a year jam-packed with new music from each of the four ex-Beatles, the 3rd and final studio album from the former fabs in 1974 was the widely anticipated, tour-supported George Harrison LP Dark Horse. In the wake of the Beatles' split (a full 4+ years earlier) George found himself uniquely poised for success amongst his colleagues - with arguably the lowest expectations for solo project output,...

It's November 1974 and George Harrison's Dark Horse Tour is rolling on through the heart of North America. While George's ragged voice continued its decline on these tour stops, the fun and energy of the musicianship on stage was evident to the thousands of excited fans packing concert venues to see the former Beatle perform some of his iconic hits for the first time in years (in some cases, ever)...

Over four years had passed since the official break-up of the Beatles, and by the tail end of 1974 the world of music was changing, evolving and finding new stars to light the way. But despite these shifts in faces and trends, the Beatles' legend remained surprisingly vital, with not only a slew of successful solo material from the former fabs, but also from tributes such as the Sgt. Pepper's Lone...

It's November 1974, and there's new music from all four former Beatles reaching fans around the world. First up, George Harrison's Dark Horse tour, premiering new music from his forthcoming LP release of the same name, barrels on through Oakland, Long Beach and Los Angeles California with some unfortunately mixed results. George was facing harsh critical backlash for the quality of his voice follo...

With the release of John Lennon's new #1 Walls and Bridges LP, the fall of 1974 was shaping up to be yet another season of success for the former Beatles. Its corresponding lead-off single, Whatever Gets You Through The Night was comfortably positioned atop the US singles charts as well, giving Lennon the boost of commercial approval he had been chasing for some time as a solo artist. So inspired...

It's the finale of the John Lennon Radio Tour series! Over the past several episodes, we've heard some of John's favorite records, memories and new tracks from the freshly released Walls and Bridges album - all of which paint a surprisingly intimate portrait of where the former Beatle was in his life in these early weeks of fall, 1974. For this third and final installment, you'll hear Lennon relay...

We're back with part two of the JOHN LENNON RADIO TOUR series! In the fall of 1974, John Lennon took to the airwaves to promote his new album Walls And Bridges in a radio DJ tour that spanned multiple stations, states and songs - all of which offered a unique insight into the former Beatle's state of mind. Station 93 KHJ was the next stop on the road, and coincided with the September 26th release...

Listen to this podcast episode - it's the kick-off to the John Lennon Radio Tour! In this 3-part series we'll explore one of John's most unique and personal promotional initiatives for a new LP release, sparked by a wave of positivity and productivity during his separation from Yoko Ono. With the forthcoming release of Walls and Bridges, Lennon took to the airwaves in the fall of '74 to promote hi...

While 1974 was a prolific year for each of the former Beatles and their individual projects, it was also a prolific year for former Beatle contributions toward other artists' material. Perhaps it was a case of right-place right-time for these records, or perhaps they were an itch that the loss of Apple Records left for each of the former fabs to scratch - either way, the early fall of '74 brought...

It’s the end of summer in 1974 and big things are happening for John Lennon. After three long years of separation, John and his son Julian were at last reunited for a visit that would prove formative for their relationship moving forward. Though tensions remained with ex-wife Cynthia, the absence of Yoko Ono in John’s life allowed for some ice to be thawed between the former married couple, at lea...

As the summer of '74 winds to a close, work on John Lennon's new album is in the final stages of completion. One last magic touch would make its way to this new record in the form of Lennon's friend Elton John, who lent his talents to several tracks including the song Elton felt was destined to be a hit: the boogie-woogie pop gem Whatever Gets You Through The Night. So convinced was Elton, that th...