The Aerovons' Tom Hartman

Do you remember a band called The Aerovons? Chances are most people do not. However, The Aerovons are more than a minor footnote in Abbey Road History. The Aerovons hailed from Missouri circa 1966. Like so many groups at the time, The Beatles were an ENORMOUS influence on the group. So much so that despite offers from Capital Records - a record company in the USA - they sought to get signed by EMI in the UK, and record at Abbey Road. And you know what? It happened. AND they met The Beatles (they even sat in to watch The Beatles record a few tracks for The White Album. How unbelievably COOL is that???)
Anyway, without giving the store away, I will be speaking with the main Aerovon, Tom Hartman, over the next couple of days. The results of that chat will be on a future edition of "Just Four Guys" (probably within the next few weeks).

Just a little FYI about The Aerovons - Had they progressed with their career, Badfinger might've never been heard from.

Beatles Rock Band

I've had a change of heart. If you asked me two weeks ago what I thought of all the "Guitar Hero" & "Rock Band" games, I'd be a total purist jerk and say it was all designed to numb the minds and sensitivities of our youth. For the most part, I still believe that. But then I witnessed Beatles Rock Band.

When my daughter & I went to see Paul McCartney at Fenway Park back on August 5th, we happened upon a kiosk that was demonstrating Beatles Rock Band (considering the company that helped design it - Harmonix - is based in Cambridge, no big shocker that it was there). And the fact that all the principal players in The Beatles' family have all endorsed Beatles Rock Band, again, not surprising that the demonstration was set at a Paul McCartney show.

As we made our way over to the sounds of familiar - actual - Beatle music coming from the stage, we were immediately struck by the graphics. Granted, they're not exactly spot-on likenesses of John, Paul, George & Ringo, but they were close enough. But more important than that, the care and research that went into the backgrounds of each "Beatle Era". That impressed the hell out of me (The Ed Sullivan Theatre, Shea Stadium, The Cavern, etc...).

Once I got past the atrocious singing of the various volunteers that went up there to "Play Beatle", I found myself actually enjoying myself. And once Tess (my daughter) got up there and "BROUGHT IT" - a Harmonix employee's critique of her singing "Octopus' Garden" - I was completely sold...and I finally got it: This is just this generation's version of a transistor radio, a 45 Single, or an album - in either LP, 8-Track, Cassette or CD form. A new, more interactive way to appreciate The Beatles. Paul McCartney is behind it 100%. So is John Lennon's second wife, Olivia & Dhani Harrison, and the luckiest man in show business - Ringo. And the fact that George Martin's son, Giles, is overseeing the music production & presentation, what's not to say YES to?

BUT, I still think it should be a requirement for anyone who plays Beatles Rock Band to actually learn how to play an actual instrument...actually.

Paul McCartney at Fenway (August 5th, 2009) - A 45 Year Journey and it's impact.

I can't remember the exact year or grade it was when I brought The Beatles' 45 RPM "We Can Work It Out" to school for Show & Tell (I'm thinking it was 1970. I was seven years old). Being a hopeless Beatle Fan, I just had to share one of my favorite Beatle Songs with my class (being a chubby, large-nosed little guy, I wasn't exactly "Johnny Popularity"). Not that bringing in a five year-old song would heighten - create - my "cool factor" or anything. I just wanted to share my favorite music with kids I hoped would hear what I heard - Perfection. So I get to school, and my big moment arrives. I'm gonna slap that 45 on the classroom record player and play The Beatles! But when I reach into my bag to retrieve the record, it's not there. Immediately I begin to freak out on the inside. WHERE in God's name did my favorite 45 go? Needless to say, I wasn't "Showing or Telling" anything that day.

Fast-Forward to the end of the school day when I arrived at my bus stop. Just as the doors of the bus opened to let me out, I saw what I was hoping I wouldn't: a shattered 45 RPM of "We Can Work It Out" (with "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party" on the flip side). Immediately, I began to sob (not a cool thing for a seven year-old boy to do in front of others). I felt like that record - shattered. Even at that early age, I felt a kinship with The Beatles. I had a loyalty to all four of them. Not being the most popular kid, I found solace and peace in The Beatles. I could listen to their music and be immediately elevated. There is an intangible magic to the way they wrote and recorded their music, played their instruments, the tonality and blending of their voices, George Martin's production, Norman "Hurricane" Smith's & Geoff Emerick's engineering...Everything. Like no other artists before or since, The Beatles were ordained by a higher power to change the way we listen to music, and the way we view the world in general.

Which leads me to an event of monumental proportions. Wednesday Night, August 5th, 2009, Paul McCartney took the stage at Fenway Park in Boston...and I was there.

I'd always wanted to see Paul in concert (the "Wings Over America" tour was something I REALLY wanted to witness. But being only 13 or 14 years old - and no one willing to take me - sigh....). I now know why it's taken me until I'm 46 years-old to see Paul McCartney: I wasn't meant to see him live without my daughter, Tess. She's been raised on Beatle music. She's my "Beatle Buddy". She can put most Beatle fans to shame when it comes to Beatle Trivia and musical nuances. WHO BETTER TO SEE PAUL McCARTNEY WITH THAN HER???

I fully expected to go bit off the deep-end at this show, but didn't. I suspect it was because I was seeing a "de facto" long, lost big brother" whom I've idolized for 45 years. Sounds off the wall, doesn't it? I never met the man (or any of The Beatles, for that matter). Yet, I feel more connected to them than my actual blood relatives (my daughter being the sole exception). What does that say about me?
Is it that I have so little to inspire me in my life that I look to a pop group that ceased to exist almost 40 years ago? No. I have a beautiful wife who feeds my soul in every way, and a child I'm absolutely crazy for.

Is it that I feel I might have wasted the musical talent I've possessed all my life? Possibly. I look at those "four guys" as being the ultimate capitalizers on their own God-Given Gifts. Were they the GREATEST musicians to walk the planet? No. But they sure as hell knew how to play their kind of music. Christ - they taught us all that there is always a new way to listen to something (let alone CREATE something)!

Is it that I looked upon those "four guys" as the ultimate friends? Definitely. The only two true, blue friends I've ever had in my entire life is my wife & daughter, and I say that with complete clarity and without remorse. The Beatles music, personalities. mindset, and overall mission has been a driving force in my life since 1965. They've never given me any grief, psychodrama, or upset. Sounds like the "Ultimate Friendship in absentia".

So what does all this psycho-babble bullshit have to do with the Paul McCartney show at Fenway? Well, I reckon it relates to the impact Paul (and John & George) had on my life. I've been an unapologetic Beatle Fan my whole life. That will never change.
Their music makes me happy. It makes my daughter, Tess, happy. My wife, Laurel, has really grown to seriously appreciate The Beatles (all it took was her to marry a complete Beatle-Idiot).

Some people thrive on religion. Others are Political Junkies. Others are rock fiends. Me? I'm a family man with a musical edge who loves The Beatles. Seeing Paul McCartney on Wednesday, August 5th, at Fenway Park was the culmination of 45 years of listening, learning, imagining, pondering & hoping. It was everything I hoped it would be and more.
My Daughter, Paul McCartney, a historic baseball park, an almost full moon on a beautiful Summer evening...

What's not to Love?

Vineyard Beatle Show, "Just Four Guys" plays a Gino Vanelli song

Just when you thought it was safe to listen to a seemingly unassuming Beatle podcast, the unthinkable happens. If you were minding your own business Tuesday afternoon (July 28th) and looking forward to a new installment of "Just Four Guys" on http://www.mvyradio.com, you had no idea that the host of the show would commit musical heresy. 

The theme of this week's show was "Pillow Talk" (Beatle Style). Basically, I went into the show with the mindset of your typical, schmaltzy & insincere "Pillow Talk" radio host - Low Tone of Voice, REALLY into myself, dispensing some Love suggestions and waxing eloquent about whatever came to mind. SO, to get it all going, I started the podcast with Gino Vanelli's "Living Inside Myself" (a staple of soft rock stations all across the United States). For me, it was the natural choice to begin such a ridiculous show. It's my sincere hope that it rocked the "Fab" infrastructure of Beatle Lovers everywhere. A collective "WTF" was the desired effect. WHY? Because almost every Beatle Show on the planet does the expected thing - Beatle Songs, Bootlegs, Outtakes, Conversations, Movie Clips, and Boring-Ass commentary about what was happening in the studio with J,P,G & R. Am I interested in all the minutiae? Absolutely! But I'd rather read about it than hear someone drone on about something that's been documented over and over and over..... UNLESS, it can be made interesting (Uh, Oh... I'm digressing like a bastard. Reel it in boy...).

Anyway, the UNEXPECTED is an element I fully embrace for my program. Have I done the expected thing (like the aforementioned)? Yup. However, it's my sincere wish that I've put a spin on those things that provided a different perspective. But snapping your head around by engaging in the "WTF" is the only way I'll feel successful.

A good song is a good song, and Gino Vanelli's "Living Inside Myself" is a damned good song. And it was totally utilitarian for this week's theme.

If you were pleased, great. If you were pissed or nauseated, even better.

An Expression of Love

You wonder sometimes, "Am I letting my wife know just how much I love her?" Inevitably, the answer is no. Then you think, "How can I express how I feel about her without being typical, trite and too sappy?" For me, I utilized Beatle Music - together & solo - to help convey how I feel about my Beautiful Wife, Laurel. Music is such a HUGE part of our relationship, as is humor. Combining the two, again, in as unique and organic way possible was the only way to go - especially for MY WOMAN.
This is my way of "shouting it from the virtual rooftops".

Scroll Down to "Past Shows" and click on July 14th, 2009

Enjoy...

Perceived Misogynistic Show Title - "Just FOUR Guys"

Just Four Men. Just Four Boys. If you heard either of those titles uttered either in person or on a radio promo, you'd think that something a bit "unseemly" was afoot. I've heard people talk about my show - to me - referring to it as one of the two aforementioned titles. It makes me cringe thinking about the type of person who'd scan by my show hoping to hear some heavy panting (or worse... EW!). And, obviously, "Just Four Guys" isn't a show that excludes women. This isn't the 1950s anymore (a mindset I still can't wrap my mind around. Who died and left MEN to be the arbiters of what was to be or not to be?). Male Chauvinism. What those guys needed was a major slap in the tool bag for what they put the women through back in those days (Hmmm... I'm smell a theme for a JFG show)

Just Four Guys - The Beatles. They were just four guys ("just a band that made it very, very, big..") with drive, attitude, comedy, and whole lot of God-Given musical gifts. They changed the way we listened to music, the way we looked at rock/pop stars, and they helped open our minds up to the endless possibilities that can be achieved. There was a mystique about them that even Elvis and Sinatra didn't possess. Maybe it was the fact that they wrote such amazing tunes (never replicating what they did previously). Not many bands can lay claim to such musical innovation. Nor can many bands say they created absolute masterpieces under what would be considered primitive recording conditions. Four Tracks, the Imagination & Genius of "Just Four Guys", and a producer & engineer in George Martin & Geoff Emerick respectively - who listened to their ideas and helped make them reality. The result of this blessed combination were the albums "Revolver", "Sgt. Pepper" & "Magical Mystery Tour" (HUGE kudos to Norman "Hurricane" Smith for all HE did from their first recordings up to the amazing "Rubber Soul" album).

"Just Four Guys" is, without question, the Most Realistic Beatle Show on Earth. I produce this show purely from a fan's perspective. I'm no authority on ALL-THINGS BEATLES. Do I know a lot about them? Absolutely. But I'm not John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison or Ringo Starr. Those Four Guys are the only experts on The Beatles. All I try to do is respect and maintain their legacy the best way I know how, infusing a bit of myself and my "spin" on the phenomenon that was - is - The Beatles.

The Best Music Ever Recorded. The Personalities. The Legend. The Humor. Common Themes - as they may relate to what we 21st Century Folks go through today. Some might say that reality is a drag. I say it depends on your outlook. If we can take just one lesson away from The Beatles as a once-in-a-lifetime phenom, let it be this:

Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something in your own distinct, inimitable way. Yeah, we're working our collective tuckus' off trying to keep body & soul together, while trying to carve out the precious family and private time we all need. But always remember that The Beatles existed for many reasons - enjoyment, inspiration, peace, love & understanding. Also, they had their flaws. But they didn't allow those flaws to stifle them. As long as you maintain your priorities and don't compromise your principles, you'll be living in the spirit of the freedom we received whenever we listened to The Beatles.

They may very well have been "just a band that made it very, very big", but to life-long devotees like us they were so much more.

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An expert on The Beatles? Not necessarily. Passionate as a bastard about The Beatles and their profound influence on culture? Absolutely.
Please join me in my quest to perpetuate their legacy in my own unique way.

Thanks!