The Beatles

Book critic Maureen Corrigan reviews Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History by Devin McKinney.

Pete Best was the drummer for The Beatles in their early days in Liverpool and Hamburg. His mother, Mona Best, was the owner of The Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool. The various early incarnations of The Beatles played The Casbah more than 90 times. Best has just co-written a large-format book, The Beatles: The True Beginnings. Today he writes, records and tours with his own group, The Pete Best Band.

Derek Taylor, a former press agent for the Beatles, died Sunday at the age of 65. He is the author of It was 20 Years Ago Today He served two stints with the Beatles. Once in 1964 during their world tour and again in 1968. (Originally aired 6/4/87)

Record produce and songwriter Neil Innes is a member of The Rutles, the band which he and Eric Idle of Monty Python that spoofed the Beatles. The band has recently been reunited and has a new collection called "Archaeology." The Rutles first came to the attention of the public in 1978 when their spoof documentary "All You Need is Cash" aired. Innes also co-founded the comedy group The Bonzo Dog Band.

TV critic David Bianculli reviewed The Beatles Anthology, which is out on video. This is an expanded 10-hour version of the 6-hour version which aired on television last fall.

TV Critic David Bianculli previews next week's Beatles documentary. The six hour series features new music by the Beatles. The recordings use archive tape of John Lennon.

Rock historian Ed Ward reflects on the Beatles' original bass player, Stu Stutcliff, who died of a brain tumor in 1962.

Film Critic Stephen Schiff reviews the new film "Backbeat" directed by Iain Softley. It is a reenactment of the early days of the Beatles . . . before they were stars.

Iain Softley is the writer and director of the film "Backbeat." The film focuses on the early days of The Beatles when Stu Sutcliffe was the bass player.

Rock historian Ed Ward tells us about a series of Christmas singles the Beatles made in the 60s. If you were a member of their fan club, you got one each year.

Rock historian Ed Ward plays some of the forgotten recordings released by the Apple Label. The label was started by the Beatles, whose members often produced those records.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz examines some recordings in which the worlds of classical and popular music combine. The most recent example is "Anything Goes: Stephane Grappelli and Yo-Yo Ma play (mostly) Cole Porter." Schwartz looks at other recordings that bring together Jascha Heifetz and Bing Crosby; Paul McCartney and George Mason of the New Philharmonia Orchestra; and Frank Sinatra and the Hollywood String Quartet.

The recent suicide of rocker Del Shannon triggered rock historian Ed Ward's reflections on his early fame and later obscurity. Shannon's fame came with his 1960 hit, "Runaway."

Rock Historian Ed Ward profiles Stu Sutcliffe, a forgotten early member of the Beatles.

John Lennon's life and legacy are revisited in a new film and biography. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Albert Goldman's book The Lives of John Lennon is an inelegant hatchet job that portrays the musician in a harsh light; the film Imagine, on the other hand, is little more than treacly hagiography.

Record producer, musician and songwriter Todd Rundgren joins Fresh Air to talk about his career both in-studio and on the concert stage. Recently, he's branched out into television, writing music for Pee Wee's Playhouse.

Music publicist Derek Taylor was the press agent for the Beatles; he also ghost wrote the memoir of their manager, Brian Epstein. His new book, about 1967 -- when he started working for Apple Records -- is called It Was Twenty Years Ago Today.

The band's songs endure two decades on in new compact disc reissues and, rock critic Ken Tucker bemoans, radio and television ads.

Rock historian Ed Ward takes a look at the Liverpool rock scene that produced the Beatles. Judging from early recordings, he believes it's no accident that the Beatles rose to stardom, while many of their peers were largely forgotten.