Take It Away: The Complete Solo Beatles Podcast

Let's hear a round of one-handed applause for an all-new bonus episode of the Take it Away podcast! Your humble co-hosts are "live in the studio" to review, analyze and critique the two new Paul McCartney & Wings releases from this past year: One Hand Clapping and Band on the Run - Underdubbed. First up is the long-awaited standalone release of Wings Mach 1.5's most expansive effort before the departure of drummer Geoff Britton, an idea hatched by Paul & Linda to capture both audio and video of the band prepping for a new tour. While widely bootlegged and only ever officially released in sporadic chunks over the years, One Hand Clapping at last gets its due as a snapshot of this tuneful, rocking, high-energy era of the Wings project. Next, a revelatory gaze into the rough mixes of Paul, Linda and Denny's seminal Band on the Run LP, christened "Under-Dubbed" and freshly issued to mark 50 years since the album's initial release. So grab your polygons, take off your face, and rejoin TIA for a journey back into the complete Paul McCartney archive...

Try some of this episode! We're back for the second and final installment of our look back at George Harrison's 1973 album Living in the Material World - a masterpiece to many and a worthy follow-up to All Things Must Pass. In this episode, we'll conclude our track-by-track analysis of the record, including album highlights "Be Here Now," "Who Can See It," and of course the title track "Living in the Material World" - George's ode to rock and roll life and simultaneous yearning to escape it. This collection of nearly all new material was a smash success commercially, though its critical reception would be but a preview of challenges to come for George later in the decade. That is all for Season 5 of Take it Away, and we'd like to thank everyone for joining us on this foray into the solo work of George Harrison. We'll see you next time as the 70s rage on, the albums multiply, and an upstart record label appears on the scene...

We're living in the material world! And we're excited to be giving you part one of a two-part TAKE IT AWAY series detailing the inception, writing, recording, and release of George Harrison's epic LP: LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD! In 1973, after a (nearly) three-year absence from record store stands, Harrison returned to the charts with the follow-up studio album to 1970's ALL THINGS MUST PASS -- and thanks to the mammoth success of that album and its singles, anticipation for this new release was at a fever pitch. Thankfully for fans and critics alike, the lead single did not disappoint, and both "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" and its corresponding album shot to the top of the charts in short order. But while George's commercial successes continued, Living in the Material World showed the world another, darker side of his life -- one fueled by the temptations of both rock stardom and spiritual enlightenment. In this first episode we'll uncover the path toward this crossroads, and drill in on the songs that tell the story of a Pisces fish at a fork in the road...

As we prepare our deep dive into George Harrison's Living in the Material World LP, the Take it Away podcast has once again partnered with the Yesterday & Today podcast to give you a holistic glimpse into the world of the former Beatles in the summer of 1971. Yesterday & Today - currently on its 185th episode at the time of this release - is a chronological journey of the world's most famous band using interviews, music and rarities collected since the debut of John, Paul, George and Ringo onto the world stage. Nowhere else this side of Tune In covers the Beatle world in such meticulous detail from start to finish, and this re-presentation of the show's 50th episode details the very time period we're focused on now in the Take it Away podcast. So sit back, turn off your mind, relax and download the stream - we hope you will enjoy the show.

When George Harrison's friend came to him, sadness in his eyes - he told George that he wanted help, before his country died. And help is what he got. Enter rock's first major charity concert experience, the night that set the template for benefit shows for decades to come... the Concert for Bangladesh. Organized and headlined by George Harrison in response to friend Ravi Shankar's dismay over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in war-torn Bangladesh, this star-studded event helped rock'n'roll graduate from youthful idealism to pragmatic maturity. While not the first charity concert (nor the first George was in attendance for), this major media event carried into the spotlight by the star power of a former Beatle (still riding high from his successful solo debut the prior December), The Concert for Bangladesh in its various iterations raised millions of dollars and worldwide awareness for the suffering Bengal people. The Take it Away podcast now takes a deep dive into the event, the grammy-winning live album, and the legacy of this grand gesture of commitment to the human race. 

A podcast may not last all day, but we sure do let it roll. Take it Away is proud to present the third and final installment of our analysis and review of George Harrison's solo masterpiece All Things Must Pass -- and to start we turn our attention to the oft-overlooked instrumental spotlight known as Apple Jam. George Harrison and some principal players from the 18 lyrical contributions to All Things Must Pass use this full third disc to unleash 29 minutes worth of musical prowess, virtuosity, and improvisational ability unseen anywhere else in Beatles or solo Beatles canon. All this, plus album reception, legacy, and some words from Robert Christgau in the grand finale to our look back at one of the great statements in rock and roll.

Let us in here, you know we've been here. Let us in for part two! The Take it Away podcast returns with the second installment in our three-part deep dive into All Things Must Pass by George Harrison. In the previous episode we covered the inception and recording of this triple album set - starting from the last gasp of the Beatles in those early months of 1970 right up through its release in time for the holiday season that same year. This time around we're picking back up where we left off on our track-by-track analysis with a look at the epic second single “What is Life,” and ending at the finale of the initial lyrical compositions with “Hear Me Lord.” While we roll on out the door, we want to hear what your favorite cuts from this solo masterpiece are! Because who are we, without you by our side?

Join us for a special bonus episode of Take It Away devoted to former Wings member and friend of the show Denny Laine. At the moment, Denny is struggling with serious health problems, and we’ve gotten together to promote his GoFundMe, inform our listeners about his situation, and take a moment to reflect on how important Denny is to us musically. We talked to Denny’s wife Elizabeth Hines for an update on Denny’s health and spent a little time discussing a few of our favorite Denny songs.There is a benefit concert for Denny in LA on Nov. 27:https://www.seetickets.us/event/denny-laine/571923You can donate to Denny’s GoFundMe here:https://www.gofundme.com/f/denny-laine-medical-expenses 

Welcome to a special BONUS episode of the Take it Away podcast! This past week the world experienced a rarity decades in the making - the advent of a new single by The Beatles titled "Now and Then." Hardcore fans would of course be familiar with this track as the third John Lennon song attempted by Paul, George and Ringo in 1995 for the Anthology project - another demo in the spirit of "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love," which was left unfinished at the time and, as Paul put it, "languishing in a cupboard" for nearly 30 years. Thanks to Peter Jackson's MAL technology, John's demo has been cleaned and separated in spectacular fashion, and the song has at last seen the light of day, and more than that is now the #1 record in the UK charts at the time of this recording. Even MORE spectacular than that? Chris Mercer has not heard the track yet. So join Paul and Chris for a real-time reaction to this piece of Beatles history, experienced in the moment for the first time by Chris Mercer and discussed with the love and attention of the Take it Away podcast.