Everything Fab Four
Everything Fab Four is a podcast from Wonderwall Communications and Salon focused on fun and intelligent stories about the enduring cultural influence of the Beatles. No other band, or popular entity for that matter, has had the worldwide impact the Beatles have. They are part of our human fabric; they created music that still brings people together. Across continents and generations, there are individual Beatles stories to tell, and in each episode, renowned music historian, author, and Beatles scholar Kenneth Womack hosts a special guest to share theirs.
Episodes
Rob Sheffield joins host Kenneth Womack for a spirited discussion on "Rubber Soul," the Beatles' songwriting, and everything Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift have in common. Sheffield is a longtime writer and critic for Rolling Stone magazine, where he started in 1997. He is the author of the 2024 New York Times bestseller "Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music" and "Dreaming The Beatles: The Love ...
Born in February 1980, Jake has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 2012, when he was tapped to play saxophone in place of his late uncle, the renowned Big Man himself, Clarence Clemons. Jake has toured extensively with Springsteen and the E Street Band, handling saxophone, percussion, and backing vocal duties on the Wrecking Ball World Tour, the High Hopes Tour, The River Tour, 2017's Australia and New Zealand...
The longest-running theatrical release in film history, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is celebrating its 50th anniversary with original cast members Barry Bostwick (who played the iconic Brad Majors), Nell Campbell (who played the effervescent Columbia) and Patricia Quinn (who played the incomparable Magenta). They join our host, Kenneth W...
This episode's guest is E Street Band drummer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Max Weinberg.
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Known for her genre-bending music, sharp social commentary, and activism for animal rights and social justice, Nellie McKay was born in London and raised in the United States, where she studied jazz at the Manhattan School of Music. Her performances at various New York City music venues, including the Sidewalk Cafe and Joe's Pub, drew attention from record labels, which resulted in her debut al...
Joining host Ken Womack on the first episode of season 7 is Blac Rabbit — familiar voices to our listeners. In 2018, Blac Rabbit released their first LP, "Interstella," which included the debut single "Seize the Day," which has served as the "Everything Fab Four" theme song since our very first episode featuring Steve Lukather in September 2020.
In 2018, a 48-second video of twin brothers Amiri and Rahiem Taylor, the guitarists and...
On this episode of Everything American singer-songwriter Peter Wolf joins host Ken Womack to discuss Wolf's life in music and his earliest musical influences.
A native of the Bronx, Wolf spent his youth soaking up New York City's music scene, especially the Apollo Theater's array of soul, rhythm & blues, and gospel performers. After moving to Boston, he attended Tufts University's Museum of Fine Arts. During this period, he forme...
On this episode of Everything Fab Four, actor and comedian Paul Reiser joins to discuss his first memories of the Beatles on Ed Sullivan and share the Beatles song that "still kills [him]."
Reiser began his career as a stand-up comedian, breaking into film with Barry Levinson's 1982 movie Diner. Reiser starred in the sitcom My Two Dads in the late 1980s, and later co-created the television show Mad About You, one of the defining c...
On today's episode, American jazz fusion guitarist and singer-songwriter George Benson drops by to discuss what gave the Beatles "prestige" and how the band helped Black musicians succeed.
Benson recorded his first album The New Boss Guitar, at 21, and followed it up with It's Uptown with the George Benson Quartet. In 1969, he recorded his homage to the Beatles' album Abbey Road, entitled The Other Side of Abbey Road.
Things real...
On this bonus episode of Everything Fab Four, we trace two television icons from the 1970s—both very different in terms of target audience, but united in the inspiration that they drew from the Beatles.
First is the New Zoo Revue, the children's TV show that was broadcast from 1972 through 1977. Designed as a musical comedy, it ran for 196 episodes and imparting valuable life lessons to the program's legions of child viewers. The...
On this episode of Everything Fab Four, actor and activist Rosanna Arquette shares her favorite Beatles song and recounts where she was when John Lennon died.
As part of a large show business family—including siblings Patricia and David Arquette—Rosanna began acting as a child. Her father, character actor Lewis Arquette, was well known as "J.D. Pickett" on The Waltons, while her mother Mardi was a poet, political activist, and the...
Author and filmmaker Jamie Bernstein joins Everything Fab Four to discuss growing up with a world-famous father, and why Leonard Bernstein chose Beatles songs to explain musical concepts.
Jamie Bernstein's 2018 memoir, Famous Father Girl, traces the story of growing up with composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein, and pianist and actress Felicia Montealegre in an atmosphere bursting with music, theatre and literature. Famous Father G...
On this episode, legendary singer-songwriter Darius Rucker joins Everything Fab Four to share how he first discovered the Beatles at five, and which Beatles album he thinks is the "most perfect album ever made."
Rucker first achieved multi-Platinum status in the music industry as lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the GRAMMY Award-winning band Hootie & the Blowfish, who have sold more than 25 million albums worldwide. Their Doub...
Grammy-nominated American recording artist Joan Osborne joins Everything Fab Four to talk about hearing "Revolution 9" at a makeout party and how her music career began.
Osborne moved to New York City to attend film school at NYU in the late 1980s, dropping out after becoming involved in the city's downtown music scene. In 1991, Osborne formed her own record label Womanly Hips, releasing her first album Soul Show: Live at Delta 88...
On this episode, acclaimed actor and Beatles fan Jeff Daniels joins "Everything Fab Four" to discuss his experience filming a movie scene with George Harrison and getting his guitar signed by the Quiet Beatle.
Across his five decade-long career, Jeff Daniels has worked with some of the world's most revered filmmakers. He made his screen debut in Miloš Forman's Ragtime, and followed with James L. Brooks's Terms of Endearment, Woody...
English-American music icon Billy Idol joins Everything Fab Four to discuss the exhilaration of being a Beatle fan "in real time" and how his voice was mistaken for Paul McCartney's.
Billy Idol began his rock n roll career as the guitarist for Chelsea, subsequently achieving renown on the London punk rock scene in the 1970s, when he performed as the lead singer for Generation X. His career truly exploded in the 1980s when he moved...
To celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, our guests revisit the evening that the Beatles graced their living rooms for the first time, on this special episode of Everything Fab Four. These Beatles lovers include Steven van Zandt from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, R&B singer Darlene Love, actor Billy Bob Thornton, and even one lucky audience member from that first Ed Sulliv...
Brian Ritchie, bassist for the folk punk band the Violent Femmes, joins host Kenneth Womack on this episode to chat about his first Beatles records and the 40th anniversary of the Femmes' debut album.
Ritchie co-founded the Violent Femmes with percussionist Victor DeLorenzo in 1981, and the duo were later joined by singer-songwriter Gordon Gano. Ritchie came up with band's distinctive name on a whim, employing it during their earl...
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 gospel music. As a performer, Baez has...
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 this conversation, she digs deep into ...
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