Fine Tuning: Ep 4 Shells & Barriers


Listen HERE

SYNOPSIS: This episode explores Tune In’s unequal treatment of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s childhoods, with particular attention paid to the disparate coverage of their childhood stressors and the deaths of their mothers, Julia and Mary.

We go pretty deep into what we know of John and Paul’s boyhoods and how those experiences shaped their personalities and affected their adult behaviors, 

Does Tune In do the same? For both? We’ll see!

SOURCES
Thank You Very Much by Mike McCartney (1981)
“Portrait of Paul” by Mike McCartney for Woman Magazine (1965)
Howard Stern Interview w/ Paul McCartney (2001)
Rolling Stone Magazine w/ Ringo (2015)
The Macs Family Album Mike McCartney (1981)
Many Years from Now Barry Miles (1997)
McCartney: the Definitive Biography Chris Salewicz (1986)
The Beatles: the Authorized Biography Hunter Davies (1968)


PLAYLIST
In the Still of the Night THE FIVE SATINS
Boys THE BEATLES
Stairway to the Stars ELLA FITZGERALD
Five Long Years EDDIE BOYD
Love Hurts THE EVERLY BROTHERS
Peter and the Wolf (SERGEI PROVOFIEV) NEW YORK STADIUM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 
Please BING CROSBY
I’m Wishing SNOW WHITE
Blue Moon ELVIS PRESLEY
Are You Lonesome Tonight? ELVIS PRESLEY
Crying in the Chapel THE ORIOLES
Crying in the Rain THE EVERLY BROTHERS
Sorrow PETER PAUL & MARY
I’ll Be On My Way THE BEATLES

Creative Whirlwind: Visual Art

Early pen and ink drawings by John Lennon, given to a female friend during their time together at the Liverpool College of Art
(SOURCE: thedissenters on Tumblr)

John Lennon‘s submission to the school magazine The Quarry | Christmas 1956; Easter 1957
(SOURCE: thedissenters on Tumblr)

Artwork by Paul McCartney

Doodles/Caricatures by Teenage Paul McCartney

“Off the Beatle Track” album cover design by Paul McCartney

Paul’s Self-portrait. Photo by Mike McCartney

John Lennon’s self-portrait, 1958

Fine Tuning: Ep 3 Creative Whirlwind

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SYNOPSIS: In Creative Whirlwind, we take a look at how Tune In reports and characterizes young Lennon and McCartney as budding artists.  

We’ll show that Tune In significantly downplays, shortchanges and ignores crucial aspects of McCartney’s artistic development and identity. On the other hand, Lennon’s creative development is shown from all angles in loving detail and with unbridled admiration.

Our discussion will be divided into three major sections: Visual Arts, Literature and Musical Self-Expression.

PLAYLIST
Sh-Boom THE CHORDS
Mona Lisa NAT KING COLE
Let’s Have a Party WANDA JACKSON
Blueberry Hill FATS DOMINO
New Day SUN RA
Woo-Hoo THE ROCK-A-TEENS
Blues in Orbit DUKE ELLINGTON
What is This Thing Called Love DAVE BRUBECK
Bloodnock Rock n Roll Call THE GOONS
Aint’ Misbehavin’ FATS WALLER
Sleepy Lagoon HARRY JAMES
Rocket 88 JACKIE BRENSTON
Come Go with Me THE DEL VIKINGS
Money BARRETT STRONG
I’ll Be On My Way THE BEATLES

SOURCES
Remember by Mike McCartney (1992)
The Beatles by Bob Spitz (2005)
Mike McCartney “Portrait of Paul,” Woman Magazine (1965) 
Early Liverpool by Mike McCartney (2021)
The Guardian “The Long and Winding Ode” by Nicci Gerrard, (Sat 10 Mar 2001)
Many Years From Now by Barry Miles (1997)
Beatles Book Magazine (“Young Paul”), Issue 27 
BC Interview (October 4, 1997)
Melvyn Bragg Interview, Southbank (1977)
Donovan Leitch Interview w/ Rolling Stone (April 30, 2012)

Fine Tuning: Ep 2 Shoulder to Shoulder

Listen HERE

SYNOPSIS: This is a look at Tune In’s most positive descriptions of John and Paul respectively. All examined passages will be from the text, i.e. the author’s own depictions of John and Paul.

By comparing how Lewisohn chooses to describe John versus Paul, we will reveal many undeniable discrepancies in word choice, enthusiasm, depth, and tone. 

What do these discrepancies mean? We’ll discuss!


SOURCES
Beatles Anthology (2000)
Beatles Authorized Biography by Hunter Davies (1968)
John, Paul and Me: Before the Beatles by Len Garry (1997)

PLAYLIST
Side By Side RAY CHARLES and BETTY CARTER
Personality JOHNNY MERCER
Deed I Do PEGGY LEE
Young at Heart FRANK SINATRA
Clarabella THE BEATLES
In Spite of All the Danger THE BEATLES
Twenty Flight Rock EDDIE COCHRAN
Crazy Man Crazy BILL HALEY & THE COMETS
Lawdy Miss Clawdy ELVIS PRESLEY
You Can’t Take That Away From Me ELLA FITZGERALD & LOUIS ARMSTRONG
I’ll Be On My Way THE BEATLES

Fine Tuning TABLE of CONTENTS

  1. Intro and Syllabus – This episode presents an overview of our 11-part series including its impetus, our objectives and summaries of the upcoming installments.
  2. Should to Shoulder – This is a look at Tune In’s most positive descriptions of John and Paul respectively. All examined passages will be from the text (i.e. the author’s own depictions of John and Paul, in his own words). By comparing how Lewisohn chooses to describe John versus Paul, we will reveal many undeniable discrepancies in word choice, enthusiasm, depth, and tone. What do these discrepancies mean? We’ll discuss!
  3. Creative Whirlwind -How does Tune In report and characterize young Lennon and McCartney as budding artists? We’ll show that Tune In significantly downplays and shortchanges (and sometimes even ignores) crucial aspects of McCartney’s artistic development and identity. Lennon’s creative development, on the other hand, is shown from all angles in loving detail and with unbridled admiration.
  4. Shells & Barriers – This episode explores Tune In’s unequal treatment of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s childhoods, with particular attention paid to the disparate coverage of their childhood stressors, most especially the deaths of their mothers, Julia and Mary. We go pretty deep into what we know of John and Paul’s boyhoods and how those experiences shaped their personalities and affected their adult behaviors. Does Tune In do the same? For both? We’ll see.
  5. Leader Lennon – This examines what we see as Tune In’s major thesis: that John Lennon was and is the leader and implicit owner of The Beatles forever.  We’ll point out the many holes in this theory, and discuss why we disagree with it and why it is a problem.
  6. A Prolonged Jealousy – A Prolonged Jealousy tackles another of Tune In’s main talking points: that Paul McCartney is a fundamentally jealous person. We will analyze Tune In’s telling of how Paul’s obsessive, one-sided jealousy of and over John was brought to a boil by the presence of Stuart Sutcliffe in the band. Is this unforgiving portrayal of Paul’s jealousy fair? Or is it over the top? We’ll discuss!
  7. Spanner in the Works – This episode shows how Tune In portrays Paul as uniquely difficult to manage and deliberately obstructive, even to the point of sabotaging the band! We use Tune In’s reporting of the early friction between Paul and Brian Epstein as a case study to illustrate how Tune In guides the reader to side against Paul when he comes into conflict with others
  8. No Greater Buddy – This episode examines how Tune In handles the most negative behavior of John Lennon. (This is a study of Lewisohn’s coverage of John’s bad behavior, rather than the behavior itself)
  9. WTF? – This episode is a hodgepodge, collecting passages from the book that didn’t necessarily belong in any of the other episodes but that we felt warranted discussion.
  10. The Unseen Paul – In this episode, we share and discuss many quotes, stories, and insights about Paul as a child and young man (some flattering, some not) all of which are absent from Tune In. Many of these quotes and stories come from sources Tune In uses; many do not. We hope Unseen Paul can and will serve as a supplement to Tune In for anyone who wants a fuller, more balanced or more nuanced view of Paul McCartney, a vitally important figure in the Beatle story.
  11. Wrap Party – This episode summarizes what we’ve learned from the series. It includes our thoughts, apprehensions, and hopes for Mr Lewisohn’s next book as well as some recommendations for additional listening.

Fine Tuning: Ep 1 Intro & Syllabus


Listen HERE

SYNOPSIS: Welcome to Fine Tuning, an Examination of Mark Lewisohn’s Tune In.
This episode presents an overview of our 11-part series including its impetus, our objectives and summaries of the upcoming installments.

PLAYLIST
Roll Over Beethoven THE BEATLES
Carol THE BEATLES
Some Other Guy THE BEATLES
Too Much Monkey Business THE BEATLES
Thank You Girl THE BEATLES
Baby It’s You THE BEATLES
I’ll Be On My Way THE BEATLES

Lewisohn Quoted from Podcast Fab4cast Part 1