Be It Resolved

And so this is New Year’s…and what have I done?

Well, let me tell you. It’s only seven days into the New Year, and already I’ve broken three of my five brand new resolutions! I haven’t worked daily on my next Lennon book. I haven’t spent daily time in prayer. And I’ve lost my temper (yes, already!) with a goodly number of various and sundry people. In only seven days.

I’m willing to take the blame here, but…maybe (just maybe) I’m failing miserably because the resolutions I’ve created are pledges that I just can’t keep. Maybe I’d do better if I turned to The Beatles for some hints on how to live in 2016.

Hmmm, I wonder what resolutions the lads would have to offer?

(Mystical music begins playing…and fades into “Hey Jude”)

From: Dr. Winston O’Boogie, Paul Ramone, Carl Harrison, and Yer Ritchie

Hey Jude,

Here’s to 2016, luv! May it rock (’n ever roll over Beethoven).

Be it Resolved That Herein This Year, Y’ Should

1. Take a sad song and make it better.
2. Follow the sun.
3. Run…for your life (er, walk, skip, whatever)!
4. Try to see it my way (or his way, or her way…).
5. Lead a better life.
6. Get back to where you once belonged.
7. Sing in the dead of night.
8. Get up and dance to a song.
9. See the world spinnin’ round.
10. Love forever and forever. Love with all your heart. Love when you’re together. Love when you’re apart.
11. Try not to sing out of key.
12. Forget the tears we cried.
13. Carry that weight a long time.
14. Promise to be true.
15. Let it be.

But most of all remember: With our love, with our love, we could save the world.

Fondly and Funly,

Yer 1-n-Only Be-at-les! (shocking!)

Wow! These things, I think I might be able to do! Or at least I can try.

How about you? What’s your resolve, à la The Beatles, for 2016? Write and let us hear from you!

Here at The Fest for Beatles Fans we wish you love, health, and happiness in the year to come, and we hope to see you in Rye Brook AND Chicago. Happy New Year…and we send it along, with love, from us to you!

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

Remembering Our John…John Lennon

By Jude Southerland Kessler

Inspired by Mark Lapidos’ brilliant blog on “timelessness” as it relates to life and death…I began to mull over a similar concept…

Volume 2 in The John Lennon Series, Shivering Inside, is sold out in physical form. Unless you buy a slightly used copy on the secondary market and pay an insane amount of money, the “real book” is unavailable.

But here’s the thing: it’s still alive-and-well on Kindle. You can read it and hear all that it has to say. You can laugh at John’s wit, feel his frustration at the growing press of Beatlemania, and tragically, experience his utter devastation when Stu Sutcliffe passes. You can see the pictures of Liverpool and The Beatles in 1961-63, explore the Scouse (Liverpudlian) glossary, read the essays in the appendix, and learn from the biographies at the back of the book. The only thing you can’t do is touch the book –- hold it in your hand.

And today, that is of great comfort.

Y’know, John famously said that death is like “getting out of one car and gettin’ into another.” And, perhaps if he’d lived to see the flowering of the internet, he might have said, “It’s like movin’ from hard copy to docx. It’s like bein’ scanned into cyberspace.”

Today, John is “on Kindle,” as it were. He’s still very much alive…and happier, I believe.

You see, all day I’ve been listening to Lennon tunes, and around noon, he wailed out:

“You know life can be long
And you got to be so strong
And the world is so tough…
Sometimes I feel I’ve had enough…”

When I heard those words, I remembered: life was harsh for John. He faced unimaginable battles that no one else could have weathered: losing his mother and father (for complicated reasons) at age 5; living with the rigid Mimi Smith and his beloved Uncle Ge’rge only to lose Ge’rge himself when John was just 15; reuniting with his mother, Julia, and becoming her best friend, only to lose her to death a mere handful of years later; loving and then losing his soul mate, Stu…and on and on and miserably on. For John, life was one “long string o’ misery,” as they say in Liverpool. He suffered.

But because he was who he was, John determinedly turned those never-ceasing hurts and hits into victories. Like the fairy-tale character Rumplestiltskin, who could weave straw into gold, John transformed his pain into the magical, often mystical, music of our lives. But always chasing the “Next Big Thing” that could possibly mend his heart and make him happy, John depleted a lifetime in sorrow. In fact, he spelled it out for us:

“How can I go forward when I don’t know which way I’m facing?
How can I go forward when I don’t know which way to turn?
How can I go forward into something I’m not sure of?
Oh no, oh no!

How can I have feeling when I don’t know if it’s a feeling?
How can I feel something if I just don’t know how to feel?
How can I have feelings when my feelings have always been denied?
Oh no, oh no!”

Here on earth, John struggled.

For years after John passed, I prayed for him daily, prayed that God would give me some kind of a sign that John was happy…some kind of message or “white feather” or hint that John was happier there than he was here. I prayed.

Finally, in 1995 (only four days prior to the anniversary of John’s death), a new Lennon-composed Beatles song was released that answered my questions and quieted my fears. It told me flat-out and in no uncertain terms that John – though no longer “available in physical form” — was indeed shining on. He was, in fact, “home and dry.”

And today, though quite selfishly I miss him here, I would want him nowhere else. He is “on Kindle,” riding in that second bigger ‘n better car, scanned into cyberspace, free as a bird. And for the first time ever, Our John is happy.

CLICK HERE to listen to his original “Free as a Bird.” It is an abundance of white feathers…

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

We Can WORK It Out!

By Jude Southerland Kessler

My 95-year-old father is a mixer…a king mixer who makes Paul’s grandfather look tame! Time after time, he rings me up, speaking from the heart about how lonely he is, and how very ill he feels. And I? I consequently spend sleepless nights trying to conjure up remedies to his many problems. Ah, but then the world-class mixer phones my sister, Lisa, and with her, he’s upbeat, healthy, alert – and generally fine and dandy! Well, you can just imagine the serious conflict this scenario has caused.

Over the last year, I’ve been as adamant about my father needing extra care and immediate medical treatment as my sister has been about him being, for the most part, safe and sound. Given the information we’ve been provided, our opinions have been strong but 180 degrees apart.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I gave this miserable state of affairs a lot of thought, and it dawned on me that my sister and I have experienced a microcosm of what is going on all over the world. Both of us care. Both of us want to do the right thing. But we are seeing two completely different sides of the same story.

In my last few blogs I’ve considered the political climate at home and the tragic events shaking the world overseas. These are sleepless times indeed. People who are concerned, people who truly “give a damn” – based on the information they’re given via their sociopolitical environment, their religion, state, family, friends, relatives, and news sources – have developed deeply-rooted, strong opinions about what needs to be done to heal our world — to make things right.

Each group honestly believes it is correct. Furthermore, each faction believes that what they say and do now will matter for generations to come. So they react passionately on the zeal of their convictions. They speak up. They step out boldly because they want to make a difference! Unfortunately, some are stepping on others in the process and acting as if that is justified and fair game.

When I was a little girl there was an old adage by which people lived: “No politics or religion in polite conversation!” These two subjects were private matters never to be discussed. They were matters that could turn friends into enemies, and so they were held sacrosanct, taboo for banter over a cold brew. But today (while the apathetic among us meander along unfazed), convicted people with fervent opinions face off on the bloody battleground that is social media. And yes, it is a battleground: subtle, but real nonetheless.

We are all horrified when gunmen barge into concerts, sports arenas, theaters, and businesses and open fire. We weep with the fallen and their families. Their loss is real and visual and devastating. But each day, without thinking, we post angry, hostile, vitriolic words on various internet sites without realizing that these words, too, (born from the best intentions and strongest beliefs) are weapons…deeply minimizing, wounding, and scarring the very people we love.

We participate in our own form of domestic terrorism as we jab, snarl, thrust, smear, and belittle others – as we demean those who are supposed to be our brothers and sisters. We glare at them and caution them, a la Paul McCartney:

Try to see it my way…
Do I have to keep on talking
Till I can’t go on?

While you see it your way
Run the risk of knowing that
Our love may soon be gone…

If people can’t see it our way, well then, we give them fair warning…we may just quit loving them altogether! After all, don’t they deserve it?! I mean, isn’t the difference of opinion their problem? Aren’t they the ones at fault?

Think of what you’re saying!
You can get it wrong
And still you think that it’s all right!

We hold up a mirror so that they can see themselves better. “See what you’re doing!” we self-righteously smirk. “See how far you’ve missed the mark?!” And the mutual frustration grows and grows and grows.

Over Thanksgiving, I finally realized that my father has no intention of ever telling my sister the same miserable tale of woe that he tells me. He has no intention of providing equal information to both parties. It is, in the end, up to my sister and I to locate one patch of common ground from which we can both act. It is up to us to find a tiny place to stand together.

And voila! There it is! That’s the challenge for all of us, isn’t it? Just as my sister and I must struggle to find common ground amidst the muck of incongruous information, so our world must struggle to “Come Together.”

It’s our task not to spend hours on Facebook pointing out differences, faults, and shortcomings in others. Instead it’s our mission to spend some time each day trying to find a way to establish peace. If we sincerely want to vanquish hate, then we will have to make the active choice to cooperate and get along. John Lennon reminded us all that:

Life is very short
And there’s no time
For fussing and fighting my friend!

And he was right. If our world is to have ANY chance of survival, then we will have to WORK it out, not wish it away. We will have to decide to act as one. We will have to solve our problems together. We can work it out…

We. Can. Work. It. Out.

But “work,” my Beatles friends, is the operative word. And y’know, it don’t come easy.

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

20 years ago: The Beatles Anthology first aired

By Danny Abriano

From Fest Founder Mark Lapidos:

November 19, 1995: It was 20 years ago that the first installment of The Beatles Anthology first aired on a Sunday night on ABC.

Over 47 million people watched and at the end of the show was the world premiere of the first new Beatles song in 25 years — Free As A Bird. We got to HEAR and SEE it for the first time.

The next day, most radio stations around the country were playing the new song. Capitol Records wanted to take no chances of a leak, so they did something unprecedented in the industry. They changed the release date of the album to Monday, Nov. 20th (NOT the usual Tuesday). To make that happen, at their own expense, Capitol then FEDEXED all shipments on the Saturday so that no store would receive it until Monday. It ended up selling over 3.5 Million copies.

Three nights later, Anthology Part Two aired and we heard and viewed Real Love for the first time. Anthology Part Three would air the next night, on Thanksgiving.

Out of Order

By Jude Southerland Kessler

Order counts. Observe the difference in these two short sentences:

“Get it over!”
“Get over it!”

If a nurse is about to insert a long, painful needle into your body, and you say tremulously, “Get it over,” he/she will no doubt have pity on you. But if you spout, “Get over it!” you might as well steel yourself for the shock of your life! Yeow!

My life is all about order. As a writer, beginnings, middles, and ends are my daily fare. As an aerobics teacher for 31 years, I learned that each class needed a warm-up, aerobic phase, warm down, floor-work phase, and cool-down. Putting the “cool-down” first would’ve resulted in torn muscles, at the very least. Order is crucial.

We value order so much that when something is desperately broken, we call it “Out of Order.”

Now, consider the case of Capitol Records. When they received The Beatles’ EMI LP tapes and were ready to cut their own versions of those LP’s, they did so, well…creatively. They threw the song order that The Beatles and George Martin had carefully selected to the wind!

Capitol must have been the rebel of the Beatles family who was dead determined to “do what they want[ed] to do and go where [they’re] goin’ to.” Indeed, they “thought for themselves,” because Capitol didn’t pay one whit of attention to the song order that mattered so much to George Martin and The Beatles.

Can you imagine the shock on Robert Frost’s face had he picked up a volume of his poetry, only to find his elegantly-crafted poem, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” jumbled thus:

“His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
Whose woods these are I think I know.
To watch his woods fill up with snow.”

Uh, what? That makes no sense at all! It’s a “hot mess,” as they say. However, if Frost’s creation had been tossed about randomly by the publisher, those four lines would have been the result.

Similarly, imagine an art gallery owner picking up brush and paint to alter Mona Lisa’s smile, to make it more pronounced! Imagine an exhibitor attaching arms to Venus de Milo. Audacious!

Now, envision the looks on The Beatles’ faces when they picked up Meet the Beatles, Capitol’s version of With the Beatles, an LP that Martin and The Beatles had carefully crafted to make a pre-determined and studied impact.

In his book, All You Need is Ears, George Martin said, “For me, making a record is like painting a picture in sound.” It was a work of art.

Quite deliberately, Martin had decided to open the LP with John’s passionate, rock’n’roll voice alone…no instruments, no other sound…just John’s raw and raspy, “It won’t be long…” It was gripping. It was, in essence, Lennon (and the band) symbolically announcing to the fans: “I’ve been gone for a few months, but now I’m back! I’ve missed you, as it were. But look, luv, here I am!” It was an unvarnished, goosebump-inducing moment.

But, Capitol (who’d come late to the party and was “playing catch up” by trying to combine two Beatles LPs into one) opted to open Meet the Beatles with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

Martin’s opener, “It Won’t Be Long,” was buried deep in the middle of Meet the Beatles, Side One.

Similarly, instead of closing the American LP with the gutsy potboiler, “Money,” (one of John’s finest Cavern staples) Capitol chose to say adieu to the fans with the far less impactful “Not a Second Time.”

So…how did The Beatles and George Martin react? Well, for the most part, they accepted the situations and went on with their business.

Read All You Need is Ears. You’ll hear George Martin praising Capitol’s superior recording equipment, calling the American sound, “much cleaner, much crisper.” (p. 145) You won’t find one grouse or criticism about Capitol’s liberal creative license.

When talking about the Meet the Beatles era, Martin does complain that Capitol’s Alan Livingston more or less pushed Martin out of the way when The Beatles toured The States and gave Martin zero credit. Livingston, Martin asserts, even introduced The Beatles as “Capitol recording artists.”

But, Martin says nothing about the injustice of having their artistic creations overhauled.

I’ve moved 32 times in 39 years of marriage. A good portion of my life has been spent in chaos: boxes everywhere, items on the floor for weeks before we can hang them, doors closed against disarray. But eventually, we settle in, and once again we discover that “there’s a place” for everything.

I’ve learned (as The Beatles must’ve learned when Capitol issued one strange album after another) to live with it and to fight the crucial fights (like finding the coffeemaker, the sheets, and the Bandaids!). I’ve learned that you can either allow loss of order to destroy you or you can live above it.

What would’ve happened, I ask you, had The Beatles flown into a full-blown swivet over the Capitol LPs? And what would happen if I lost my mind over never knowing where items are in my house? (In the shed? A box? Lost in transit?? Where is it?) Would that change things?

What would happen if today we let the horrible, nightmarish, evil events in Paris stop us dead in our tracks? Cripple us?

Like The Beatles, we must keep going. We must prepare ourselves to fight the big fights that most assuredly will come, to hold our heads up and forge ahead. We cannot be defeated by the loss of world order. We cannot give up and give into the chaos that swirls all around us.

The Beatles endured the sheer calamity of Beatlemania, the bedlam that was Apple, the mania of sycophants like Magic Alex who kept suggesting that things could be better, different, and more perfect…and in so doing, creating discontent. The Beatles carried on through years of upset, pandemonium, and confusion. They survived.

We, too, can survive the loss of order. If we try, we can press on.

The night of my high school graduation, a long-winded preacher prayed for over 10 minutes for the success of the graduates, the success of the school and the city and the state and the nation and I’m sure, the universe! On and on and on he went as we perspired in our dressy clothes and thick, slick robes. At long last, he ended his interminable prayer with this memorable phrase, “And Lord, just let us keep on keepin’ on!”

Of all the many words in his prayer, those are the ones I’ve never forgotten.

In this world of chaos, let’s take our cue from The Beatles and refuse to crumble. Even when our world is dramatically “out of order,” let’s put one foot in front of another and move ahead.

In the path of chaos, I hope that you and I will find a way to “keep on keepin’ on.” That’s my prayer.

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

Word Up!

By Jude Southerland Kessler

“Word.”
When spoken colloquially, it means, “That’s right.” Or, “That word is true.” This compact expression validates another speaker’s words as holding great meaning, great power.

The Beatles knew all about the power of words. “Say the word and you’ll be free!” they sang, harmonizing the crucial message that the schoolyard chant of, “Words can never hurt me!” was (and is) a dangerous myth.
Words matter. They change lives, for good or for evil. They make agreements, create slogans, break hearts, uplift the fallen, dash hopes, end wars, begin conflicts, promise devotion, christen new beginnings, pronounce epitaphs, inspire souls, and give names to discoveries, ideas, children. Words have weight.

Recently, I was asked to chair a small Beatles symposium, and in doing so, I gained undying respect for the Lapidos family, who so adeptly manage our very, very large Fest for Beatles Fans. Twice each year, Mark, Carol, Michelle, and Jessica deal expertly with “the words” of hundreds of authors, artists, musicians, entertainers, speakers, craftsmen, hotel representatives, food service professionals, volunteers, and fans of all ages. They do this with great finesse, while I found chairing my small symposium…well, an eye-opening adventure.

You see, in my limited experience that weekend, I discovered the real power of words. I found out that for some people, words are bonds. These faithful, honorable souls “give their word,” and they keep it.

But, for others, “the word” is empty, vacuous. And their ineffectual, broken words make them untrustworthy – impossible to respect. I learned that, “Actions [really do] speak louder than words.” In fact, actions are the visible proof that an individual’s words have substance and merit.

At this moment, you and I in the midst of another huge “festival” of sorts: we’re participants in a political fest in which words are being handily juggled all about us: bright promises, catchy phrases, glistening pledges, and “oh-so-sincere guarantees.” Here, there, and everywhere, political candidates are performing…dancing about and basing their success on the impact of words. They’re traveling the country speaking, charming – trying to insinuate words into our brains. More than any other tool in their arsenal, these public figures employ words.

“Give [my words] a chance to say that [my words] are just the way!” they seem to sing. They beguile us with clever syllables.

But, we are wary – you and I – because we’ve heard it all before. We’ve heard, in the past, from political pundits who’ve promised to “do this and do that” and then have failed to deliver. We’ve learned the hard way that words of promise offered without the integrity of deeds can lead to failure, guiding us toward the very “eve of destruction.”

So, how can we be certain that someone is sincere, that “the word is good?”

Well, The Beatles suggested this formula:

“Give the Word a chance to say
That the Word is just the way!
It’s the Word I’m thinkin’ of…
Have you heard? The word is Love!”

It’s just that simple. Look for Love. No one speaking in Love can mislead, wound, threaten, lie, assault, cheat, defeat, defame, blame. Those speaking in Love can only offer healing, support, truth, strength, courage, and hope.
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have not Love,” the Bible tells us, “I am nothing.”
Look for the Love. Evaluate the words of others in Love’s bright, unblinking light.

And then, while we’re at it…let’s speak in Love. When our words leave our bodies and brains, they travel forth as our ambassadors, representing us. Some people may not ever meet us in person, but our words (via FACEbook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, blogs, email, and various other forms of social media) create a vivid image of what we really believe and who were really are. Is my image one of Love? Is yours?

“Give the word a chance to say
That the word is just the way!
It’s the word I’m thinking of,
And the ONLY word is love!
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine…love.”

Word.

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

You say it’s his birthday?

By Jude Southerland Kessler

All around me in these last few days leading up to John Lennon’s 75th Birthday, there’s rush, rush, rush! I’ve ordered the largest sheet cake that the local bakery makes…and I’m writing my toast for our 36th Annual John Lennon Bash here in Monroe, LA at Enoch’s Irish Pub. I’ve purchased banners, balloons, tablecloths, and decorations…and the gig is ON!

The celebration, you see, is a major tradition around these parts. In fact, ours is the longest-running Lennon party in America, twice recognized by Yoko. It’s quite the fête! We’ll have Jameson toasts, live music, Facetimed well-wishes, and the singing of the birthday song, world-wide, at 9 p.m.

Enoch Doyle Jeter, long time owner of the pub where John’s bash is always held (though these days the bar is owned by his son, John…named for Our John Himself), has only one rule about the Lennon party: No crying in your beer! The first person who even hints at something maudlin is ejected, bodily. Doyle demands many happy returns of the day. Nothing less.

So Doyle would shudder over people who like to speculate on the 9th of October, “What would John’ve been like, if he were alive today? What would he be doing, thinking, saying, writing?” And honestly, to quote The Beach Boys, “God only knows.”

John was John…as variable as Liverpool’s climate: a bright copper vane spinning in the capricious Mersey winds. He was hot and cold, rain then shine…a tornado when least expected. And to answer a hypothetical question about his imagined future is to delve into the realm of fan fiction, anyway. Time is better spent – I think – remembering. (Don’t worry, Doyle…I’ll remember happily!)
To me, the correct question is, “What was John really like when he was here?”

Well…

John was an artist. His adroit single-line sketches were observant, wry…funny. At times, they were biting. Had he not been one of the most talented musicians of the Twentieth Century, he would have been one of its greatest artists.

John was a satirist. Like “The Wicked Wasp of Twickenham,” Alexander Pope, John could turn a phrase. In His Own Write and Spaniard in the Works were not only best sellers, they won literary awards and the applause of critics. John was a gifted writer. That could have been his medium.

John was a peace activist. Few people would give up their honeymoon to make a political statement or shave their heads or sit in a bag or “become a clown for peace” (as John put it). John Lennon dared to speak out boldly. He dared to sacrifice his sex appeal for the peace appeal made by that gaunt young man in the round glasses. In the ’70s, John was New York’s Gandhi.

John was kind. Yes, it’s true. Ask young Helen Shapiro whom he befriended and protected on her tour bus. The same story is told by his Liverpool College of Art classmates, Phyllis McKenzie and Helen Anderson. And when Paul and George were itching to ditch Pete for Ringo, John lobbied to protect his friend. Inside his very tough exterior, there was another John. A kinder, gentler John…as it were.

John was interesting. I’ve interviewed hundreds of people who knew John. And the phrase that I hear most often is this, “I really liked Ringo and George and got on well with Paul, but the one person I was closest to was John.” It’s repeated almost word-for-word by the likes of Tony Barrow (after a rocky start), Larry Kane, Ray Coleman, and Ivor Davis. John respected interesting, smart people. He got on well with them. He could converse on many topics and be quite affable. John was fun to be around…well, most of the time.

John was an avid reader. Newspapers, he devoured. Books, he poured over constantly. He was always happy if he had a book or pen and paper. John loved words and wordplay. He loved literature.

John loved dressing outlandishly. Liverpool College of Art life model, June Furlong, once ridiculed him for wearing a purple mohair sweater. And, we all know that he brought elaborate cowboy boots home from Hamburg. John was always outside the box, long before he donned the pocketless suits that Brian Epstein adapted from Astrid’s design. John was fashion-forward.

John was an actor. At Liverpool College of Art, he starred as an ugly stepsister in his own production of “Cinderella.” And Beatles pantomimes were his cup of tea. Most of all, John acted happy as he endured the rigors and terrors of Beatlemania. By the time John assumed those roles in “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Help,” and “How I Won the War,” he was a seasoned professional. Richard Lester said that of all the Beatles, John was the only one with real acting talent. Indeed, he permitted John to improvise lines at will. John had that knack.

Poet, gifted rock’n’roll singer, composer, guitarist, pianist, lyricist, innovator…John Lennon was unique. Despite the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” that left him motherless, (and to some extent fatherless), John fought on. He never crumpled under the barrage of tragedy that assaulted him. Instead, his response to his life’s losses was “hold your head up; put one foot in front of another; move on.”

More than anything else, John was a fighter. And what I’ll remember about him this week as I light those birthday candles at Enoch’s is his courage and determination. John had “every reason on earth to be mad,” to give up and do nothing with his life. Instead, he turned his pain into the soundtrack of our lives.

That’s what I’ll remember. How about you?

Happy 75th Birthday, John.

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

2015 Chicago Fest Recap

By Danny Abriano

Dear Beatles Family,

WOW CHICAGOLAND, how we love you! What a Fest weekend that was!

John, Paul, George, and Ringo did it again…they brought us back together loving them to pieces and recognizing everything they’ve done for our lives! Celebrating 39 years in Chicago, chilling with our Fest Besties, learning new stuff, jamming all the while…we have all of you to thank for it.

At #ChiFest15, thousands of Beatlemaniacs from 32 states, Canada, Mexico, Italy, England, and Australia came together at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare in Rosemont, Illinois to celebrate all things Beatles, including the 50th Anniversary of the Beatles’ earth-shattering concert at Shea Stadium and the 50th Anniversary of Help! This is our collective recap…

If you get to the bottom of this email and these pics aren’t enough for your vicarious re-living of the Chicago Fest, check out the Fest’s Danny Abriano’s Facebook album HERE head, see Carol Lapidos of the Fest’s album HERE, and head HERE to scope out our fans album, and Michelle Your Belle just uploaded 600 pics from from her iPhone.

Also be sure to head to and subscribe to our YouTube page, where more than a dozen videos from the Chicago Fest have already gone up and many more are on the way!

(picture below from @liz_fletcher on Instagram)

The hotel started to fill with fans as early as Monday, and excitement built up as we set up the hotel. Lobby jams started, the Hyatt staff put on their own HELP! shirts, and fans explored the bustling and festive Hyatt Regency O’Hare, preparing for the fab three days that were to come.

The FEST officially kicked off at 5 PM on Friday, August 14 as fans came in from the heat and brought their Beatley swagger with them to more than a dozen ballrooms throughout the hotel. Along with our band, Liverpool, perfectly recreating Beatles tracks note for note, our guests included Terry Sylvester, Bob Eubanks (who hosted the first ever Beatleywed Game!), Billy Kinsley, Jack Oliver, Louise Harrison, Mark Rivera, Dick Biondi (below with emcee Terri Hemmert), and Mark Hudson.

Friday night continued on with the 60s Dress Up contest and Dance Party –- where Liverpool treated Festers to three rocking sets of Beatles tunes. Head HERE for a video of Liverpool performing “Please Please Me” and head HERE to see them perform “Old Brown Shoe.”

To go along with our incredible musical guests, the weekend also featured some amazing Sound Alike and Battle of the Beatles Bands competitors. Eric Howell blew the crowd away while winning the Sound Alike contest singing ‘Something,’ and BEATLEJUICE (below) snagged the Battle of the Bands crown after performing an amazing version of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ that included a string quartet. Head HERE to watch their winning performance.

Our tradition of the ‘Beatles Gratitude Wall’ continued, and was where fans wrote and hung signs showing their gratitude to the Beatles…

The We All Shine On wall was new this year, to remember the people we love who we’ve lost. WOW, look at that diamond sky we created!

The FABoratory, our newest addition, where fans had the chance to turn into Beatles Magicians, Mad Fab Scientists, and teachers, was such a blast. Thank you to all the FAB fans who created truly exciting new elements of the Fest with your out-of-the-box ideas! ‘I Met A Beatle For Real’ was the real life version of Sara Schmidt’s blog, and boy were there some juicy stories of Beatle-meeting. Willa and Libby brought an awesome hand-painted face-hole exhibit called ‘I Saw The Photograph,’ and Lanea Stagg made the most delicious truffles in the world for us with her ‘Savoy Truffle’ culinary experience! We did an improv reenactment of The Beatles meeting Elvis with Ivor Davis, sideburns and all. Beatles bubbles were blown with Jeanie McNicol, and ‘Beatles Beat The Clock’ with Bob Abdou got super whipped-creamy, pie-in-the-face style at the end.

Photo below is on Her Majesty’s Throni, c/o of @paypay_beela12 on Instagram.

The live music of the weekend wasn’t limited to the nighttime concerts…

School of Rock Chicago took to the stage on Saturday afternoon (head HERE to see them perform ‘Dig A Pony’), and Girls Next Door A Cappella from the University of Illinois performed on Saturday night –- singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to a surprised and delighted Louise Harrison and performing a chills-inducing version of ‘Because.’

Later on Saturday night, Ron Aprea, who played sax on John Lennon’s Walls and Bridges LP, joined Liverpool as they tore through a sizzling version of ‘Whatever Gets You thru the Night.’ See the video HERE.

On Sunday, The Weeklings played a rollicking set that featured songs the Beatles wrote but never officially released, their Beatles-inspired originals, and other Beatles cuts.

That wasn’t all…

The Apple Jam Stage made its Chicago Fest debut, where an amazing assortment of solo artists, bands, and DJs rocked all weekend long!

After Michelle My Pelle and DJ Sun Queen & DJ Madonna got the party started on Friday night, Scott Erickson performed deep cuts on both Saturday and Sunday, GiGi Wong-Monaco hosted a ukulele strum, Nick Peay played Beatles tunes on acoustic on Saturday and uke on Sunday, and Phil Angotti & Friends brought the house down with their McCartney-centric show on Saturday and their Lennon-centric show on Sunday. Also delighting fans on the Apple Jam Stage were School of Rock (after their main stage appearance), Sgt. Sauerkraut’s Polka Band, and the Yellow Submorons.

On both Saturday and Sunday, after the scheduled performances had concluded, the Apple Jam Stage opened up for the fans, who jammed into the wee hours of the morning.

Meanwhile, jams were going strong all throughout the hotel all weekend long — sunrise to sundown and beyond…

As always, the Beatles art contest was a place where fans were treated to some truly great art by professionals, amateurs, and kids, all who took home prizes. Of the many entries in the professional division, Sandra Ragan took home the top prize for her broken glass and ink Abbey Road art. The giant crocheted Beatles flag by Jessica DeJardin took top honors in the amateur division, and Cameron Hicks’ mixed media with melted crayons piece won the top prize for the kids division. We thank Deco for continuing to do such a great job with the Art Museum.

The Chicago Fest was home to two Beatles marketplaces, the weekend home of 20 of the best Beatles authors in the world, and Terri Hemmert of WXRT, our amazing emcee.

When Festers weren’t busy dancing, jamming in every nook of the hotel, and parading (at our fourth annual Beatles Animal Parade which included the new Martha puppet), they took in one of Bob Abdou’s highly entertaining Beatles puppet shows, got memorabilia signed, watched a movie in the Beatles video room, sang Beatles karaoke, toured the photo, Beatles art, and memorabilia rooms (Rob Shanahan, Neal Glaser, Jeff Augsburger), and more.

Many also took refuge in our Beatles Ashram, which featured yoga classes for adults and kids, intro sessions to Cosmic Consciousness with the teachers of Transcendental Meditation, Beatles Zumba with GiGi, Deco’s Poetry Jam, and the Ashram’s highlight of the weekend… a talk with Louise Harrison about spirituality — from George’s perspective and her own. “Whatever you do, do it with purity of purpose” Louise told us was one of George’s foundational beliefs and teachings.

Other highlights from the weekend were We Can Write It Out with Mark Hudson, Live Beatles Trivia hosted by Wally Podrazik and Joan Moran, Name That Tune hosted by Al Sussman and Tom Frangione, Lorie Nolte winning a trip to Las Vegas to see The Beatles LOVE Cirque du Soleil, nightly Fest recap songs with Danny Donuts (this time with a little HELP! from the FABoratory), a reenactment of Help!, and the always spectacular Pig Light Show that accompanied the concerts on Saturday and Sunday.

The amount of Beatles knowledge shared over the weekend by authors/historians Wally Podrazik, Vivek Tiwary, Bruce Spizer, Jude Southerland Kessler, Chuck Gunderson, Andrew Grant Jackson, Paul Skellett, Simon Weitzman, David Schwensen, Dee Elias, Jim Berkenstadt, Jorie Gracen, Jill Davis, Tom Frangione, Al Sussman, Susan Ryan, Robert Rodriguez, Richard Buskin, Anthony Robustelli, Kit O’Toole, and Lanea Stagg was nothing short of incredible!

As always, the Musicians’ Forum on Sunday was a treat, as was that night’s concert that saw Liverpool play all of the Beatles songs from the Help! film and other Beatles cuts before the stage opened to sax men Mark Rivera and Ron Aprea, Terry Sylvester, Billy Kinsley, and the incomparable Mark Hudson.

Drew, John, Glen, and Chris of Liverpool were fantastic all weekend, kicking things off with the Dance Party on Friday night, playing the entire 1965 Shea Stadium set (50 years to the day!) and more on Saturday, and finishing things up in thrilling fashion on Sunday night after performing all the songs from the ‘Help!’ film and more as Mark Lapidos thrilled everyone while taking to the stage to sing ‘Charlie Brown’ with Mark Rivera, Mark Hudson (The Three Markies) and Liverpool. It was a special moment. Then, everyone came on stage to join in the traditional finale of ‘Hey Jude.’

Head HERE to watch Liverpool wrap up the 1965 Shea Stadium set with ‘I’m Down’…

Head HERE to watch Mark Lapidos join in on the fun with ‘Charlie Brown’…

After the Chicago Fest officially came to a close, the jamming continued into the wee hours of Monday morning, with Festers playing outside in the front of the hotel until the sun came up and people started going about their Monday morning business. This is a new official tradition — join us next year!

The fans brought the energy all weekend, with the traditions of Fests gone by seamlessly intertwining with the new events and activities that spiced up the weekend.

We are still gathering all of the pictures and videos from The Fest to share, and we want to see all of yours, too! As we did over the weekend, use the hashtag #ChiFest15 to share pictures with us on Instagram and Twitter (@Beatles_Fest), and post pictures on our Facebook wall at Facebook.com/thefest.

In addition to the albums that are already up, lots more pictures of all the guests, events, activities, and fans will be shared in emails, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and via email (send them to danny@thefest.com) in the coming days and weeks!

We’d also like to thank the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, who did a terrific job hosting the Fest, especially Deb. Most of all, we want to offer another thank you to all the guests and fans who came to celebrate all things Beatles for our 39th summer in Chicago.

We are already gearing up for the New York Metro Fest, taking place April 15 to 17 at the Hilton Westchester in Rye Brook, New York. Details will be released at TheFest.com in late-October, so keep an eye out! Hotel rooms are now available, so be sure to call (914) 939-6300 to book yours!

Now and Then

By Jude Southerland Kessler

I’ve just been listening to “Now and Then,” the haunting John Lennon song which was enhanced by the other Beatles and ultimately scrapped during the Anthology sessions. And as I listen to the lonely, dark lyrics and solemn sound, I keep whispering to John, “Be present, be present.”

John was so rarely present. In his Spector-ized Rock’n’Roll LP and in the fan-produced version of “Now and Then,” (LISTEN HERE) he’s so far away, removed, absent from the moment. It was his way. He constantly distanced himself from his true sound, his true self, his true feelings.

After the loss of his mother, Julia, the second time — when death took her in July of 1959 — John “hid his love away” and withdrew. For days, he was physically cloistered in his Mendips room, refusing even to eat. And when at last he emerged, John was no longer the incorrigible little boy who had pulled faces at Mimi and Ge’rge and pretended to be “The Famous Eccles.” He was a bitter and cynical teen with “a chip on his shoulder…bigger than his feet.” The new John was a stranger, even to himself.

In the years that followed, he rarely let “the former John” shine through. He protected himself in a thick, snarking, leather-jacketed armor that shielded his feelings, protected his wounds, and separated him from anyone or anything that could “get at him.” Cynical, angry, tough, and guarded, John employed every screen that would defend. He adopted a persona that kept people at arm’s distance. John Winston Lennon was not present.

Double-tracking his voice to the point of sounding as if he’s in another room, stepping farther and farther away from the microphone and vanishing into a sound box far across the hall, John slipped into a seclusion that eventually led to “house husband,” to towered genius, to recluse. He was present only to the few that he trusted. And even then…he watched his back.

That’s the legacy he leaves us in the haunting “Now and Then.” He sings, “But if you have to go, away, if you have to go…Now and then, I miss you.” And instantly we’re there, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with that wounded, broken teen whose mother was capriciously in and out of his life, whose mother was here and there and gone again, whose mother was finally violently taken — when he needed her most.

That hurt never turned into acceptance. That wound never healed.

John was quick to tell Astrid after Stu’s death that she had a choice to make. She could die with Stu or go on living. It was her choice, John said. But strangely enough, John had already made the choice to bury himself with Julia and to become a different soul: a soul bound in invisible armor.

Are you that soul? Am I? Are we so far removed that our voice comes drifting in from another room? Are we so shielded from the many who’ve wounded us that we no longer let anyone love us, really? Are we so scared that we anticipate being abandoned and stave off the pain before it can even begin? Do we wound others before they can wound us? Do we fear being present?

Now and then…I do.

Now and then, you might, too.

I wonder what John would do if he had the chance to do it all over again. I wonder: Would he love more, embrace more, relish more, enjoy more, open up more, feel more, surrender more? Or would he say that being absent was just the ticket?

I lean closer to the computer speakers. I strain. I listen to his haunting, distant sound. And then, I reflect, now and then. I wonder.

You can listen to John’s demo of “Now and Then” HERE.

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series: www.johnlennonseries.com

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations — @910PubRel on Twitter and 910 Public Relations on Facebook.

Hey Jude was released 47 years ago today

By Danny Abriano

From Fest Founder/Director Mark Lapidos…

Monday August 26, 1968 at around 10:30AM
Kutsher’s Country Club, Monticello, New York

I was working as a waiter in the children’s dining room and was taking my typical morning break between breakfast and lunch, going back to my room, turning on my transistor radio and more often than not, nodding off a bit.

Well on this morning I heard a brand new Beatles song and it woke me up. It mesmerized me. But in the coda my brain cells were going on and off. I remember thinking ‘how long is this song,’ then coming back to it a minute (or perhaps only seconds) later and it was still going! After lunch I had a full listen, and here we are 47 years later and it is still my favorite song of all time — Hey Jude.

To me, the single (with ‘Revolution’ as the b-side) had the power and impact of an entire Beatles album. I don’t know how else to explain it.

If I drove to my college classes and Hey Jude was on the radio, I always waited for the song to finish before heading in. I still do (but not always). It has had a profound effect on my life. Three months later, the Beatles put out a double album with 30 songs on it, but they had the class to not include the single on the album. Wonder how Capitol must have felt about that.