New music: America, The Spongetones, Ron Sexsmith

In this column I feature new audio releases featuring classic rock great America, power pop heroes The Spongetones and singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith.

Artist: America
Title: Hearts (Omnivore Recordings)
You might like if you enjoy: Neil Young's "Harvest" and "After The Gold Rush"; America's 1974 album "Holiday"
Tell me more: The 50th Anniversary edition of America's 1975 album Hearts is glorious. The George Martin-produced album features the captivating hits "Sister Golden Hair," "Daisy Jane  and "Woman Tonight." And the wealth of sonic classics extend beyond those radio favorites to include the rousing rocker "Half A Man," dreamy "Midnight," shimmering ballad "Bell Tree," Americana-styled "Old Virginia," bewitching Baroque-tinged "People In The Valley" and more. The expanded reissue also includes five previously unissued studio bonus tracks plus the audio CD debut of "Sister Golden Hair" in Spanish ("Con Tu Pelo Tan Dorado"). The colorful 12-page booklet features new liner notes by Joe Marchese (theseconddisc.com) including interviews with founding members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell. Beckley reminisces in a new interview in the album's notes: "We learned an immense amount from them (Martin and legendary Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick) that we applied the minute we started on Hearts." Now listeners can rediscover the magic of the legendary album via an outstanding reissue out now. Information: omnivorerecordings.com.

Artist: The Spongetones
Title: The 40th Anniversary Concert... And Beyond (Big Stir Records)
You might like if you enjoy: The Beatles, Jamie Hoover, Jason Falkner, Pugwash
Tell me more: Fans of The Beatles hungering for melodic, instantly-catchy rock will want to get a listen to The Spongetones' The 40th Anniversary Concert... And Beyond. The North Carolina-based quartet (guitarist Jamie Hoover, bassist Steve Stoeckel, guitarist Pat Walters and drummer Eric Willhelm) performs a slew of catchy originals that tap into the sound of the early Fab Four with artful aplomb across the 21-track collection. The parade of tuneful tracks includes the shining opener "Anyway Town," harmonies-anchored "Not So" and "Here I Go Again," driving "Better Take It Easy," jazzy "Little Death," captivating "Every Night Is A Holiday" and swirling "She Goes Out With Everybody" on the first half of the concert recording. Late disc highlights include the melodious "Don't You Know?," snappy "Have You Ever Been Torn Apart?," Beatlesque "Try To Please," propulsive XTC-flavored "Help Me Janie Help!" and wonderful closer "Lulu's In Love." Information: bigstirrecords.com.

Artist: Ron Sexsmith
Title: Hangover Terrace (Cooking Vinyl)
You might like if you enjoy: Ron Sexsmith, The Kinks, Blur
Tell me more: Canadian singer-songwriter great Ron Sexsmith is back with one of the greatest and most arresting albums of 2025 (Hangover Terrace was released on Aug. 29). Among the great cuts that combine melodic songcraft and literate insight are "Camelot Towers" (a song that examines the terrible cost of urban sprawl), the deeply stirring "Must Be Something Wrong With Her" and "House of Love," the tender baroque folk gem "Angel On My Shoulder," nostalgia-aimed rocker "Burgoyne Woods" and confessional Americana-styled "Please Don't Tell Me Why." Information: cookingvinyl.com.

Robert Kinsler

TJR and Robert Kinsler discuss The Beatles 'Get Back'

On their newly-posted episode, TJR and Robert Kinsler discuss "Get Back," the ambitious docuseries from Peter Jackson that made its debut over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Watch the episode HERE.

The Beatles' 'Let It Be' Special Edition Releases announced

Big news today with The Beatles' announcement that several configurations of the band's Let It Be overseen by Giles Martin (the son of the group's late producer George Martin) are set to arrive on Oct. 15, 2021. Listen to the three advance tracks from the set I have posted as part of my coverage below too...Robert Kinsler

The Beatles announce the release of 'Let It Be' 50th Anniversary edition; expanded box set coming Oct. 15

It has been rumored for weeks and now comes the official announcement. The Beatles will release an expanded box set of their classic Let It Be on Oct. 15, 2021.

The "Special Edition (Super Deluxe)" version of the collection will include 57 tracks spread out over five audio CDs and one Blu-ray Disc. The discs will include a new stereo mix of the original 1970 album; two discs of sessions from Get Back (the original title of the album); the 1969 Get Back album mixed by Glyn Johns that was cast aside when Phil Spector was brought into the project; and an EP featuring four addition previously-unreleased cuts and new mixes!

Let It Be was originally released on May 8, 1970 and was The Beatles' last-released studio album (although it was recorded prior to 1969's Abbey Road). The album was re-introduced in 2003 via Let It Be... Naked. Spearheaded by Paul McCartney, that remix stripped away Spector's signature over production so fans could hear more sparse versions of the album's tracks.

The forthcoming "Special Edition" of Let It Be comes at the perfect time, just weeks before the premiere of director Peter Jackson's The Beatles: Get Back three-part documentary airs on Disney + in November.

Three advance tracks from the box set have been released for the world to hear. Check them out below, followed by the track listing for the "Super Deluxe" edition.

Hear the 2021 mix of "Let It Be" HERE.

Hear the first rooftop performance of "Don't Let Me Down" HERE.

Hear the 1969 Glyn Johns mix of "For You Blue" HERE.

The Beatles, 'Let It Be: Special Edition (Super Deluxe)' Track Listing
CD1: Let It Be (new stereo mix of original album)
1: Two of Us
2: Dig a Pony
3: Across The Universe
4: I Me Mine
5: Dig It
6: Let It Be
7: Maggie Mae
8: I’ve Got a Feeling
9: One After 909
10: The Long and Winding Road
11: For You Blue
12: Get Back

CD2: Get Back – Apple Sessions
1: Morning Camera (Speech – mono) / Two Of Us (Take 4)
2: Maggie Mae / Fancy My Chances With You (Mono)
3: Can You Dig It?
4: I Don’t Know Why I’m Moaning (Speech – mono)
5: For You Blue (Take 4)
6: Let It Be / Please Please Me / Let It Be (Take 10)
7: I’ve Got a Feeling (Take 10)
8: Dig a Pony (Take 14)
9: Get Back (Take 19)
10: Like Making an Album? (Speech)
11: One After 909 (Take 3)
12: Don’t Let Me Down (First rooftop performance)
13: The Long and Winding Road (Take 19)
14: Wake Up Little Susie / I Me Mine (Take 11)

CD3: Get Back – Rehearsals and Apple Jams
1: On The Day Shift Now (Speech – mono) / All Things Must Pass (Rehearsals – mono)
2: Concentrate on the Sound (mono)
3: Gimme Some Truth (Rehearsal – mono)
4: I Me Mine (Rehearsal – mono)
5: She Came in Through the Bathroom Window (Rehearsal)
6: Polythene Pam (Rehearsal – mono)
7: Octopus’s Garden (Rehearsal – mono)
8: Oh! Darling (Jam)
9: Get Back (Take 8)
10: The Walk (Jam)
11: Without A Song (Jam) – Billy Preston with John and Ringo
12: Something (Rehearsal – mono)
13: Let It Be (Take 28)

CD4: Get Back LP – 1969 Glyn Johns Mix
1: One After 909
2: I’m Ready (aka Rocker) / Save The Last Dance For Me / Don’t Let Me Down
3: Don’t Let Me Down
4: Dig a Pony
5: I’ve Got a Feeling
6: Get Back
7: For You Blue
8: Teddy Boy
9: Two of Us
10: Maggie Mae
11: Dig It
12: Let It Be
13: The Long and Winding Road
14: Get Back (Reprise)

CD5: Let It Be EP
1: Across the Universe (unreleased Glyn Johns 1970 mix)
2: I Me Mine (unreleased Glyn Johns 1970 mix)
3: Don’t Let Me Down (new mix of original single version)
4: Let It Be (new mix of original single version)

Paul McCartney - 'Flaming Pie' Archive Collection to be released July 31 via MPL/Capitol/UMe

One of Paul McCartney's most inspired solo sets is due to get a well-deserved deluxe edition next month. Here is the official media release...

Paul McCartney 'Flaming Pie' Archive Collection coming July 31, 2020

All Pre-Orders Include YOUNG BOY EP

REMASTERED ORIGINAL ALBUM, BONUS TRACKS, PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED MATERIAL, EXCLUSIVE BOOKS, PHOTOS, ARTWORK, & MUCH MORE

TO BE RELEASED JULY 31 VIA MPL/CAPITOL/UMe

PRE-ORDERS LIVE NOW

Paul McCartney proudly announces the thirteenth installment in his GRAMMY Award-winning Archive Collection: On July 31, Paul’s critically acclaimed and universally beloved tenth solo album Flaming Pie will be the latest to receive the Archive Collection treatment, being released on formats including a 5CD/2DVD/4LP Collector’s Edition, a 5CD/2DVD Deluxe Edition, plus 3LP, 2LP and 2CD editions.

All digital pre-orders for the Archive Collection release of Flaming Pie will include YOUNG BOY. Also available as a stand-alone for digital download & streaming, the EP recreates the 1997 “Young Boy” maxi single and features the remastered Flaming Pie single “Young Boy," a home-recorded version of the song, the original B-side “Looking For You,” and excerpts of “Oobu Joobu Part 1,” also from the original single. The two music videos for the track have been restored and will also be published on the same day.

Two additional EPs will be available with “The World Tonight” arriving on June 26 and “Beautiful Night” on July 17. 

Originally released May 5, 1997, Flaming Pie ended a four-year gap between McCartney studio albums. Recorded largely in the wake of Paul’s involvement in the curation and release of The Beatles Anthology series, Flaming Pie was shaped and inspired by that experience, with Paul remarking at the time “(The Beatles Anthology) reminded me of The Beatles' standards and the standards that we reached with the songs. So in a way it was a refresher course that set the framework for this album.” Produced by Paul, Jeff Lynne and George Martin and featuring a supporting cast of family and friends including Ringo Starr, Steve Miller, Linda McCartney and son James, Flaming Pie is equal parts a masterclass in songcraft and a sustained burst of joyful spontaneity. 

With highlights ranging from the uplifting and inspirational opener “The Song We Were Singing” to the raucous title track (named for a quote from an early John Lennon interview on the origin of The Beatles’ name: "It came in a vision – a man appeared on a flaming pie and said unto them, 'from this day on you are Beatles with an A.’”) to the pensive “Calico Skies,” and featuring singles “Young Boy,” “The World Tonight” and “Beautiful Night,” Flaming Pie would represent yet another pinnacle in Paul’s solo catalogue: Released to rapturous reviews, the album would be Paul’s most commercially successful release of the ‘90s, achieving his highest chart positions since the ‘80s and would receive gold certifications in the US, UK, Japan and more.

As the thirteenth release in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, Flaming Pie will be available in formats including a numbered, limited seven-disc (5CD/2DVD) Deluxe Edition Box Set comprised of the original album remastered at Abbey Road Studios, 32 bonus audio tracks including unheard home recordings and demos, alternative studio recordings, rough mixes and B-sides including selections from Oobu Joobu parts 1-6, Flaming Pie At The Mill CD (Paul’s hour-long tour of his studio), video content including the  In The World Tonight documentary, original music videos, EPKs, interviews, performances and behind-the-scenes material, a 128-page book containing previously unpublished images by Linda McCartney, expanded album artwork from the archives and the story behind the album written by Chris Heath – including track-by-track information, recipes and new interviews with Paul, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Steve Miller and key album personnel, studio notes, handwritten lyrics, the 1997 Flaming Pieissue of Club Sandwich, the official newspaper of the Paul McCartney Fanclub, downloadable 24bit 96kHz HD audio, and more.

A 4LP/5CD/2DVD Collector’s Edition — strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies issued in a cloth wrapped two-piece collector’s box — will feature everything in the Deluxe Edition plus a marbled art print portfolio of six silkscreened Linda McCartney art prints, exclusive vinyl versions of the remastered album cut at half speed across 2LPs in an exclusive gatefold sleeve, an LP of home recordings in a hand-stamped white label sleeve, and “The Ballad of the Skeletons” – Paul’s 1996 collaboration with Allen Ginsberg, also featuring Philip Glass and Lenny Kaye – released for the first time on vinyl and cut at 45 RPM with vinyl etching and poster.

Additional Flaming Pie Archive Collection formats will include 2CD (remastered album + 21 tracks of bonus audio), 2LP(remastered album cut at half speed across two 180g LPs in gatefold sleeve with booklet), and 3LP (remastered album cut at half speed across two 180g LPs in gatefold sleeve with booklet, plus single 180g LP of unreleased home recordings in hand-stamped white label sleeve both housed in a slipcase). The release will also be available on streaming platforms. 

The Paul McCartney Archive Collection debuted with the November 2, 2010 re-release of Paul McCartney and Wings’ 1973 milestone Band on the Run, which won the 2010 GRAMMY Award for Best Historical Album, while the Archive Collection’s Deluxe Edition Box Set of the 1976 classic Wings Over America took the 2013 GRAMMY for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package. Every release in the ongoing Paul McCartney Archive Collection is supervised by Paul himself, who oversees all aspects of each and every title from remastering to the curation of lost tracks, outtakes, artwork, photographs and video from his personal vaults, and much more. The result is one of the most ambitious and personal undertakings of its kind, one that encompasses more than 50 years of cherished, classic material from the most successful songwriter and recording artist in music history.

FLAMING PIE - PAUL McCARTNEY ARCHIVE COLLECTION

DELUXE EDITION

• Numbered cloth wrapped clam shell box
• CD portfolio containing 5CDs and 2DVDs
• 128-page book containing previously unpublished images by Linda McCartney, expanded album artwork from the archives and the story behind the album – including track-by-track information, recipes and new interviews with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Steve Miller and key album personnel, written by Chris Heath. 
• Facsimiles of John Hammel studio notebook, Club Sandwich Magazine, Flaming Pie plectrum, and envelope containing handwritten lyrics for 8 tracks and The Flame newspaper

CD1 – Remastered Album

1. The Song We Were Singing
2. The World Tonight
3. If You Wanna
4. Somedays
5. Young Boy
6. Calico Skies
7. Flaming Pie
8. Heaven On A Sunday
9. Used To Be Bad
10. Souvenir
11. Little Willow
12. Really Love You
13. Beautiful Night
14. Great Day

CD2 – Home Recordings

1. The Song We Were Singing [Home Recording]
2. The World Tonight [Home Recording]
3. If You Wanna [Home Recording]
4. Somedays [Home Recording]
5. Young Boy [Home Recording]
6. Calico Skies [Home Recording]
7. Flaming Pie [Home Recording]
8. Souvenir [Home Recording]
9. Little Willow [Home Recording]
10.  Beautiful Night [1995 Demo]
11. Great Day [Home Recording]

CD3 – In The Studio

1. Great Day [Acoustic]
2. Calico Skies [Acoustic] 
3. C’mon Down C’mon Baby
4. If You Wanna [Demo]
5. Beautiful Night [Run Through]
6. The Song We Were Singing [Rough Mix]
7. The World Tonight [Rough Mix]
8. Little Willow [Rough Mix]
9. Whole Life [Rough Mix]
10. Heaven On A Sunday [Rude Cassette]

CD4 – Flaming Pies

1. The Ballad Of The Skeletons
2. Looking For You
3. Broomstick
4. Love Come Tumbling Down
5. Same Love
6. Oobu Joobu Part 1
7. Oobu Joobu Part 2
8. Oobu Joobu Part 3
9. Oobu Joobu Part 4
10. Oobu Joobu Part 5
11. Oobu Joobu Part 6

CD5 – Flaming Pie At The Mill

DVD1 – In The World Tonight

DVD2 - Bonus Film

1. Beautiful Night
2. Making Of Beautiful Night
3. Little Willow
4. The World Tonight [Dir. Alistair Donald]
5. The World Tonight [Dir. Geoff Wonfor] 
6. Young Boy [Dir. Alistair Donald]
7. Young Boy [Dir. Geoff Wonfor]
8. Flaming Pie EPK 1
9. Flaming Pie EPK 2
10. In The World Tonight EPK 
11. Flaming Pie Album Artwork Meeting
12. TFI Friday Performances

Plus downloadable 24bit 96kHz HD audio

COLLECTOR’S EDITION

• All the contents of the Deluxe Edition plus:
• Numbered cloth wrapped two-piece collector’s box
• 4LPs including: exclusive remastered album cut at half speed across 2LPs; hand-stamped white label vinyl featuring home recordings; exclusive “The Ballad Of The Skeletons” 12” single with vinyl etching and poster
• Exclusive marbled art print portfolio housing six Linda McCartney art prints
• Watch the unboxing video here:

LP1 – Remastered Album

Side 1

1. The Song We Were Singing
2. The World Tonight
3. If You Wanna

Side 2

4. Somedays
5. Young Boy
6. Calico Skies
7. Flaming Pie

LP2 – Remastered Album

Side 3

8. Heaven On A Sunday
9. Used To Be Bad
10. Souvenir

Side 4

11. Little Willow
12. Really Love You
13. Beautiful Night
14. Great Day

LP3 – Home Recordings

Side 1

1. The Song We Were Singing [Home Recording]
2. The World Tonight [Home Recording]
3. If You Wanna [Home Recording]
4. Somedays [Home Recording]
5. Young Boy [Home Recording]

Side 2

6. Calico Skies [Home Recording]
7. Flaming Pie [Home Recording]
8. Souvenir [Home Recording]
9. Little Willow [Home Recording]
10. Beautiful Night [1995 Demo]
11. Great Day [Home Recording]

LP4 – The Ballad Of The Skeletons

Side 1

1. The Ballad Of The Skeletons

Side 2

• Vinyl etching

3LP FORMAT

LP1 – Remastered Album

Side 1

1. The Song We Were Singing
2. The World Tonight
3. If You Wanna

Side 2

4. Somedays
5. Young Boy
6. Calico Skies
7. Flaming Pie

LP2 – Remastered Album

Side 3

8. Heaven On A Sunday
9. Used To Be Bad
10. Souvenir

Side 4

11. Little Willow
12. Really Love You
13. Beautiful Night
14. Great Day

LP3 – Home Recordings

Side 1

1. The Song We Were Singing [Home Recording]
2. The World Tonight [Home Recording]
3. If You Wanna [Home Recording]
4. Somedays [Home Recording]
5. Young Boy [Home Recording]

Side 2

6. Calico Skies [Home Recording]
7. Flaming Pie [Home Recording]
8. Souvenir [Home Recording]
9. Little Willow [Home Recording]
10. Beautiful Night [1995 Demo]
11. Great Day [Home Recording]

2LP FORMAT

LP1 – Remastered Album

Side 1

1. The Song We Were Singing
2. The World Tonight
3. If You Wanna

Side 2

4. Somedays
5. Young Boy
6. Calico Skies
7. Flaming Pie

LP2 – Remastered Album

Side 3

8. Heaven On A Sunday
9. Used To Be Bad
10. Souvenir

Side 4

11. Little Willow
12. Really Love You
13. Beautiful Night
14. Great Day

2CD FORMAT

CD1 – Remastered Album

1. The Song We Were Singing
2. The World Tonight
3. If You Wanna
4. Somedays
5. Young Boy
6. Calico Skies
7. Flaming Pie
8. Heaven On A Sunday
9. Used To Be Bad
10. Souvenir
11. Little Willow
12. Really Love You
13. Beautiful Night
14. Great Day

CD2 – Bonus Audio

1. The Song We Were Singing [Home Recording]
2. The World Tonight [Home Recording]
3. If You Wanna [Home Recording]
4. Somedays [Home Recording]
5. Young Boy [Home Recording]
6. Calico Skies [Home Recording]
7. Flaming Pie [Home Recording]
8. Souvenir [Home Recording]
9. Little Willow [Home Recording]
10. Beautiful Night [1995 Demo]
11. Great Day [Home Recording]
12. Beautiful Night [Run Through]
13. Whole Life [Rough Mix]
14. Heaven On A Sunday [Rude Cassette]
15. Great Day [Acoustic]
16. Calico Skies [Acoustic]
17. C’mon Down C’mon Baby
18. Looking For You
19. Broomstick
20. Love Come Tumbling Down
21. Same Love

The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' is celebrated with essential 50th Anniversary edition

When it comes to rock and popular music, there are The Beatles and then there is everyone else. A newly-expanded deluxe edition of the Fab Four's final studio album Abbey Road is a stunning reminder of the timeless magic created by the creative collaboration between John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and famed producer/"5th Beatle" George Martin throughout the 1960s. 

Artist: The Beatles
Title: Abbey Road - 50th Anniversary Edition (Capitol)
You might like if you enjoy: The Beatles, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Badfinger
Tell me more: Fifty years after its original release in the United Kingdom on September 26, 1969, The Beatles' final album Abbey Road has been released as an essential Deluxe Anniversary Edition complete with new stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos mixes. The four-disc version includes 40 essential tracks – featured on three audio CD discs and a Blu-ray disc. After getting the new edition on the day of its release, this writer immediately immersed himself in the new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes; cheers to both 2019 mix producer Giles Martin (the son of the original album's producer George Martin) and 2019 mix engineer Sam Okell for retaining the original character of the album while somehow finding a way to bring out the distinctive vocals and musical nuances of each classic song without thrusting the remastered release into "the loudness war" that has ruined a parade of recordings in recent years.

There are a slew of wonderful previously-unheard tracks; in particular, fans of George Harrison will love the intimate home demo of "Something," a freewheeling early take of his "Old Brown Shoe" and an animated alternate version of "Here Comes The Sun." 

So many of the tracks include playful bits of banter of The Beatles in the studio, often working out the songs and providing insight into their creative process and signature personalities. Listeners will hear the band on early and alternate tracks of many of their final creations, including alternative cuts of "Come Together," "Her Majesty," Maxwell's Silver Hammer" "Sun King," "Octopus's Garden" and "The End." Great stuff.

The edition's packaging is a worthy follow-up to the deluxe edition of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band released in May 2017 and the six-disc Super Deluxe edition of The White Album released in November 2018. Housed in a slip-sleeved 12-inch by 12-inch 100-page fully-illustrated hardbound book, "Abbey Road" includes a foreword penned by Sir Paul McCartney, images of handwritten lyrics, previously-unseen photos (many taken by Linda McCartney) and in-depth notes capturing the period that gave rise to the album.

Listening to Abbey Road anew is to realize that The Beatles' final hour found the group as great as ever. 

Information: TheBeatles.com.

Robert Kinsler

Orbison and Hamilton option The Beatle Who Vanished

This truly sounds like a story worth telling. I am very interested in seeing Jimmie Nicol's story as an interim member of the Fab Four brought to the screen...

Orbison Films and 449 Productions option

THE BEATLE WHO VANISHED

FEATURE/TV SERIES IN DEVELOPMENT ON MYSTERY MAN WHO TOURED IN RINGO STARR’S STEAD

Drummer Jimmie Nicol with Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison.
Photo credit: ©Mirrorpix

Ashley Hamilton’s 449 Productions and Alex Orbison, on behalf of Roy’s Boys Films, have optioned the rights to The Beatle Who Vanished from author Jim Berkenstadt who is known in music circles as the “Rock and Roll Detective®.” The two will serve as Executive Producers along with Berkenstadt on the project that delves into a heretofore-unknown chapter in Beatles’ history that was chronicled in Berkenstadt’s book The Beatle Who Vanished, first published in 2013.  It is expected that the property will take the form either of a feature film or streaming television series. 

Jimmie Nicol’s life changed on June 3, 1964 when he received a call from a desperate George Martin who asked if the drummer could stop everything and go out on the Beatles’ first world tour, conditional on his passing an audition. He would replace Ringo Starr who has been stricken with tonsillitis and pharyngitis and had been admitted to Middlesex University Hospital.  The very next day, the tour departed for Denmark, The Netherlands, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand with Nicol spending two weeks as a Beatle, both onstage and off.  After Ringo recovered and rejoined the group, Nicol, for all intents and purposes, vanished.  Drummer/producer Butch Vig, who has worked with Paul McCartney, Nirvana, Foo Fighters and Garbage called The Beatle Who Vanished “a fascinating and mysterious read for anyone who wants to understand the meteoric rise to pop stardom and subsequent crash landing.” 

Hamilton commented, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Jim Berkenstadt to expand his vision to another medium and expose a whole new audience to his riveting and previously untold Beatles’ story.” Orbison added, “It’s a truly compelling story of the man who rescued The Beatles’ first world tour from disaster. His 15 minutes of fame was 13 days and by the age of 25 he seemingly vanished.  This is a story that is both intimate and epic.” Orbison and Hamilton are hoping to foster the creation of an unprecedented soundtrack that will re-create the music from The Beatles’ tour with Nicol and from his entire musical career.

Paul McCartney summarized the enigma that was Jimmie Nicol “It wasn't an easy thing for Jimmie to stand in for Ringo, and have all that fame thrust upon him. And the minute his tenure was over, he wasn't famous anymore.”

During the tour, McCartney was aware of the pressure that Nicol was under and would inquire as to how he was getting on.  Putting on a brave face, Nicol’s stock response was “It’s getting better,” the recurring comment providing the inspiration for the Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band track “Getting Better.” Unfortunately, the opposite would hold true with Nicol.  After his 13 days of fame were over, the true mystery of Nicol’s story was riddled with blacklisting, betrayal, substance abuse, bankruptcy and an eventual disappearance that has led many to question whether he is dead or alive. He had become a mysterious footnote in Beatles history until Berkenstadt began his research. 

Berkenstadt is the author of Classic Rock Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind (with Charles Cross) as well as Black Market Beatles: The Story Behind the Lost Recordings (with Scott Belmo Belmer). He is founder of Rock and Roll Detective® LLC, a company dedicated to providing production, publishing, writing, research, social media and content creation for the entertainment industry. He has consulted to the late George Harrison, The Beatles and Martin Scorsese.

Ashley Hamilton is an actor/singer/comedian and long time friend of Alex Orbison and his family; he is the son of actors George Hamilton and Alana Stewart. Orbison is one of the principals of Roy’s Boys LLC, the Nashville-based family company owned by the sons of Roy Orbison to administer their father’s catalog and safeguard his legacy.  Alex Orbison served as both Executive Producer and writer of the recent Mystery Girl – Unraveled documentary. It should be noted that the Beatles, with Ringo on board, were Roy Orbison’s opening act on a 21 date UK tour in 1963.  Years later Orbison would collaborate with the Beatles’ George Harrison as well as Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Jeff Lynne in The Traveling Wilburys.