The Beatles vs. Jesus

It’s pretty hard to evade controversy when you’re in the most popular rock and roll band in the history of the world. Especially when you’re its most outspoken member. That band is of course, The Beatles, and the aforementioned extrovert is none other than John Lennon. Pegged “the smart one”, Lennon and band members Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr would go onto achieve massive success throughout their eight-year partnership and emerged as musical innovators and arguably, the greatest influence on popular culture of the 1960s. In 1963, The Beatles achieved unprecedented popularity in their homeland, the UK, with a string of chart toppers that included Please, Please Me, Twist and Shout and She Loves You. It wasn’t until the release of I Want to Hold Your Hand that they finally broke through to American audiences and by February 1964, following their landmark performance on the Ed Sullivan Show, “Beatlemania” had officially taken over the world. Upon arrival on US soil, those lovable lads from Liverpool instantly charmed American audiences with their witty sense of humor, their unusual accents and perhaps inadvertently delivered a much needed diversion to a nation still reeling from the recent, horrific, assassination of its beloved President. But, it wasn’t before long that The Beatles grew weary of the harsh glare of the limelight. Their exhausting tour schedules often kept them confined to hotel rooms to avoid the screaming hordes, the unbearable assault on their privacy and to an extent, their sanity. Yet nothing seemed to compromise the band’s superb songwriting, which, in the span of less than two years, exhibited a growing departure, both lyrically and stylistically, from the cute, love songs that launched their careers. By 1965, the band but most notably, John, explored themes of introspection and alienation in songs like Help! , Nowhere Man, and In My Life, that resonated with youth living in a turbulent era marked by civil disobedience, a raging war in Southeast Asia and a burgeoning counterculture that declined to uphold the social mores and values of the “Establishment.” During their first US tour, the Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, prohibited the band from expressing their opinions of the Vietnam War, so as to not upset tour promoters and potentially lose their financial backing. Epstein finally relented, at Lennon’s urging, which John explained during a 1966 press conference “it seems a bit silly to be in America and for none of them to mention Vietnam as if nothing was happening…you can’t keep quiet about anything that’s going on in the world.” The band even had a provision in their contract, which stated that The Beatles would not perform for segregated audiences, resulting in either cancelled shows in some southern American cities or a temporary suspension of Jim Crow laws for the duration of the gig.

In March 1966, The Daily Standard featured an interview by journalist Maureen Cleave entitled ‘How Does a Beatle Live? John Lennon Lives Like This.’ The article gave an intimate portrait of Lennon’s quiet suburban home life in Weybridge-Esher, a stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of swinging London. During the interview, Cleave asked John about his views on religion to which Lennon answered: “Christianity will go,' he said. 'It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now...I don’t know which will go first – rock’n’roll or Christianity.' The comment was barely noticed in England but a few months later, the article appeared in the August issue of Datebook, an American Teen magazine, and the quote regarding Christianity made the front cover. The inevitable uproar caught on like wildfire, particularly in the Jim Crow Bible belt, leading to cancelled tour dates as well as death threats against the band. Radio stations organized ‘Beatles boycotts’ and ‘Beatles bonfires’, urging teens to renounce those blasphemous heathens and burn whatever Beatles records and memorabilia they owned. Even the cross-burning Klan got involved, a likely ally in this holy war, as the terror organization perhaps felt inherently obligated to partake in any event involving fire, all in the name of the Great White Jesus that cured lepers, walked on water, fed the hungry and preached the eradication of Blacks. But threatening the wildly popular, Anti-Christ Beatles was certainly a worthy endeavor. In response to the furor, Brian Epstein immediately organized a press conference for the band, where John issued an apology and explained the context under which his comments were made: “Originally I pointed out that fact in reference to England. That we meant more to kids than Jesus did, or religion at that time. I wasn't knocking it or putting it down. I was just saying it as a fact and it's true more for England than here. I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this". That explanation clearly wasn’t enough as the ‘Great Beatles-ban’ raged on with full-force. The Memphis chapter of the KKK vowed to disrupt their August 19th performance at the Mid-South Coliseum, which called for heightened security at the venue as well as a carefully planned exit strategy for the band after the show. Luckily, they safely left Memphis but the event solidified the Beatles’ disinterest in touring and their final performance at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park on August 29th marked the end of the Beatles as a touring band. Years later, John Lennon reflected on the incident, humorously expressing his gratitude to Jesus for putting an end to touring: “I always remember to thank Jesus for the end of my touring days; if I hadn't said that The Beatles were 'bigger than Jesus' and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus."

Way Out Sounds: Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. and the Synths that Defined the Seventies

Multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter Roger Joseph Manning Jr., is renowned for the melody-rich, intricately arranged compositions that his fans have latched onto throughout his nearly 25-year musical career. In each of his diverse band projects (Jellyfish, Imperial Drag, The Moog Cookbook, Malibu, and TV Eyes), his ongoing collaborations with Beck as well as his stellar solo efforts, (2006’s The Land of Pure Imagination and 2008’s Catnip Dynamite) what remains constant is Manning’s unshakeable ability to create very complex yet highly enjoyable music that is punctuated by his keyboard wizardry. His indelible mark in the world of keyboards is embodied by his innovative use of vintage, analog synthesizers and his vast collection of those instruments over the years has cultivated a greater proficiency, intimacy and almost encyclopedic knowledge of his primary instrument of choice. “ I did a lot of treasure hunting”, explains Manning. “I spent a lot of time in the early nineties looking for stuff. I was quite the addict for those antique keyboards.” Roger has made guest appearances on countless records, offering his songwriting, production, and keyboard playing skills to artists of various musical genres and is always on the lookout for new and emerging talents with whom he can collaborate. He has most recently appeared on Glen Campbell’s Ghost on the Canvas where he composed the incidental music between the album’s songs. He is currently working with Harper James Simon (Son of Paul Simon) and Roger likens Simon’s upcoming debut album to “the best of Elvis Costello and The Smiths”.

Here, Roger discusses his favorite synthesizers of the 1970s, an era in music that Manning often heralds as a source of inspiration for his career. He also identifies the albums that best showcase the sonic prowess of each of those synthesizers, citing prominent musicians that have pushed the boundaries of modular sound.

The Clavinet:
Although it’s not a synthesizer per se, it is an instrument that was designed to imitate a harpsichord. It’s an electronic instrument that became this whole other entity and was used a lot in the 70s. Not only in a lot of the classic, funk recordings made famous by Stevie Wonder but I particularly enjoy when the clavinet was used in a more rock and roll context. One of my favorite records -- actually it’s one of my favorite keyboard records -- is the Rolling Stones’ Goat’s Head Soup (1973). Billy Preston is the main keyboard player on that record and he primarily plays the clavinet and the RMI Roxichord electric piano (also used extensively by Ron Mael of Sparks, namely in the single This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us, from 1974’s Kimono My House.) But he uses them in such a way that he actually becomes almost the third guitar player. That album was very influential and inspiring to me.

The Mighty Moogs: Moog Modular, Minimoog and Polymoog
There have been very few models that the Moog Company has made that weren’t useful in some way or another but I definitely had favorites over the years. I’m definitely a fan of the Moog filter sound, which has a very distinct sound. The best sounding versions they’ve ever made, in my opinion, are the vintage modular systems (1965-1972). Unfortunately, they were so expensive, that very few people could ever own them. I’ve never owned any myself but I’ve had the privilege to be able to play and record using them. But they are just notably the most brilliant sounding and just the most…extreme. Some of the recordings that showcase the sonic abilities of the Moog synthesizers are Wendy Carlos’ A Clockwork Orange Soundtrack as well as the recordings that Dick Hyman did where he took a lot of popular songs and turned them into funky, rock and roll synthesizer arrangements. And there are lots and lots of incredible soundtrack and musique concrète stuff, where the Moog Modular has been used.

But for a lot of my friends and I, the Minimoog (1970) was certainly a workhorse, one that was used quite frequently because it was very simple and straightforward but you could get a lot of mileage out of it. I’m a big fan of a lot of the recordings that Rick Wakeman did with the band Yes in the early 70s, particularly on the albums Fragile (1971) and Closer to the Edge (1972). And on the other side of that, you had a guy like Jan Hammer who made tremendous contributions to the fusion rock/jazz world as a keyboardist with Mahavishnu Orchestra and certainly on his own. His whole objective was to get the Minimoog to compete sonically and have a presence equal to that of the electric guitar, which I really think he achieved not only sonically but with his note choices. So, those were very influential artists and the Minimoog was definitely a part of my palette when I could finally get my hands on one, which wasn’t until long after college when they became not very sought after, second hand instruments I was able to finally afford some.

The Polymoog (1976) is fantastic! Gary Numan relied heavily on the Polymoog for his solo albums and his work with Tubeway Army to create the sounds that made his music so distinctive. The Pleasure Principle, (1979) which includes the hit song Cars, is like a demonstration record for the Polymoog and he uses it on almost every song on the album. He really pushed that synth to the limit. He used sounds that were very out of tune, very wobbly, to create that space-age, futuristic atmosphere for his music which I find very inviting. It’s a very seductive sound and I am very much a fan of it!

Oberheim Four-Voice
My favorite synthesizer is the Oberheim four-voice, which came out in 1975. It’s really just a personal preference. It couldn’t necessarily do any more or less than its competitors of the day but I’ve always found its basic tone to be the heaviest…the richest among the synthesizers. You’ll hear a lot of people throw the word ‘analog’ around because they prefer the way the sonics hit their ears and their body, how they are affected internally by an analog synth’s sound waves versus how digital sounds affect the human body. Of all the analog synths, for some reason, I prefer the Oberheim’s tone and sound generating qualities above all the others… to this day. They’re just fantastic! You can hear the Oberheim on Pat Metheny’s records with Lyle Mays, most notably on The Pat Metheny Group’s self-titled debut album. I know Supertramp used the Oberheim four-voice on the album Breakfast in America, Patrick Moraz of the band Yes also used the Oberheim as did [jazz artist] Chick Corea. In the Doobie Brothers’ What a Fool Believes, the Oberheim four-voice is the primary synthesizer in that song.

The ARP 2600
ARP was another unique version of what was going on at the time. They were one of the first companies to have a miniaturized modular system. The benefits of the modular system are you have more options to create sound. It can be a little more confusing, you have to be more studied in sound construction and just basic synthesis but once you have the basics, you could do some extraordinary things! The ARP 2600 was the model that a lot of people used in progressive rock, in jazz and even in film scores because it could generate sound effects very easily. It was very fun to create non-musical sounds on them. But, you know Joe Zawinul of the group Weather Report, he used two of them at the same time and made beautiful lyrical, musical sounds with the ARP 2600. Stevie Wonder used the ARP 2600 a lot especially on the album Music of My Mind (1972). However, one of the most popular rock/pop pieces to use the ARP so extensively is the intro to Elton John’s Love Lies Bleeding performed by David Henschel; it’s all ARP 2600.

What elements would you take from each of those synthesizers to create the quintessential, Roger Manning Jr. synth?
That’s a good question! I would take the general oscillators, the tone generators from the Oberheims and I’d put them through the Moog filters and then I would make them all very easily patchable with cables and simplified in the way the ARP did with their 2600 modular. And then ofcourse I’d have MIDI on it so I could program and store sounds. I’d definitely go with that formula!