(WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ) -- The much-anticipated release of The Beatles (popularized as The White Album) box set, remixed and repackaged with previously unreleased outtakes, will take center stage November 8-11, 2018 at Monmouth University’s international symposium commemorating the album’s original release back in November 1968. Tickets are available now at: Monmouth.edu/WhiteAlbum
The White Album 50th anniversary reissue has been officially announced by Apple Corps Ltd. as being available on November 9. Monmouth University will host a special listening party at midnight on November 8, with copies available for purchase at that time and throughout the event. Special guests at the party (and throughout the weekend) will include keynote speaker Mark Lewisohn, world-renowned Beatles historian, as well record producer Chris Thomas who worked on the original album in 1968.
Dr. Kenneth Womack, Dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth and critically-acclaimed Beatles author, is spearheading the conference activities. “Monmouth University will be the place to be this November, as the world comes together to celebrate one of the Beatles’ most remarkable musical achievements. Fans will be treated to listening parties, live performances, and expert panels on the album’s enduring legacy.”
Other special guests at the symposium include former Apple Records manager Ken Mansfield, music journalist Rob Sheffield, and musicologist Walter Everett of the University of Michigan. In addition, events will feature the premiere of the film The Beatles in India by Paul Saltzman (who was in Rishikesh at the same time as the Beatles in 1968), and a concert performance by Beatle-esque Jersey Shore favorites, The Weeklings. A top-drawer cast of experts will also be on hand, including Bruce Spizer, Allan Kozinn, Tim Riley, Jude Southerland Kessler, Ken Dashow, and a host of others.
Monmouth University, a member of the GRAMMY Museum’s affiliate program, is presenting the four-day symposium in association with the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music.
Copies of the White Album available for purchase at the event come courtesy of the official Fest for Beatles Fans store, operated by Fest founder Mark Lapidos. The Fest will be sharing a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the box sets with Monmouth University to support student scholarships.
For more information about the event, please visit: Monmouth.edu/WhiteAlbum
Symposium Daily Highlights:
In addition to a host of special guests, there will be more than 100 talks about The White Album, as well as a number of musical performances of Beatles songs and a recording demonstration room where attendees can learn about the album’s landmark production.
Thursday
8:00pm: The Weeklings
Midnight: Special White Album Listening Party, moderated by Bruce Spizer and Scott Freiman
Friday
Noon: Interview with Ken Mansfield, Apple Records US Manager
Afternoon: “Richard Hamilton’s White Album Design,” Tim Riley
“Unboxing the Beatles’ Box Set,” Al Sussman and Mark Lapidos, founder of the Fest for Beatles Fans
Book-Signing of Tune In with Mark Lewisohn
Evening: White Album Release Panel, Moderated by Ken Dashow, featuring Mark Lewisohn, Rob Sheffield, and Bruce Spizer
White Album Remix Discussion, Moderated by Bruce Spizer, featuring Allan Kozinn, Walter Everett, Jeff Slate, and Chris Thomas
Late Evening: The Ballad of the Dreadnaught Film, hosted by Dick Boak and Jerry Zolten
Saturday
Noon: Interview with Chris Thomas, White Album producer with George Martin
Afternoon: Swinging through the Sixties Live Podcast: The Lennon and McCartney White Albums
Book-Signing with Rob Sheffield and Bruce Spizer
Evening: Mark Lewisohn, Keynote Address
Late Evening: The Beatles in India Film, hosted by Paul Saltzman
Sunday
Noon: Interview with Geoff Emerick, Beatles Engineer
Afternoon: “Deconstructing the Beatles’ White Album,” Scott Freiman
Keynote Speakers & Special Guests
Mark Lewisohn is the acknowledged world authority on the Beatles. His books include the bestselling and influential Recording Sessions, The Complete Beatles Chronicle, and (as co-author) The Beatles’ London. In 2013, he published volume one of The Beatles: All These Years, a planned three-volume biography of the lives and works of the bandmates and their circle. The first volume, Tune In, was an international bestseller, enjoying both critical and commercial acclaim.
Ken Mansfield is a Beatles insider and the former US Manager of Apple Records. As an author, he has published The Beatles, the Bible, and Bodega Bay and The White Book,as well as the forthcoming The Roof: The Beatles’ Final Concert.
Geoff Emerick is the Grammy Award-winning engineer behind such landmark Beatles recordings as Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Abbey Road, as well as Paul McCartney and Wings’ Band on the Run and Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom. He is the author of the bestselling Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles.
Chris Thomas is a renowned record producer. His artists include the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Roxy Music, Badfinger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, the Pretenders, the Sex Pistols, and INXS, among others. In 1968, he served as George Martin’s assistant at AIR (Associated Independent Recordings) and shared in production duties for The White Album.
Rob Sheffield is a music journalist and a longtime contributing editor to Rolling Stone. He is the author of the bestselling Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time and Dreaming the Beatles.
Walter Everett is a music theorist at the University of Michigan, where he specializes in popular music. His books include The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology and The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul. He is also the author of The Foundations of Rock: From “Blue Suede Shoes” to “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”
Tim Riley is a music critic with NPR and a member of the faculty at Emerson College. He is the author of the acclaimed Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary and John Lennon: The Man, the Myth, the Music. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Slate, and Salon.
Mark Lapidos is the founder of the Fest for Beatles Fans. In 1974, Lapidos famously met with John Lennon at New York City’s Pierre Hotel, where he sought the former Beatle’s permission to hold an annual convention devoted to celebrating the lives and works of the Beatles.
Al Sussman is Executive Editor of Beatlefan magazine. He’s the author of Changin’ Times: 101 Days That Shaped a Generation and has contributed to Bruce Spizer’s recent books on Sgt. Pepper and The White Album.
Scott Freiman is the lecturer behind the Deconstructing the Beatles series, which now includes a series of bestselling documentaries.
John Covach is the Director of the Institute for Popular Music at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. He is the author and editor of numerous books, including Understanding Rock, American Rock and the Classical Tradition, and Traditions, Institutions, and American Popular Music. He is also the author of the textbook What’s That Sound?: An Introduction to Rock Music.
Jude Southerland Kessler is a leading authority on the life of John Lennon and author of the projected nine-volume narrative history The John Lennon Series. She serves as the official blogger for The Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago and New York, and as chairperson of the annual Beatles at the Ridge Festival’s Artists & Authors Symposium.
Edward Green, a Fulbright Specialist in American Music, is an award-winning composer. He is on the faculty of the Aesthetic Realism Foundation and a professor at Manhattan School of Music, where he teaches Music History and Jazz Composition. His publications include The Cambridge Companion to Duke Ellington.
Richard Buskin and Erik Taros are the hosts of the Swinging through the Sixtiespodcast. Buskin is the award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author of more than 30 music, film and other nonfiction books. Taros served as Archive Specialist and Subject Matter Expert for Ron Howard’s Beatles documentary Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years.
Robert Rodriguez is the award-winning author of numerous books about the Beatles, including Revolver: How the Beatles Reimagined Rock ’n’ Roll. He is the host of the popular podcast Something about the Beatles.
The Fab 4 Free 4 All is a talk show that focuses on the Beatles, solo Beatles, and related artists. The show is hosted by Mitch Axelrod, author of the book, “Beatletoons – The Real Story Behind The Cartoon Beatles,”, Rob Leonard, host of “Beatlesongs,” on WHPC 90.3 FM, and Tony Traguardo, host of “Free Format For Free,” on WCWP 88.1 FM.
Allan Kozinn is one of the world’s foremost music journalists, having written widely for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, High Fidelity, and The New York Observer. He is the author of several books, including Guitar: The History, the Music, the Players, Mischa Elman and the Romantic Style, The Beatles, and Classical Music: A Critic’s Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings.
Bruce Spizer is the world’s foremost authority on the Beatles’ discography. He is the author of a dozen books exploring the nature of the band’s musical output, including the forthcoming The Beatles White Album and the Launch of Apple.
Jim Berkenstadt is the Rock And Roll Detective, having authored several books, including the The Beatle Who Vanished; Black Market Beatles; and Classic Rock Albums: Nirvana–Nevermind. He served as historical consultant for Martin Scorsese’s HBO Emmy winning film, George Harrison: Living in the Material World and is the star of the Reelz channel TV series Celebrity Legacies.
Paul Saltzman is a two-time Canadian Emmy Award-winning film and television producer-director with more than 300 films, both dramas and documentaries, to his credit. In 1968, at the age of 23, he traveled to India for the first time as sound engineer on the National Film Board of Canada’s Juggernaut documentary. While there, he spent time with and photographed the Beatles, Donovan, Mia and Prudence Farrow and Mike Love. In 2000, Saltzman released a book of his photographs, The Beatles in Rishikesh; and in 2006 he self-published a deluxe limited edition box set The Beatles in India.
Bob Santelli is the Executive Director of the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music, as well as the former Executive Director of the Grammy Museum. A faculty member at Oregon State University, he is the author of numerous books, including The Big Book Of Blues, The Bob Dylan Scrapbook, and Greetings From E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Kenneth Womack is Dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monmouth University, where he also serves as Professor of English. He is the author of a two-part biography of Sir George Martin, which includes the books Maximum Volume and Sound Pictures.
