There are Beatles fans and then there is Scott Freiman, who might be called a Beatles-ologist. Freiman has assiduously collected facts about the composition and recording of the legendary group's songs, which he presents along with an analysis of the music itself in lectures nationwide. Freiman's goal, as he says in a bonus interview with film critic Janet Maslin, President of the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY (where this talk on the seminal 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was filmed), is to “pick apart the creative process” that resulted in the Beatles' classic albums. After warming up the audience with a quiz (inviting them to identify songs from short snippets), Freiman launches a multimedia presentation that offers a general introduction to the band's evolution over time before proceeding one by one through the album's cuts, which include classics such as “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “A Day in the Life,” and “With a Little Help from My Friends.” While some songs are passed over briskly, others are given extensive treatment outlining their genesis, development, and the innovative techniques used to record them. The individual contributions of John, Paul, George and Ringo are carefully catalogued, but Freiman is also at pains to emphasize the contributions of the group's long-time producer George Martin, sometimes referred to as the fifth Beatle. Devotees of the band will obviously be Freiman's main audience, but others should also appreciate his application of musicological expertise to pop music. Other extras include an audience Q&A and five additional “mini-deconstructions” of Beatles songs. Also available in the Deconstructing the Beatles series are: Revolver, Rubber Soul, and The White Album. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
Deconstructing the Beatles: Sgt. Pepper
(2016) 95 min. DVD: $19.95. DRA. Deconstructing the Music (www.beatleslectures.com). Closed captioned. Volume 33, Issue 1
Deconstructing the Beatles: Sgt. Pepper
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