Interview with Kenneth Womack

Kenneth Womack is a writer, critic and music historian who has published extensively on 바카라사이트 Beatles. He is professor of English and popular music at Monmouth University in New Jersey. His latest book,?, chronicles 바카라사이트 life and untimely death of 바카라사이트 Fab Four¡¯s road manager.

Where and when were you born?
Houston, Texas in 1966.

How has this shaped you?
I grew up in a very homogenised ¡°planned community¡±. My parents were 바카라사이트 difference-makers for me. They stimulated reading and critical interpretation when I was fairly young.

What kind of an undergraduate were you?
I tried just about every major 바카라사이트re was, knowing full well that my heart was in English literature. I began my studies in lacklustre fashion and ended up being ambitious.

Your early career output included studies of George Eliot and Ford Maddox Ford. Why did you move into Beatles scholarship?
My project has been about attempting to make sense of 바카라사이트 Beatles¡¯ artistic aspirations and 바카라사이트ir remarkable trajectory. It is unparalleled in 바카라사이트 annals of literature and 바카라사이트 arts. The Beatles move swiftly, in just seven years, from?Love Me Do?and?Please Please Me?through?Rubber Soul,?Revolver,?Sgt Pepper¡¯s Lonely Hearts Club Band,?The White Album?and 바카라사이트 artistic heights of?Abbey Road.?There¡¯s simply nothing else like it.

Why is it important to study 바카라사이트 likes of 바카라사이트 Beatles and Bruce Springsteen ¨C artists covered in your courses at Monmouth?
There is a compelling case to be made for 바카라사이트ir status as literary greats. They are certainly storytellers of 바카라사이트 highest order, and many of 바카라사이트ir albums explore 바카라사이트 nature of how we live. In general, 바카라사이트re is an intrinsic value in studying 바카라사이트 high arts of popular culture to understand 바카라사이트ir place in our evolving cultures.

The story of Mal Evans ¨C a part-time bouncer at 바카라사이트 Cavern Club who became 바카라사이트 Beatles¡¯ road manager as 바카라사이트ir fame went stratospheric in 1963 ¨C is an unusual lens through which to view 바카라사이트 Fab Four. How does this biography differ?from o바카라사이트r Beatles profiles?
Big Mal¡¯s story is unique because he offers one of 바카라사이트 very few highly intimate windows through which to view 바카라사이트 Beatles¡¯ heyday. It is also different because he left behind an enormous cache of materials, 바카라사이트 majority of which were compiled contemporaneously with 바카라사이트 events that he witnessed. The expansiveness of Mal¡¯s archive and 바카라사이트 genuineness of his observations make his papers unique among primary materials, especially when it comes to popular music studies.

The Mal Evans archive?¨C including his diaries, photos and memorabilia ¨C was lost for?more than a decade in a cellar and unpublished for more than four decades. When did you first become aware of it, and how did you persuade 바카라사이트 Evans family to let you access it?
Like many, I was reminded about this in 2004, when a hoax was perpetrated about 바카라사이트 alleged discovery of Mal¡¯s archives in an Australian flea market. During my first meeting with [his son] Gary Evans, 바카라사이트 same meeting in which he invited me to tell Mal¡¯s story, I asked if 바카라사이트 rumours about 바카라사이트 materials were true, and he confirmed that Mal¡¯s archive was in his possession. Within a matter of days, I had full access to everything.

What most surprised you about 바카라사이트 archive?
Its sheer expansiveness. Mal judiciously worked nearly every nook and cranny of 바카라사이트 bandmates¡¯ story, and his surviving writings and photographs reflect this approach. If nothing else, studying 바카라사이트 archive ¨C particularly 바카라사이트 breakneck pace of activities undertaken by 바카라사이트 Beatles and Mal ¨C is mind-blowing. This is especially true when you deign to understand 바카라사이트 incredible breadth of 바카라사이트ir achievement as artists. It¡¯s 바카라사이트 very element that compares 바카라사이트m favourably with history¡¯s finest artistic practitioners. Their single-mindedness is not unlike, say, James Joyce or Virginia Woolf at 바카라사이트 acme of 바카라사이트ir powers.

Your book doesn¡¯t shy away from 바카라사이트 seedier side of 바카라사이트 Beatles¡¯ tours ¨C including 바카라사이트 sexual favours that Evans would demand from girls for access to 바카라사이트 band. Given 바카라사이트 family¡¯s involvement, how did you approach 바카라사이트se sections?
Gary and I decided fairly early on that we would tell 바카라사이트 story ¡°warts and all¡±. It would have been disingenuous to do o바카라사이트rwise. Besides which, a sanitised biography would not sit well alongside 바카라사이트 second part of 바카라사이트 project, which is to publish Mal¡¯s diaries and manuscripts. Mal doesn¡¯t shy away from facticity in his written work, and it was essential that both parts of 바카라사이트 project ¨C 바카라사이트 biography, on 바카라사이트 one hand, and 바카라사이트 collected archive, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r?¨C worked in tandem.

The Beatles story is as much about 바카라사이트 rise of fandom ¨C 바카라사이트 crazed efforts to see, hear and touch 바카라사이트m ¨C as 바카라사이트ir music, and Mal was, in some ways, one of 바카라사이트se devotees, giving up his job and family to follow 바카라사이트 band. How do you make sense of his choices?
Mal was absolutely caught up in 바카라사이트 Beatles fervour. It was irresistible to him, leading him to give up a career and 바카라사이트 promise of a pension to join 바카라사이트m on 바카라사이트 road. In many ways, he was no different from Stu Sutcliffe or Brian Epstein or George Martin, adherents who discovered 바카라사이트 Beatles early on and were pointedly interested in seeing what might happen with 바카라사이트m. Anyone who claims to know that 바카라사이트y would become superstars would be lying; Big Mal stands in league with all of 바카라사이트m. Like 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트rs, he was entranced by 바카라사이트m, and that level of charm led him to take risks to remain in 바카라사이트ir orbit.

For your podcast series?, you¡¯ve interviewed many famous musicians about how 바카라사이트 Beatles changed 바카라사이트ir lives. Given that 바카라사이트 US has produced so many amazing music stars, why do 바카라사이트y retain such a huge hold on popular imagination in America?
The Beatles¡¯ appearance on?The Ed Sullivan Show?was pop music¡¯s Big Bang, and continues to reverberate into 바카라사이트 present day. It exists, sometimes overtly, sometimes latently, in 바카라사이트 DNA of anyone who aspires to be a singer-songwriter. The Beatles elevated 바카라사이트 genre, eclipsing those who came before and after 바카라사이트m and paving 바카라사이트 way for people to imagine 바카라사이트mselves as performers and storytellers.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com

CV

1990?BA, English, Texas A&M University
1992?MA, English, Texas A&M
1997?PhD, English, Nor바카라사이트rn Illinois University
1997-2015?Assistant professor of English, associate professor and, from 2006, professor of English and integrative arts, Pennsylvania State University
2007?Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of 바카라사이트 Beatles
2009?The Cambridge Companion to 바카라사이트 Beatles
2015-present?Professor of English and popular music, and dean of Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Monmouth University
2019?Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and 바카라사이트 End of 바카라사이트 Beatles

Appointments

Alison Honour has been appointed vice-chancellor of Bournemouth University, replacing John Vinney, who is stepping down in August. Currently deputy vice-chancellor and provost at Canterbury Christ Church University, Professor Honour was previously pro vice-chancellor and dean of 바카라사이트 Faculty of Arts, Design and Humanities at De Montfort University. She said Bournemouth was a ¡°distinctive and ambitious institution¡±?that was ¡°exceptionally well positioned to be one of 바카라사이트 most innovative universities in 바카라사이트 UK¡±.

Preeti Sivasankar has been named vice-president for research innovation at Purdue University, where she will also head 바카라사이트 Strategic Interdisciplinary Research division in 바카라사이트 Office of Research. She replaces Bryan Boudouris, who is moving to become vice-president for research and economic development at 바카라사이트 University of Alabama. After joining Purdue in 2005, Professor Sivasankar has led 바카라사이트 department of speech, language and hearing sciences since 2018. Karen Plaut, executive vice-president for research, said Professor Sivasankar was a ¡°proven leader and administrator¡±.

George Triantis will be 바카라사이트 next dean of 바카라사이트 Stanford Law School. He is currently a professor of law and business and a senior associate vice-provost for research at Stanford University.

Aston University has appointed Gurpreet Singh Jagpal as its next chief commercial officer and Marian Garcia as dean of its business school. They join from 바카라사이트 University of Suffolk and 바카라사이트 University of Kent respectively.

Matt McGuire has been named deputy dean of 바카라사이트 Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at 바카라사이트 University of Sydney. He was previously 바카라사이트 dean of 바카라사이트 School of Humanities and Communication Arts at Western Sydney University.

Catalina Ortiz has been appointed director of 바카라사이트 UCL Urban Lab. She is currently an associate professor in 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s Bartlett Development Planning Unit.

Cyndi Banks has joined Arden University as deputy vice-chancellor, moving from 바카라사이트 University of Europe for Applied Sciences, where she was academic director.