PANELISTS

Friday, August 21
7pm Bruce Spizer "The Beatles are Coming" presentation

Saturday, August 22
2:00-3:30pm Panel: The Business of the Beatles
Jack Oliver, Bruce Spizer, Barry Tashian
Moderated by Seth Swirsky

3:30-5:00pm Panel: Our Friends, The Beatles
Tony Bramwell, May Pang, and Nancy Lee Andrews
Moderated by Ed Salamon

Tony Bramwell,
"If you want to know anything about the Beatles, ask Tony Bramwell. He remembers more than I do."
- Sir Paul McCartney to Donovan in a January 2002 interview

From Publishers Weekly
Bramwell, a longtime Beatles business associate and childhood friend, offers a fond, intimate portrait of the Fab Four. His often gossipy recollections illuminate the players from their days as young "scousers" in working-class Liverpool to their formation as a group, and from their exhausting early stints in Hamburg to their astonishing stardom

The last man standing in the Beatles inner circle
by Katie Hickox, WhatGoesOn reporter
Paul McCartney's publicist Geoff Baker calls Tony Bramwell, "the last man standing" because only Tony, the Beatles former Road Manager, remains alive out of a small group of Beatles insiders from Liverpool who helped Brian Epstein manage the Beatles from the very beginning. Other Beatles insiders who have tragically passed away include: Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall who started as roadies in Liverpool to help out their friends the Beatles, Brian's Assistant Alistair Taylor who was also known as the Beatles "Mr. Fix-it", and lastly not to be forgotten is Alf Bicknell, the Beatles chaffeur from 1964-66 and also worked as a roadie at John's request

May Pang, author of INSTAMATIC KARMA and LOVING JOHN, was John Lennon's companion, production assistant and coordinator in the mid-70s. She assisted with production and promotion of albums by John, Ringo, Harry Nilsson, Keith Moon and Yoko Ono, and has worked with music marketing and artist promotion. It's her voice you hear whispering "John" in "#9 Dream." May also has a fashion jewelry line, the May Pang Feng Shui Jewelry Collection, and has acted in several television series, movies and music videos.

Nancy Lee Andrews, author of the book A DOSE OF ROCK AND ROLL, was Ringo Starr's fiancée and companion in the 70s. She was a model for the Eileen Ford Agency before becoming a respected photographer. The world famous Milton Greene became her mentor after recognizing her photographic abilities during fashion photo shoots at which she was his subject. She has captured many of the rock and country world's most famous faces in her work, which was recently displayed at the Tennessee State Museum.

Ed Salamon is the former President Programming of the Westwood One Radio Network. He has interviewed Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, Pete Best and dozens of other Beatles people for radio.

Seth Swirsky is author/producer of the upcoming documentary A YEAR IN THE LIFE (interviews with those who knew or had encounters with the Beatles), as well as the popular books EVERY PITCHER TELLS A STORY, SOMETHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT and BASEBALL LETTERS. An award-winning songwriter ("Love Is a Beautiful Thing" and "Tell It to My Heart" and more), singer/musician (with his own CDs INSTANT PLEASURE and SHE'S ABOUT TO CROSS MY MIND), artist and Beatles fan, Seth has an fascinating website (sethswirsky.com). He'll be previewing A YEAR IN THE LIFE right here at our Fab Four Festival.

Jack Oliver was the Head of Apple Records from 1969 – 1971. When the Beatles disbanded in 1971, Jack moved to Los Angeles to become a business partner with Peter Asher and they became personal managers, producers and publishers for Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor. Jack went on to produce US and International concerts and tours for Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Barbara Streisand, Carole King, America, The Motels and The Eagles. From 1994 –2001 He was personal advisor and chief of staff for Oscar winning actor, Nicolas Cage and managed his companies, Saturn Productions and Saturn Films.

Bruce Spizer Author and collector Bruce Spizer's books tell the fascinating and sometimes complicated story of the Beatles in America. From the very first record bearing the Beatles name in the U.S.A., Please Please Me b/w Ask Me Why, released by Vee-Jay Records on February 7, 1963, through the last disc issued by their own company during the Apple era, George Harrison's This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying) on December 8, 1975, all the way to and including the triumphant return of Apple Records and the release of Live At The BBC, Anthology and the phenomenally successful Beatles 1, Bruce documents the ins and outs of every Beatles record released in America, down to the smallest detail.

Barry Tashian Barry and his group The Remains toured with the Beatles. He wrote a book about it “Ticket To Ride”. A movie about Barry and the Remains and their tour with the Beatles, “America’s Lost Band” , was a highlight of the most recent Nashville Film Festival.

Gary Burr, one of pop and country's most recorded/honored/popular songwriters since his first cut, "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard on Me" in 1982, was in Ringo's Roundheads group for several years. He wrote, recorded and performed with Ringo on albums from 2003-2008, on VHI's "Storytellers" series, on quite a few talk shows and in special concerts. A fixture at Rock'n'Roll Fantasy Camp in various cities, Gary also performed with Carole King on her recent tours. His chart-topping music is too numerous to list, and he has released some great solo albums, as well.




Buzz Cason is co-writer of “Soldier Of Love”, recorded by the Beatles and released on their “Live At The BBC” album. He is also the co-writer of “Everlasting Love” recorded by Robert Knight, Gloria Estefan and U2, among others. His career , which includes the top twenty hit “Look For A Star” (as Garry Miles) and stints in Brenda Lee’s back up band The Casuals, the Statues and The Crickets, is chronicled in his autobiography “Living The Rock And Roll Dream”.

Marshall Crenshaw After a stint playing John Lennon in the cast of Beatlemania, Marshall Crenshaw burst on to the pop music scene with his incredibly tuneful debut album in 1982 showcasing his talents as a songwriter, singer and guitarist. Following his Top 40 hit, Someday Someway, Crenshaw continued to record reliably catchy and smart pop music for a cult of followers as well as scoring hits for movies and tv (Walk Hard theme).



Chet Flippo is a former Senior Editor of Rolling Stone magazine, for which he regularly wrote from 1970-1981, and an author of dozens of music books including “Yesterday; The Unauthorized Biography-Paul McCartney”. He was Nashville Bureau Chief for Billboard Magazine and is currently Editorial Director of CMT/CMT.com. Moderator.



Louise Harrison, sister of George Harrison and manager of the Liverpool Legends.




Neil Jefferies, Ghostwriter of Norman ' Hurricane' Smith's autobiography 'John Lennon Called Me Normal'.



Joe Johnson is the host of Beatle Brunch, a weekly radio show syndicated by Westwood One Radio Network and heard on 100 stations. He is also the Morning Air Personality on Magic 102.7, WMXJ, Miami’s Oldies station. Moderator.




Bill Lloyd Twenty years ago Bill Lloyd was half of chart topping country music duo Foster and Lloyd and since then has followed his own long and winding road as a solo artist, session player (Steve Earle,Buck Owens and Ringo Starr, Glen Tilbrook, Ray Davies), songwriter (Trisha Yearwood, Hootie, Martina McBride), producer (Carl Perkins, The Secret), and sideman(Cheap Trick, Poco). He is a founding member of The Long Players, a group who perform classic albums in their entirety with guest vocalists.

Joey Molland A great guitarist/songwriter/singer, Joey is the last surviving member of BADFINGER, known best for the group's several huge hit records on the Beatles Apple label . A Liverpool native, Joey continues to perform steadily (including concerts at Liverpool's famous Beatles Week and the popular HippieFest tour) and to record acclaimed solo music. Joey has been a big hit at Fab Four at Belcourt and Fab Four at TPAC, and has built an enthusiastic fan base in Music City, where he plans to relocate as soon as his and wife Kathie's home in Minnesota sells. Joey is author of the soon-to-be-released autobiography, WHEN I WAS A BOY. He just returned from Europe, where he was performing and recording.

Robert K. Oermann