THE BEATLES, PART 2: THE APPLE CORPS (18) The Summit (Theater Room), 1 Perry Rd., Saratoga Springs

Wednesday, 9:30-11am, Starts April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, May 6 (Part 1 in not a prerequisite.)

At the peak of Beatlemania, the Beatles chose a new musical path that reflected their interest in sophisticated songwriting and recording. Between the albums Rubber Soul and Abbey Road, they abandoned their Fab Four image to become the Apple Corps.

1. Rubber Souls, 1965. The Beatles and George Martin take control over the recording process.

Music: selections from the album Rubber Soul plus “Day Tripper” & “We Can Work It Out”

2. Evolver, 1966. The end of the Beatles and Beatlemania, and a transition into studio artists.

Music: selections from the album Revolver plus “Paperback Writer” & “Rain”

3. Sgt Pepper’s Mystery. The end of touring meant focusing on new musical ideas and media, and reimagining of who they are in the summer of love.

Music: selections from the albums Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band & Magical Mystery Tour plus “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane,” “All You Need Is Love,” “I Am the Walrus,” & “Hello Goodbye”

4. Across the Universe. With the death of Brian Epstein, the Beatles recreated themselves as businessmen.

Music: selections from the album The Beatles (aka, the “white album”) plus “The Inner Light,” “Lady Madonna,” “Across the Universe,” “Revolution,” & “Hey Jude”

5. Get Back. As technology transformed popular music culture, the Beatles responded by returning to their rock ’n’ roll roots.

Music: selections from the album The Beatles (aka, the “white album”) and Let It Be

6. Abbey Road. With legal and business troubles weighing them down and with increasingly bitter internal differences, they return one last time to the studio where they began.

Music: selections from the album Abbey Road

Leader: Gordon Ross Thompson (Professor Emeritus, Skidmore College, Department of Music) is the author of Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out (Oxford 2008), the two-volume Sixties British Pop, Outside In (Oxford 2024), and of the forthcoming Beatles Culture: Creators Curators Consumers (Bloomsbury 2027). He offered Part 1 last fall.