The White Album

General Info

Welcome to the academic conference series sponsored by the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music. Convened on the beautiful campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, the conference will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ 1968 classic LP The Beatles, later popularized as The White Album.

Pre-conference activities will commence on Thursday, November 8th, and conclude on the afternoon of Sunday, November 11th. The conference will welcome an international roster of participants, as well as a host of keynote speakers and musical acts celebrating the lives and works of the Beatles.

Event Details

View the full Schedule

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. His featured talk will address “DOUBLE LIVES: Between The Beatles’ Grooves.”

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.

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 Sixties podcast. 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.

Vivek J. Tiwary is an acclaimed producer of live entertainment from Tony Award-winning Broadway shows to groundbreaking immersive experiences, and a #1 New York Times bestselling author. His graphic novel The Fifth Beatle:The Brian Epstein Story won numerous literary awards including the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award, is a Lambda Literary Finalist for Best LGBT Graphic Novel, and has been added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives. The Fifth Beatle is currently being adapted into a TV series for NBC that has secured unprecedented access to Beatles music; Vivek is writing and serving as Executive Producer.

Ed Sanders is a poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, author, publisher, and founding member (with Tuli Kupferberg) of the revolutionary band The Fugs. Sanders was a bridge between the Beat and Hippie generations, while at the same time connecting the Greenwich Village folk scene of Dylan and Van Ronk with the 60’s breakout music of Hendrix and Joplin. He is the author of over 20 books of poetry, memoirs and history often written in verse, which include 1968, The Family (about the Manson Family), and his latest book on Robert F. Kennedy. Sanders received a Guggenheim Fellowship in poetry in 1983 and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in poetry in 1987. His Thirsting for Peace in a Raging Century, Selected Poems, 1961–1985 won an American Book Award in 1988.

Tom Frangione has been covering the Beatles on radio and in print for over 30 years. These days, he can be heard on Sirius XM’s Beatles Channel, where he serves as the Resident Beatles Expert on the weekly Fab Fourum program, airing live every Wednesday evening at 9PM ET.

Jeff Slate is a songwriter and journalist and the co-author of The Authorized Roy Orbison and contributed liner notes to the 50th anniversary reissue of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, as well as to albums by the Small Faces, Shawn Colvin and for the STAX Records 60th anniversary reissue series, among others. He has appeared on radio and TV around the world as both a performer and music expert.

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.

Registration

Conference registration is available for a daily fee of $75 that includes conference, musical performances, film screenings, book signings, and plenary and keynote sessions.

Standard conference registration for all presenters and for those interested in the complete experience is available for an all-inclusive rate of $300, which includes all conference meals and attendant activities, including musical performances, films screenings, exclusive book signings, plenary and keynote presentations.

Graduate student presenters can attend the conference for a special $100 all-inclusive rate.

The conference daily sessions are free to Monmouth University students with current MU ID who pre-register for a ticket at the Central Box Office.

All attendees must check in at Registration upon arrival to the conference for additional credentials.

About the Center

The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University serves as the official archival repository for Bruce Springsteen’s written works, photographs, periodicals, and artifacts. The Center will preserve and promote the legacy of Bruce Springsteen and his role in American music, while honoring and celebrating icons of American music like Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson, Hank Williams, Frank Sinatra, and others.

Since 2011, Monmouth University has served as home of the Bruce Springsteen Special Collection, which comprises nearly 35,000 items from 47 countries, ranging from books and concert memorabilia, to articles and promotional materials. The collection serves the research and informational needs of music fans, scholars, authors, and others with a serious interest in the life and career of the Boss.

On January 10, 2017, a new partnership to create the Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music was announced. We envision a future that exponentially builds upon our ability to provide scholars, students, and fans from around the globe public access to an expansive array of archives and programming. The Center will be the destination for stimulating academic discourse and discussion, and will provide entertainment, knowledge, and insight into the works of Bruce Springsteen and other legendary figures of American music.