About the Authors
Two of the world's foremost Beatles scholars, together telling the full story of the band's touring — and, soon, studio — years.
Kenneth Womack
Kenneth Womack is one of the world’s leading authorities on the Beatles and their enduring cultural influence. He is the author of Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans (2023), John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life (2020), and Solid State: The Story of "Abbey Road" and the End of the Beatles (2019).
Ken’s other Beatles-related books include Long and Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of the Beatles (2007), The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles (2009), The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four (2014), Solid State: The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles (2019), and John Lennon 1980: The Last Days in the Life (2020). Ken’s books about the Beatles are included in the permanent collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Library and Archives. Ken is also the author of five novels, including John Doe No. 2 and the Dreamland Motel (2010), The Restaurant at the End of the World (2012), Playing the Angel (2013), I Am Lemonade Lucy! (2019), and The Time Diaries (2021). His work has appeared in such venues as Salon, Slate, Billboard, Time, Variety, USA Today, Smithsonian Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Guardian,The Independent, The Times, The Liverpool Echo, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Ken serves as Professor of English and Popular Music at Monmouth University. He is the founding Editor of Interdisciplinary Literary Studies: A Journal of Criticism and Theory, published by Penn State University Press, and Co-Editor of the English Association’s prodigious Year’s Work in English Studies, published by Oxford University Press. Over the years, he has shared his work with public libraries and community organizations across the nation, including audiences at Princeton University, Harvard University, the Smithsonian Institution, the Grammy Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the 92nd Street Y. He has also served as an expert commentator for the BBC, NPR, ABC’s 20/20, MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Fox Business’s American Built, and NBC’s Access Hollywood.
Ken’s work as teacher and writer has earned numerous awards, including the Grace D. Long Faculty Excellence Award (2002), Penn State University’s Alumni Teaching Fellow Award (2006), Northern Illinois University’s Golden Anniversary Alumni Award (2009), Penn State Altoona’s Honorary Alumni Award (2009), the Kjell Meling Award for Distinction in the Arts and Humanities (2010), and Monmouth University’s Distinguished Scholar Award (2026). In 2013, Ken was selected to serve as the sixth Penn State University Laureate.
In addition to studying Russian language and literature at the Moscow Institute of Communication, Ken earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in English from Northern Illinois University.
Scott Freiman
Scott Freiman may be the only person to have both sold out Carnegie Hall and been named a Finalist for Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year. A composer, musician, and entrepreneur, he is also one of the most sought-after speakers on the Beatles, regularly drawing sold-out audiences to his lectures at theaters, colleges, universities, conferences, and businesses.
Scott is the host of the public television series Deconstructing the Beatles, currently in its second season on PBS stations nationwide and on the PBS Passport app, and he is featured in twelve Deconstructing the Beatles films now showing in theaters and available on DVD and streaming.
He is the creator of Deconstructing the Music, a series of acclaimed multimedia presentations exploring the songwriting and production techniques of The Beatles and other legendary artists. Scott has brought these programs to sold-out theaters across North America and has lectured at colleges, universities, and corporations such as Pixar, Google, and Facebook. He taught a semester-long course, "The Beatles in the Studio," at Yale University.
Scott is the former owner of Second Act Studio, a state-of-the-art music and video studio for composition, recording, and production designed by renowned studio architect, John Storyk. Second Act Studio played host to a wide range of musicians -- from children to Grammy winners, such as bassist John Patitucci and the Tokyo String Quartet. Scott produced, arranged, and played keyboards for many artists and served as producer on recordings recorded and mixed at Second Act. Scott also created courses for MacProVideo.com, providing online video training in professional software, and taught composing and music technology to children and adults.
Scott has composed music for more than ten films and contributed music to the Emmy®-award winning eleven-part BBC/Discovery series Life. He also acted as sound editor and mixer on many films, including the first 3D made-for-television film, David Attenborough’s Flying Monsters, and the award-winning films Encounter Point and Budrus. In September of 2005, his original music was performed at a sold-out Carnegie Hall concert that featured an orchestra, a children’s choir, and a George Bush impersonator.
Scott is an experienced senior executive and entrepreneur with extensive expertise in strategy, marketing, technology, and operations. He was co-founder and CEO of Credit Management Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:CMSS), a publicly traded financial software and services company that was named one of Maryland’s 50 fastest growing technology companies by Deloitte & Touche. He helped lead the company through a successful IPO and its sale to First American Financial (NYSE:FAF). CMSI built the Credit Online Network, which is currently owned by Cox Automotive. This network currently processes several million credit applications each month, has more than 22,000 dealers, and has partnered with more than 6,500 lenders, making it one of the highest transaction business networks in the world.
Scott also co-founded Qwire Inc., whose software streamlines music tracking and rights management for television series, films and other media for major Hollywood studios, such as Warner Bros. and NBCUniversal. Currently, he is a partner in NextCorner Partners, a consulting firm that assists companies with strategy and fundraising. He holds multiple software patents and was a Finalist for Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year.
Scott holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Music from Yale University and a Masters of Music Composition from New York University.
Womack and Freiman
Womack and Freiman have been working together for more than a decade, presenting, teaching, and writing together. They have co-hosted the monthly Fab Four Master Class since 2020. Ken and Scott also lead biannual Beatles-themed trips to Liverpool, London, and Hamburg.