Last Thursday, more than 250 people attended a fascinating lecture given by Scott Freiman, the esteemed Beatles luminary and expert as well as composer, on the history and stories behind the legendary Beatles 1967 hit song, ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ presented by the Friends of Greenwich Library at its expansive Berkley Theater.

Aptly titled ‘A Trip Through Strawberry Fields,’ this multimedia lecture given by Freiman, a Westchester County resident who is co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Qwire Inc. and had taught at Yale University about this topic, involved the use of rare audio and video to explain the intricacies of how this legendary group came to create the iconic 20th-century song ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’

“I love to talk about the creative process of the Beatles. Strawberry Fields is a great song and moving song and it definitely has a mood to it that touches you,” said Freiman, who is also creator of ‘Deconstructing the Beatles,’ a series of multimedia presentations on the composition and production techniques of the Beatles that premiered on Maryland Public Television last February. “I always have an emotional reaction to this song.”

Those in attendance certainly seemed to have an emotional reaction to the impact of this presentation as well.

“It was amazing. To have an opportunity like this here in our hometown has been terrific and we’re so grateful to those who run the Greenwich Library for hosting this event,” said Anna Marrone of Cos Cob, who was attending the event with Tony, her husband.

The Beatles, who were extraordinary performers, were a unique act in that, aside from having Ringo Starr as an ideal drummer for their group, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison wrote all of their songs and lyrics.

In 1962, the Beatles soared to the top of the charts with their first single, ‘Love Me Do’ and began their massive U.S. tour in which they famously had performed on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ and then followed up with scores of other television and radio appearances, as well as live concerts and guest spots all around the country.

During this time, the Beatles churned out the hit after hit as they continued to become further evolved with their songwriting and singing.

By 1966, having grown tired of the touring and traveling, the Beatles made the decision to stop doing live appearances and to instead, write and record their songs in the studio from that point on.

In the fall of 1966, John Lennon, who was at that point, spending time in Almeria, Spain, had written the first version of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ with a demo titled ‘It’s Not Too Bad’ in which he sings about Strawberry Fields, a Salvation Army-run girls orphanage in Liverpool that was located near his aunt’s house where he spent much of his time growing up.

“He would hear the kids playing and having a great time,” said Freiman, whose wife, Allison Fine, is an award-winning author and President of every.org and with whom they have three children, Maxwell, Zachary and Jackson. “John Lennon sees the time he remembers at Strawberry Fields as fun with no pressure.”

Meanwhile, when Lennon had gone back to London that November and introduced the song to everyone at the EMI Records Ltd. studio, including his fellow band members as well as George Martin, the group’s legendary producer and arranger and Geoff Emerick, their Sound Engineer, the whole contingent loved it.

With the first take of the song being recorded on November 26th, 1966 and the final one, Take 26, being laid down on December 21st of that year, this talented and dedicated contingent collectively corroborated to make this song the cultural and musical force it has since gone on to become in the world.

“It’s a very different edit working with [all the tape] and it sounds like it’s all meant to be,” said Freiman. “It is amazing job done by George Martin, Geoff Emerick and the Beatles.” (Martin and Emerick worked with EMI Records Ltd., a British multinational record label that is known as one of the most culturally significant popular music labels that is owned by Universal Music Group.)

Freiman further elaborated on the talents and skills of Martin and Emerick.

“The reason these recordings sound so good years later is because of these two guys,” said Freiman of Martin and Emerick. “The great thing about George Martin was that he was willing to experiment, like the Beatles.”

In January 1967, the Beatles made a video (then called a ‘promotional film’) of the song in which they all can be seen walking through a field together along with a sweet Old English Sheepdog, who which, most likely, belonged to one of the musicians, producers or crew at that time.

“The Beatles were one of the first bands to use videos as a promotional tool,” said Freiman, adding that the video premiered on Dick Clark’s iconic 20th century musical television show, ‘American Bandstand’ in March 1967. “The Beatles helped lead the way with ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.”

For more information on Freiman or to purchase one of his ‘Deconstructing the Beatles’ DVDs, please look into his website: scott@deconstructingthebeatles.com