Various Artists: "It Was 40 Years Ago Today: A Tribute To The Beatles"
Written: Sep 06 '04 (Updated Aug 16 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: 50 songs performed by 48 acts,including Andrew Gold,Al Kooper,Walter Clevenger and The Kings.
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Hearing acts, both well-known and new to the music biz, interpret classic tunes by The Beatles with love and admiration is a cool thing. Lots of fun.
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| Don_Krider's Full Review: It Was 40 Years Ago Today: A Tribute To The Beatle... |
Depending on your source, The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr being the best-known group members) have sold between 500 million and 1 billion recordings since releasing their first record in 1961.
In 1996, with the release of the "Anthology" volumes, and again in 2000, with the release of "1" (a collection of number one singles by the band), The Beatles were named by Billboard magazine as the biggest-selling act in music each of those years, despite the fact that the band's last studio albums, "Abbey Road" (released in 1969) and "Let It Be" (released in 1970; bootleg copies of the album as "Get Back" were floating around in 1969), were both recorded in 1969.
In the U. S. alone between 1964 and 1970, The Beatles scored 64 Billboard Hot 100 hits --- they hit the Hot 100 with 30 of those songs in the U. S. in 1964 alone! In the same time period, 26 Beatles' albums hit Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart (thanks to having material on Capitol, Vee-Jay, Radio/Pulsebeat (an interview disc), MGM and United Artists, the band charted with 11 albums in 1964).
Such sales figures and The Beatles' continued position as a major influence on rock 'n' roll musicians over the last four decades has led to the new Bullseye Records of Canada 2-CD set, "It Was 40 Years Ago Today: A Tribute To The Beatles."
The album:
Released in August of 2004, "It Was 40 Years Ago Today: A Tribute To The Beatles" is that rare tribute album that works. Not all the tracks are great, but most of the performances work and pay a proper tribute to "The Fab Four." You have 48 acts performing 50 tracks on 2 CDs.
Many of the acts will be unknown to the average music buyer, but a few of the performers have had hits of their own in the past, including The Kings ("Switchin' To Glide" hit # 43 in 1980), Andrew Gold (who hit # 7 in 1977 with "Lonely Boy" and # 25 in 1978 with "Thank You For Being A Friend"), Jeff Jones (who hit # 48 in 1980 as a member of Red Rider on their hit "White Hot"), Al Kooper (the legend from Blood, Sweat & Tears), Bill Lloyd (of Foster & Lloyd and POCO fame), Dee Long (whose band Klaatu were briefly thought to be The Beatles by some when their single "Sub-Rosa Subway"/"Calling Occupants" hit # 62 in 1977), The Spongetones, Bob Segarini (once a member of two of Canada's truly great power pop acts, The Wackers and The Dudes) and Australian power pop icon Michael Carpenter.
The acts were assembled by Gary "Pig" Gold, who is a well-known power pop producer, songwriter, performing musician and rock journalist.
Liner notes for the unillustrated, 16-page CD booklet are by Craig Cross, author of the book “Beatles Discography: Minute-By-Minute, Hour-By-Hour, Day-By-Day” (http://www.beatles-discography.com). The notes are about the history ot the songs and the original Beatles involvement in those tunes, not about the power pop acts involved here, which is actually more interesting to the average music buyer, I suspect. Included are chart rankings from Britain's Record Retailer and the United States' Billboard magazine.
The album was compiled over a three-year period by Bullseye Records of Canada executives/Beatle fanatics Jamie Vernon and Jim Hoeck, with co-production from Greg Godovitz (Carpet Frogs, Fludd, Goddo) and Terry Draper (of Klaatu fame).
The 50 tracks/acts on 2 CDs:
"Sie Liebt Dich [Prologue]" by Trimatics, "Good Morning, Good Morning" by Lolas, "Savoy Truffle" by The Dons, "Paperback Writer" by Alison Solo, "Fixing A Hole" by Helium Kids, "Drive My Car" by Cadence, "Here, There & Everywhere" by Stacey Wheal, "Lady Madonna" by Andrew Gold and "Eleanor Rigby" by The First Time.
Also, "Long Long Long" by Tom Hooper, "I Feel Fine" by Frank Soda, "Don't Bother Me" by Eytan Mirsky, "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" by Sun Pk, "For No One" by The Kings, "You Can't Do That" by Goddo, "I've Just Seen A Face" by Jeff Jones and "Norwegian Wood" by Cats & Dogs.
Also, "Taxman" by Dr. Lotech with Mrs. Hippie, "Blue Jay Way" by Dee Long, "The Fool On The Hill" by Rockbeach, "Hey Jude" by Eight Seconds (who reunited for this album), "Hey! Bulldog" by The Lackloves, "Helter Skelter" by The Popdudes (true-to-the-original, this version rocks hard), "Eight Days A Week" by The Deal and "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" by The Dexters.
Also, "Here Comes The Sun" by Dave Rave and The Wretches, "Because" by Donkey, "Mean Mr. Mustard" by Receiver, "She's Leaving Home" by Steve Barton, "Eleanor Rigby" by Al Kooper (a very bluesy, heavy guitar take on the tune), "It Won't Be Long" by Brentwood Rocker and "Oh! Darling" by Phil Vincent.
Also, "And Your Bird Can Sing" by Godovitz & Segarini, "I'm Only Sleeping" by Phil Angotti, "Julia" by Neilson Hubbard, "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" by Jim Basnight, "It's All Too Much" by Jeremy Morris, "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite" by The Spongetones and "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" by The Oohs.
Also, "If I Needed Someone" by Michael Carpenter, "I Need You" by Geoff Gibbons, "Cry Baby Cry" by Barry Holdship, "Everybody's Got Something To Hide" by Milk, "Got To Get You Into My Life" by Michael White (from the Led Zeppelin tribute band, The White) and Andrew Gold, "I Will" by Walter Clevenger & The Dairy Kings and "I Want To Tell You" by Paul Myers.
Also, "She Said, She Said" by The Pozers, "Across The Universe" by Bill Lloyd, "Golden Slumbers Medley" by Brian Gagnon and "Sie Liebt Dich" by Trimatics.
Recommendation:
For special tastes. As a Beatles' fan (short for fanatic), I love hearing different takes on The Beatles' music. Some Beatles' fans, as purists and die-hard fans of The Beatles' original versions, may have trouble adjusting to a handful of the performances here, but the artists on this album are bringing a fresh look to the tunes here and are worthy of your attention.
Enter this listening experience with an open mind, just as you did the first time you listened to "Meet The Beatles" or "Sgt. Pepper," and this is a fun album. The acts here truly show a love and admiration for The Beatles in their performances. Power pop fans, and I think classic rock fans in general, will have a very good time here --- there are several tracks I've been playing over-and-over (and I could just as easily play the original Beatles' versions, but these are often just as good as the original versions).
As "tribute" albums go, "It Was 40 Years Ago Today: A Tribute To The Beatles" is a fine package in every way, from a cover designed like The Beatles' "White Album" (with two "white" CDs inside) to a fascinating CD booklet that accents the often-stellar performances here. Brit-pop seldom sounded so good, which is amazing since most of the acts here are American, Canadian and Australian, rather than British.
Bullseye Records of Canada released another fine "tribute" CD in 1999, "Men In Plaid: A Tribute To The Bay City Rollers" (http://www.epinions.com/content_115297259140), which was equally good.
My favorite cuts:
"Here, There & Everywhere":
"Here, There & Everywhere" by Stacey Wheal is a lovely vocal performance by the Canadian singer (who also has an 11-song CD of nothing but Beatles' covers called "Bluebird").
Her angelic voice is perfect here, embracing the lyrics and gently unleashing their tenderness on the listener as a piano plays beneath her voice (I've always thought that a "true singer" should be able to convey all the emotion necessary in a song's performance via a voice and a single instrument, and Stacey's performance reinforces that belief for me):
"To lead a better life, I need my love to be here / here, making each day of the year / changing my life with the wave of his hand / nobody can deny that there's something there / there, running my hands through his hair / both of us thinking of how good it can be / someone is speaking, but he doesn't know she's there / I want him everywhere..."
"Lady Madonna":
On The Beatles' original, Paul McCartney became Elvis Presley singing lead with The Beatles. Here, Andrew Gold recreates that original version to perfection, but Gold becomes McCartney, which is pretty cool.
Andrew Gold had pop stardom in the '70s, playing guitar behind Linda Ronstadt and Eric Carmen while scoring Top 40 hits of his own ("Lonely Boy," "Thank You For Being A Friend"). His performance on this CD is a personal favorite, every bit as good as The Beatles' original, which is quite a compliment from me.
The liner notes reveal a bit of trivia about The Beatles' original recording --- the "brass solo" (which sounds like trumpets or a kazoo) was actually John, Paul and George humming and blowing air through their hands, at least according to Ringo.
The tune on this CD is uptempo, harmony-driven rock 'n' pop, with plenty of guitars, drums and bass to add emphasis to the melody and lyrics:
"Lady Madonna, children at your feet / wonder how you manage to make ends meet? / who finds the money when you pay the rent? / did you think that money was heaven sent?..."
"Here Comes The Sun":
Dave Rave & The Wretches do a lovely cover of "Here Comes The Sun." Dave Rave actually sounds like the late George Harrison, which makes this version of the tune all the more interesting.
Uptempo, acoustic guitar-becomes-rock band with a heavy backbeat and lovely harmonies ("sun, sun, sun, here it comes") all combine to drive you down Abbey Road in 1969:
"You're Gonna Lose That Girl":
From the film "Help!," "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" remains a favorite of mine. It's simple, but that may be what makes the tune so charmingly innocent.
IT IS 1965 and The Oohs, from that power poppin' state of Illinois, are The Beatles as they perform "You're Gonna Lose That Girl." Hand-claps (gotta love 'em) and a foot-stomping rhythm accent the performance here, with the lead vocalist's interests accented by the band's backing vocals:
"You're gonna lose that girl (yes, yes, you're gonna lose that girl) / if you don't take her out tonight, she's gonna change her mind (she's gonna change her mind) / and I will take her out tonight and I will treat her kind (I'm gonna treat her kind) / you're gonna lose that girl (yes, yes, you're gonna lose that girl)..."
"Got To Get You Into My Life":
Michael White and Andrew Gold do The Beatles proud with their cover of "Got To Get You Into My LIfe" (trivia buffs, years after their breakup, The Beatles version hit # 7 on the U. S. charts in 1976).
White and Gold are completely true to the original recording here, coming up with a loving reproduction of the tune (normally, I think an artist should put a new spin on a cover song, but these guys are so good here that I can't fault their performance at all).
Complete with horns and a throbbing, jazzy bass pattern, White and Gold sing:
"...did I tell you I need you / every single day of my life / got to get you into my life..."
"I Will":
I love Paul McCartney's original acoustic guitar version of "I Will," so pleasing me here is difficult. I'm happy to say that Walter Clevenger and The Dairy Kings totally satisfy me with their remake of "I Will."
This version is more of an alternate take on the tune; more Brit-Mod rocker than the original Beatles' version. Clevenger's lead vocal is a gentle breath of fresh air over power chords, an effect reminding me of the late Pete Ham of Badfinger.
"I Will" is worth the price of admission here --- the performance is that good, and so are the lyrics:
"Who knows how long I've loved you / you know I love you still / will I wait a lonely lifetime? / if you want me to, I will / for if I ever saw you / I didn't catch your name / but it never really mattered / I will always feel the same / love you forever and forever / love you with all my heart / love you whenever we're together / love you when we're apart / ... / and when at last I find you / your song will fill the air / sing it loud so I can hear you / make it easy to be near you / for the things you do endear you to me / and you know I will..."
"Across The Universe":
Bill Lloyd's usually country-tinged voice is perfect John Lennon on his cover of "Across The Universe," which captures Lennon's peaceful nature in Lloyd's interpretation of the tune's lyrics (all with some delightful acoustic guitar moving the melody along):
"Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup / they slither while they pass, across the universe / pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind / possessing and caressing me..."
Albums of interest:
The late Billy Preston, the so-called "fifth Beatle," has an outstanding CD featuring all 14 of his Hot 100 chart hits, including the original version of Joe Cocker's "You Are So Beautiful" (which Billy wrote), "Ultimate Collection": http://www.epinions.com/content_247350726276
"Choose Love," Ringo Starr's 2005 release features Mark Hudson, Chrissie Hynde and Billy Preston: http://www.epinions.com/content_188911554180
"The Anthology...So Far" by Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band (with solo performances by Joe Walsh, Peter Frampton, Eric Carmen, Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman, Felix Cavaliere, Todd Rundgren, Dave Edmunds, Simon Kirke, Gary Brooker, Jack Bruce, Nils Lofgren, Billy Preston, Clarence Clemons, Mark Farner, John Entwistle, Levon Helm, Dr. John and Timothy B. Schmidt): http://www.epinions.com/content_34313899652
"I Wanna Be Santa Claus" by Ringo Starr: http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-604B-69D75FE-386038C6-prod2
"The John Lennon Collection" by John Lennon: http://www.epinions.com/musc-review-1B65-6E3680D-38A2E646-prod6
"So You Are A Star: The Best Of The Hudson Brothers": http://www.epinions.com/content_21910818436
You may also enjoy The Beau Brummels' "Greatest Hits" CD: http://www.epinions.com/content_181981384324
****Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti reformed the Beatles-inspired band Raspberries ("Go All The Way") in 2004 and began touring in 2004-2005 to sell-out crowds. They have played Beatles' tunes like "Ticket To Ride" and "No Reply" while on tour.****
Capitol/EMI's 24-bit digitally remastered CD "Greatest" by Raspberries was released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe. It features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
Related websites:
The official Beatles' website: http://www.beatles.com/
The official Bullseye Records of Canada website: http://bullseyecanada.com/artists/TributeBeatles.htm
Many of the artists on this album perform at the annual International Pop Overthrow festival(s): http://www.internationalpopoverthrow.com
Official Walter Clevenger site: http://www.walterclevenger.com
Official Stacey Wheal site: http://staceywheal.com
Official Bob Segarini site: http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicPopEncycloPagesS/segarini.html
Special thanks:
To Epinions.Com Music Category Lead Shelly, aka Lambchops (http://www.epinions.com/user-lambchops), for adding "It Was 40 Years Ago Today: A Tribute To The Beatles" to the Epinions.Com musical database.
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Don_Krider
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Member: Don Krider
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About Me:
Fan of power pop (Raspberries, Badfinger, Cheap Trick, The Knack, Romantics, Slade,Sweet...) --- "Play On"!!!
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