Saturday, February 24, 2007

Beatles Redux by the Smithereens

Just checked out the Smithereens official website and found out they released a Beatles tribute album "Meet The Beatles" doing every song in order. What, you say, why that's unheard of, blasphemy! Well, check it out for yourself. They have captured the spirit and energy of the first Beatles album released in the USA, and it is brilliant! It may be the best tribute album ever. Although I love Frank Sinatra, his vocals on Beatles songs were corny and cringe-worthy. The same for all the other artists, and they only seemed to get cheesier. The one exception was Dionne Farris' "Blackbird" on her "Wild Seed Wild Flower" album. But now this new Smithereens take on a classic album of mostly forgotten tunes, (except for "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand") is astonishingly fresh and vibrant. Too bad for me, missed them last week in Hollywood, and the concert was only $20 bucks! Darn it, I'll be sure to catch them next time around. Yes, I know, this has nothing to do with cuisine or pastry, but anything about the Beatles is so much a part of the person I am, the news of this new album had to be announced here. Funny, there was a metal button in my jewelry box that said "Viva Los Beatles" --- wish I knew where it went.

4 comments:

Robert Rouse said...

Ah, but I loved Stevie Wonder's take on "We Can Work It Out".

La Vida Dulce said...

Yeah, Robert, gotta give ya that one. They don't get much better than Stevie. Judy Collins' "In My Life" was way too sappy. I once heard a bluegrass band play "I've Just Seen A Face" and it cracked me up! Too bad it was never recorded, totally different song.

maltese parakeet said...

i loooooove the beatles! they were introduced to me by my mom and dad when i was just a kidlet and are part of the soundtrack of my life. i, too, am a very harsh critic when it comes to beatles covers, but i do quite like aretha's version of eleanor rigby from her live at the filmore west album (she blows the doors off of simon & garfunkel's bridge over troubled water on that one, too). the smithereens were a band from my generation, so i'm looking forward to checking this album out. thanks for the tip!

La Vida Dulce said...

Aretha can sing "Eensy Weensy Spider" and it's a solid gold hit, she is my idol and the undisputed Queen. Parts of that Fillmore concert were shown recently on PBS, what a fantastic event! My son and his girlfriend are HUGE fans of both Stevie and The Beatles. And they gave me the "Love" CD for Christmas.