Covers Archives | Page 2 of 4 | Hey Dullblog, the Beatles fan blog

Krall does Paul: McCartney cover on “Wallflower”

By Nancy Carr|2015-04-21T13:37:55-07:00March 9, 2015|Covers, Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Uncategorized, Unreleased/Outtakes|

NANCY CARR * On her new album "Wallflower," Diana Krall covers "If I Take You Home Tonight," a song Paul McCartney wrote while working on "Kisses on the Bottom" but didn't release. (Not clear if he recorded a version.) I think the romantic ballad blends in seamlessly with the late 1960s to 1970s songs that make up the rest of Krall's album. Listen for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIKrLDyBmGc I can see why McCartney didn't use this on "Kisses," but why didn't he put it on "New"? To my ear it's far better than either "Hosanna" or "Looking At Her," which I think are the two [...]

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Apple Jam: Off the Beatle Track

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-12T15:45:12-08:00January 12, 2015|Beatle-inspired, Covers|

Oh, you'll like this In the process of refurbishing Nancy Carr's earlier post on the Seattle-based Beatle-tribute band Apple Jam, I discovered these videos and had to pass them on. 2009's "Off the Beatle Track" is Apple Jam doing an LP's worth Lennon/McCartney songs never released by the Beatles (a recent obsession of mine) in the style of the early Beatles. What I'm noticing as I listen to this stuff is the pure songwriting chops; the variation between songs and sounds, the multitude of hooks. And Apple Jam's performance is convincing me that, if The Beatles had wanted to apply [...]

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McCartney’s DJ Chris Holmes

By Michael Gerber|2015-01-07T16:39:50-08:00January 7, 2015|concert, Covers, Remixes & Mashups|

LA-based DJ Chris Holmes. Now that I know what he looks like, maybe I'll bump into him. Rolling Stone comes in for a lot of licks here on Dullblog, mostly from me, mostly for its role in canonizing Lennon and demonizing McCartney in the early 70s. But they've gotten their act together since then, and the Stone's relentless Boomer-focus means that they do get into some interesting Beatle-related nooks and crannies. This article for example, on McCartney's DJ Chris Holmes. Holmes' mixes have been warming up Paul's crowd since 2009; he provided his set to RollingStone.com, and I've been listening [...]

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Blackbird by Beautiful Noize

By Michael Gerber|2014-12-15T11:41:07-08:00December 15, 2014|Covers|

Woefully behind on posting -- working on several new ones -- in addition to a roundtable discussion of John/Paul fan fiction (watch this space). In the meantime, please to enjoy this video sent in by reader Raffael Holzhauser. Raffael wrote: Here's a little music video of my band's cover (or let's say reinterpretation) of Paul's "Blackbird." I hope you enjoy it! I did, Raffael, thank you. Hope the rest of you enjoy Blackbird by Beautiful Noize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3dbowVdpSU

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Collector’s Edition by Stuart Tolley

By Michael Gerber|2014-12-30T23:59:21-08:00December 1, 2014|books, Covers, Paul McCartney|

In the run-up to the holiday, I'm going to begin posting on some of the Beatle books that have been hurled over our e-transom in the last several months. This morning author Stuart Talley wrote to tell me about his book Collector's Edition, a roundup of the graphic and product design employed in limited-run collectibles. It looks like a fascinating book -- who wouldn't want a peep at The Vatican Secret Archives, for example, "hand-bound in the Vatican and produced in an edition of just 33 copies"? "One Man and His Dog......" by Paul McCartney But there's something of special [...]

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“Art of McCartney” tribute album mostly meh

By Nancy Carr|2014-11-25T07:56:03-08:00November 25, 2014|Beatles tributes, Bob Dylan, Covers, Paul McCartney, Uncategorized, Wings|

NANCY CARR * The recently released "Art of McCartney" tribute album could have been--should have been--so much better. Lots of songs and lots of artists, many of them big names. But the album suffers from two major problems: the track list is weighted toward songs that have been covered a lot (often better than here), and too many of the performers stick so close to the original arrangements that at times the effect is Karaoke Night at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For example, both Billy Joel cuts, "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "Live and Let Die," are virtual reenactments of [...]

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Flaming Lips’ “With a Little Help from My Fwends”: Sgt. Pepper’s through a 21st century blender

By Nancy Carr|2014-11-03T10:09:08-08:00November 3, 2014|1967, Covers, Drugs, Flaming Lips, Psychedelia, Sgt. Pepper|

Watch up for that blue goo--it really gums up the songs. NANCY CARR * With a Little Help from My Fwends, the Sgt. Pepper’s tribute album from the Flaming Lips and a bunch of their buddies, is a frequently painful listening experience that is also revelatory. It’s just that much of what it reveals leads to depressing conclusions about how the 21st century is shaping up. This is a true cover album, in the sense that Booker T. and the MG’s McLemore Avenue is, and that Mojo magazine compilations of various people doing songs from Revolver or Yellow Submarine aren’t. [...]

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Liv Warfield got “Blackbird” wrong: Ten covers that get it right

By Nancy Carr|2014-12-30T21:34:48-08:00April 7, 2014|1968, 21st century references, Beatle-inspired, Covers|

Liv Warfield NANCY CARR * Last Friday Liv Warfield, best known for her stint in Prince's New Power Generation, performed her new song "Blackbird" on The Late Show With David Letterman, declaring "Paul McCartney got it wrong / I ain't never want no song / I ain't special, I ain't strong / Black . . . bird." It's not clear to me why Warfield, who was born in 1979, is so angry about a pro- Civil Rights song released in 1968 -- especially when the song is pitched in such a universal key that it can apply to any person or [...]

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Admiral “Recovers” The Beatles; or, A Genre Waiting to Be Named

By Devin McKinney|2014-12-30T21:31:46-08:00April 3, 2014|alternate history, Covers|

DEVIN McKINNEY • You have your cover versions of Beatles songs, and then you have your “recovers”—songs rendered as The Beatles would have done them, had they done them completely differently, or, in some cases, at all. One of the earliest and best entries in this imaginative and as-yet unnamed subgenre was It’s Four You (1994), by Australian soundalikes The Beatnix, which recovered, in authentic Beatlesque, Lennon-McCartney songs written for others. Apple Jam’s 2012 EP On the Wings of a Nightingale likewise restyled three songs by solo Beatles in various Beatles and post-Beatles styles. (AJ’s previous album, 2009’s Off the Beatle Track, [...]

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The Beatle Brothers at Fitzgerald’s: four hours of passion

By Nancy Carr|2013-12-21T16:29:22-08:00December 21, 2013|Beatle-inspired, Beatles tributes, concert, Covers|

Great mural outside, great music inside NANCY CARR * Last night I saw the Beatle Brothers at Fitzgerald's in Berwyn, IL, giving the crowd the ultimate Christmas gift for Beatles fans—four hours of covers played with expertise and passion, featuring the best Lennon and McCartney vocals I've heard outside the real thing. Far more than any dress-up-like-the-Beatles-band, Phil Angotti and Jay Goepnner, along with their stellar crew of backing players, put across the emotional intensity of the music. Their spontaneity and obvious love for the music they're performing made last night's show fly past, though they started playing a little after 9:00 [...]

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