Dreamer
Classified Forum Moderator
Artist - BeeGees, Peter Frampton, other artists
Title - Sgt.Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band--Soundtrack
Year of Release - 1978
Record Label - Polydor/Polygram
Genre - Soundtrack--Rock
The first copy of this soundtrack I ever owned was a 2-tape 8-track cassette, which I practically played to death in my Radio Shack portable stereo 8-track tape player (it was bright blue--the player, not the tape). I'm a HUGE Beatles fan, and therefore, not a big fan of "covers" of the Fab Four's work by other bands. And as a devoted "rock-n-roller", I hate everything associated with pop music in the USA during the 1970s, especially Disco and all it's proponents. However, this movie soundtrack may be one of the few redeeming works of many pop musicians of that era.
The movie itself was terrible--bordering on "cult classic" it's so bad--but the soundtrack ROCKS in places, and is just plain fun in others, and in a few tracks, the quirky, anything-goes attitude of the dying Disco era come through as delightful examples of the last gasps of free expression of a dying culture. With such artists as the BeeGees, Frampton, Steve Martin (the comedian!), George Burns, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Billy Preston, and Earth Wind & Fire, this is certainly a star-studded soundtrack, chock full of potential talent and backed up by the production wizardry of George Martin. Syphonic interludes, wall-of-sound-like tracks, and audo special effects abound, and it all comes together to produce a strange melange of Beatles covers, woven together Escher-like into a musical trip worthy of it's namesake.
Though not a ground-breaking record (how could ANYONE out-Beatle the Beatles?!?) this is a fun record. It's a little hard to find (but still in print). I stumbled across this copy while browsing the racks at a Barnes and Noble.
Production is typically 1970's--lots of electronic gadgetry, synths, multi-track overlays, and in spots enough reverb to give a Sun Records engineer vertigo, but all in all, this is one of the few collections of Beatles covers that, to my ears is not only tolerable but downright fun, and in many tracks, spot-on in spirit and performance.
The BeeGees rendition of "Polythene Pam/Bathroom Window" actually rocks--perhaps not with the same raw and gritty angst as the Beatles original, but pretty darn good.
Barry Gibb's cover of "Day In The Life" is heart-felt, and the production is pretty much by-the-book Beatles. He doesn't take many liberties and it comes off as a well-performed modern version, not as some sort of over-produced Franken-Ode to the Fab Four, and it could have. The sustain at the end of this track, is surprisingly long--perhaps not as deep and subtle as the original (especially on the MFSL issue of the Beatles) but again, it comes off true-to-style, an is a nice tribute.
Alice Cooper's version of "Because" is VERY Alice--weird, wacky, and full of his own schtik--almost to the point of distraction--but it comes off as an interesting interpretation none the less.
Billy Preston's "Get Back" sounds like it was written for him. He pumps it full of soul, rocking out on the keyboard with a funky fluidity and slightly nasty smoothness that even Lennon never really projected.
I wish I could say some good things about the Diana Steinberg track: "Lucy in the Sky", but she butchers it with what appears to be a mixture of self-absorbed egotism and a complete lack of understanding of the original version.
The Sandy Farina tracks ("Here Comes the Sun" & "Strawberry Fields Forever") are not nearly as offensive as the hack-job done by Steinberg, but they offend only by coming across as boring and even insipid renditions of what were originally FANTASTIC tunes by the Fab Four.
Some up notes, some down notes, but in these days of iTunes, and remote controls, it's easy to skip over the klunkers. I can't recommend this disc to everyone, and I definitely would not recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone, but if you are a Beatles fan, and have heard this soundtrack before and though it was fun, you might want it on CD. It's WAY better then the 8-track version, and a lot better than the vinyl release (which I have 2 copies of and both, although pristine, are just poorly pressed and engineered). I heard notes, instruments, and entire passages in the background that I never knew existed on this soundtrack on the CD version.
Kudos to Polydor fo rre-releasing this soundtrack on CD, and doing a pretty decent job re-mastering it for the digital format.
--Richard
Title - Sgt.Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band--Soundtrack
Year of Release - 1978
Record Label - Polydor/Polygram
Genre - Soundtrack--Rock
The first copy of this soundtrack I ever owned was a 2-tape 8-track cassette, which I practically played to death in my Radio Shack portable stereo 8-track tape player (it was bright blue--the player, not the tape). I'm a HUGE Beatles fan, and therefore, not a big fan of "covers" of the Fab Four's work by other bands. And as a devoted "rock-n-roller", I hate everything associated with pop music in the USA during the 1970s, especially Disco and all it's proponents. However, this movie soundtrack may be one of the few redeeming works of many pop musicians of that era.
The movie itself was terrible--bordering on "cult classic" it's so bad--but the soundtrack ROCKS in places, and is just plain fun in others, and in a few tracks, the quirky, anything-goes attitude of the dying Disco era come through as delightful examples of the last gasps of free expression of a dying culture. With such artists as the BeeGees, Frampton, Steve Martin (the comedian!), George Burns, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, Billy Preston, and Earth Wind & Fire, this is certainly a star-studded soundtrack, chock full of potential talent and backed up by the production wizardry of George Martin. Syphonic interludes, wall-of-sound-like tracks, and audo special effects abound, and it all comes together to produce a strange melange of Beatles covers, woven together Escher-like into a musical trip worthy of it's namesake.
Though not a ground-breaking record (how could ANYONE out-Beatle the Beatles?!?) this is a fun record. It's a little hard to find (but still in print). I stumbled across this copy while browsing the racks at a Barnes and Noble.
Production is typically 1970's--lots of electronic gadgetry, synths, multi-track overlays, and in spots enough reverb to give a Sun Records engineer vertigo, but all in all, this is one of the few collections of Beatles covers that, to my ears is not only tolerable but downright fun, and in many tracks, spot-on in spirit and performance.
The BeeGees rendition of "Polythene Pam/Bathroom Window" actually rocks--perhaps not with the same raw and gritty angst as the Beatles original, but pretty darn good.
Barry Gibb's cover of "Day In The Life" is heart-felt, and the production is pretty much by-the-book Beatles. He doesn't take many liberties and it comes off as a well-performed modern version, not as some sort of over-produced Franken-Ode to the Fab Four, and it could have. The sustain at the end of this track, is surprisingly long--perhaps not as deep and subtle as the original (especially on the MFSL issue of the Beatles) but again, it comes off true-to-style, an is a nice tribute.
Alice Cooper's version of "Because" is VERY Alice--weird, wacky, and full of his own schtik--almost to the point of distraction--but it comes off as an interesting interpretation none the less.
Billy Preston's "Get Back" sounds like it was written for him. He pumps it full of soul, rocking out on the keyboard with a funky fluidity and slightly nasty smoothness that even Lennon never really projected.
I wish I could say some good things about the Diana Steinberg track: "Lucy in the Sky", but she butchers it with what appears to be a mixture of self-absorbed egotism and a complete lack of understanding of the original version.
The Sandy Farina tracks ("Here Comes the Sun" & "Strawberry Fields Forever") are not nearly as offensive as the hack-job done by Steinberg, but they offend only by coming across as boring and even insipid renditions of what were originally FANTASTIC tunes by the Fab Four.
Some up notes, some down notes, but in these days of iTunes, and remote controls, it's easy to skip over the klunkers. I can't recommend this disc to everyone, and I definitely would not recommend it whole-heartedly to anyone, but if you are a Beatles fan, and have heard this soundtrack before and though it was fun, you might want it on CD. It's WAY better then the 8-track version, and a lot better than the vinyl release (which I have 2 copies of and both, although pristine, are just poorly pressed and engineered). I heard notes, instruments, and entire passages in the background that I never knew existed on this soundtrack on the CD version.
Kudos to Polydor fo rre-releasing this soundtrack on CD, and doing a pretty decent job re-mastering it for the digital format.
--Richard
