July 13, 2004

9:22 AM

Faux-Beatlefilter: There are two Beatles tribute/impersonator related questions that I have been unable to find answers to thus far. One deals with remembering the title of a certain CD; the other, tracking down a documentary. More is inside.
posted by adamkempa to (9 comments total)

(1) Several years back I almost bought a Beatles-related CD that I've now forgotten the name of. The bits I do remember: George Martin (Maybe not?) assembled a group of the best 'soundalikes' for each of the Beatles, had them learn an album's worth of Lennon / McCartney compositions that were written for other people and never put to tape, and then recorded the whole mess on vintage gear at Abbey Road. I've always regretted passing it up the one time I saw it for sale, simply because I'm curious as to how closely they came to replicating the sound.

(2) In the last year or so I was directed to a website for a forthcoming documentary film which followed a Beatles 'Tribute' band around on their adventures. My best googling has come up with an episode of a program on the discovery channel, but not the documentary site I remember.

Metafilter, I turn to you.
posted by adamkempa at 9:23 AM on July 13, 2004

Perhaps you're thinking of "In My Life", which was the last record George Martin engineered and produced. It's a compilation of mostly Lennon's songs done by people like Jeff Beck, Goldie Hawn, Phil Collins, John Williams, etc. I haven't heard it myself, but in an interview George says some of the arrangements follow the original while others change radically. I'd love to hear Jim Carrey's version of "I am the Walrus".
posted by lasm at 9:58 AM on July 13, 2004

the last record George Martin engineered and produced

Did I miss some news? I sure hope I'm only reading too much into that statement.
posted by pmurray63 at 10:29 AM on July 13, 2004

Wikipedia delivers as usual. (No, he's not dead according to Wikipedia; I assume he's just not producing beatles-related records anymore.)

The album can be found on edonkey by the way. It sounds interesting, I'm downloading it now (which is perfectly legal here in holland, so mentioning this won't get matt in trouble (not that it'd be likely anyway)).
posted by fvw at 10:38 AM on July 13, 2004

Cranberry Sauce.

He says his hearing isn't so good anymore and also he's been making records for 48(!) years. So this was his final record before retiring.
posted by lasm at 11:24 AM on July 13, 2004

I'll definately be checking out 'In My Life,' but that's not what I was looking for. Accountless AskMe browser Chris writes:

The CD you seek is 'Lost Songs.'

...the reviews are universally terrible, so we'll see. Now, about that documentary...
posted by adamkempa at 11:38 AM on July 13, 2004

If anyone wants to buy In My Life, I'll happily sell my copy for $8+shipping...
posted by Marquis at 12:27 PM on July 13, 2004

If the documentary isn't out yet, then I guess it's not BeatleMania: The Movie, although the idea is similar.
posted by obloquy at 12:31 PM on July 13, 2004

the last record George Martin engineered and produced

Did I miss some news? I sure hope I'm only reading too much into that statement.

Martin has basically gone deaf on one ear, so he can't work with sterio recordings any longer. However, I have an interview around here somewhere connected to the Anthology project where he makes a joke about being able to work with the old mono Beatles tapes without a problem.

Beatles fans might also be interested in this recent news.

God, I wish Matt could fix the spell check. I miss it so....
posted by anastasiav at 1:04 PM on July 13, 2004