"...Don't Let Me Down..."
I'm a huge fan
of England's Ace Records and their stunning CD compilations (who isn't). And
you look at the premise here - Soul Artists doing their take on the Fabs - and surely
the results will be electrifying and funky as a gnat's chuffer.
But then you
play "Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison"
by VARIOUS ARTISTS and song after song just feels wrong. Nothing ever ignites.
It's a strange truth but The Beatles (as soulful as their music was) - doesn't
translate to Soul. The Isley Brothers doing Carole King or Stephen Stills -
Love Sculpture doing Ray Charles - even Grand Funk doing "Some Kind Of
Wonderful" by The Soul Brothers Six - these crossovers all work. And of
course you could fill box sets full of other covers that add to the original
and even bring out more. But no such luck here - here you get one ill-chosen
track after another.
The 16-page
booklet is (as always) a thing of beauty - classy photos of Screamin' Jaw
Hawkins doing "A Hard Day's Night", Mary Well's tackling "Do You
Want To Know A Secret" and Dionne Warwick having a go at "We Can Work
It Out".
Released 30
September 2016 in the UK (October 2016 in the USA) - "Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison" by VARIOUS ARTISTS is a typically well presented affair from reissue experts Ace Records. The booklet is a feast - rare picture
sleeves - 7" single label repros (RCA for Nina Simone, Capitol for Junior
Parker, EMI America for Gary U.S. Bonds) with top-quality mastering from Duncan
Cowell and a generous 22-track playing time for Ace CDCHD 1483 (Barcode
029667077026) of 77:54 minutes.
1. Eleanor Rigby -
Aretha Franklin
2. Dear Prudence - The
5 Stairsteps
3. Got To Get You Into
My Life - Earth, Wind And Fire
4. Do You Want To Know
A Secret - Mary Wells
5. The Fool On The
Hill - Four Tops
6. Lovely Rita - Fats
Domino
7. Here Comes The Sun
- Nina Simone
8. Ob La Di Ob La Da -
Arthur Conley
9. A World Without
Love - The Supremes
10. Tomorrow Never
Knows - Junior Parker
11. Don't Let Me Down
- Randy Crawford
12. With A Little Help
From My Friends - The Undisputed Truth
13. A Hard Day's Night
- Screamin' Jay Hawkins
14. She Came In
Through The Bathroom Window - Ike & Tina Turner
15. For No One - Maceo
& All The King's Men
16. It's Only Love -
Gary U.S. Bonds
17. We Can Work It Out
- Dionne Warwick
18. Hey Jude - The
Temptations
19. In My Life - Boyz
II Men
20. Savoy Truffle -
Ella Fitzgerald
21. Something - Isaac
Hayes
22. Let It Be - Bill
Withers
I wish I could say the music worth it. Beautifully presented or not - 9 times out of 10 the interpretations offered here feel like half-hearted cash-ins on a very popular band of the time - the most popular and influential group of all time. Yet somehow the Beatles songs don't really suit Soul. Better is the
"Hard To Handle" set in this series where Black Artists have a go at
Otis Redding – a combo that actually does work.
In the meantime
– if you’re tempted by "Let It Be: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney
and Harrison" - I'd try to get a listen to the CD first before
committing...
