Brilliant !
D. L. Du Bois | Durban, South Africa | 12/11/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"A new Beatles album out in 2009 with 15 tracks written by them?
Impossible ! you say. Not quite.
A Seattle-based band called Apple Jam has recently put out a CD called Off the Beatle Track
which comprises 14 Lennon-McCartney songs and one by George Harrison. They were songs written mostly around 1963/ 1964 and with three exceptions - Hello Little Girl, Like Dreamers Do and You know What to Do [ which only surfaced on the Beatles Anthology in 1995] were never recorded by the Beatles. Instead, with the exception of the track I'm in Love, they were given to other artists like Cilla Black, Peter and Gordon, Tommy Quickly and Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas who enjoyed varied chart successes with them.
But it is not just the material that is new to one's ears. It is the way Apple Jam has produced it. They sound just like the Beatles: the guitar riffs, the harmonies and falsetto notes - even the album cover bears a striking resemblance to that of the first Beatles LP, Please, Please Me.
The sleeve notes make the point that as a compilation it could have been put out between the second and third Beatles LPs, namely, With the Beatles and A Hard Day's Night. The tempo, arrangement and young love theme of the lyrics closely resembles those albums. High energy, upbeat tunes like I'm in Love, Tip of my Tongue, One and One is Two sit snugly alongside great ballads such as World Without Love and Love of the Loved.
Apart from the previously unheard material that came out on the Anthology series in 1995 / 1996, Let It Be was the last album the Beatles released. That was in 1970. Playing Apple Jam's Off the Beatle Track is evocative of the thrill and fascination one experienced all those years ago when a new Beatles record came out. Thanks to Apple Jam it's possible to have those feelings again - 40 years after the Beatles disbanded as a group. Fantastic!! - Duncan Du Bois, Durban RSA
"
Great material
Matthew T. Hinckley | tacoma wa | 12/09/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"it has been my pleasure to say i have seen all of these guys in concert and i have all beatles cds and albums and i have only heard1 0r 2 songs from this cd i like the cd and i am also friends with all of these guys in the group i have also seen from the other rater that it has too much polish it is all natural musicians and they are perfectionist who does it in 1 take."
Great CD for any Beatles fan
Chicago Bookworm | Chicago | 03/31/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"If you own all the Beatles' albums and you wish there were one more to hear, you should buy this CD. The songs are all Lennon/McCartney compositions, and are excellently performed and quite true to the Beatles sound. Apple Jam doesn't come off as a standard tribute band; it sounds like they're having a great time playing these songs, and the singing and harmonies are consistently fine.
However, you should also know that listening to this album will tend to confirm any suspicions you may have had about John and Paul saving their best songs for their own band. Simply put, there's a reason they chose these to give away -- they're just not as original or interesting as the songs on Beatles albums of the same period ("A Hard Day's Night," "Beatles for Sale"). They're still good, they're just not THAT good. And they weren't intended to be listened to in one sitting -- they were all single songs given to different performers, so the careful sequencing and variety that is part of what makes Beatles albums great is missing here.
These tracks are interesting in part because they reveal the Lennon/McCartney team figuring out and building songs, drawing from their influences and ringing changes on them. You can hear them figuring out how to do revolutionary things, even if the revolutionary things themselves aren't here.
A very worthwhile purchase for anyone interested in the Beatles or in the history of rock music and songwriting."
