Sensational Beatles Novelty Record Compilation
Zub | Forks Twp., PA | 04/07/2010
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Not surprisingly, in the wake of the Beatles music phenomenon of the mid-1960's, a tidal wave of tribute and novelty recordings followed. No less than 200 of these Beatle-inspired ditties appeared in 1964 alone. The vast majority of these concoctions were god-awful, of no musical consequence and obviously no more than blatant attempts at exploiting the Beatles' fame to make a few easy bucks. However, a very few were remarkably solid in their production with competent music and clever lyrics. Many more were merely mediocre at best but still managed to garner some interest from the music-buying public. Quality, or lack thereof, notwithstanding, none of these tunes were the money-makers the composers, labels or performers would have liked to have seen them become.
Other similar Beatle-related CD's have come and gone in the marketplace but this piece from the renowned reissue Juggernaut - Ace Records of the U.K. - shines brightly above the rest. On a single CD, a massive 28 tracks is gathered, representing many of the most notable Beatle-inspired novelty and tribute songs. Here are recordings from established artists - the Four Preps, Like Wray, Terry Knight - as well as groups of immediate convenience right down to pure fabrications - the Beattle-ettes and the Bootles. Four singles of the genre managed to crack the top-100, and two ("We Love You Beatles" and "A Letter to the Beatles") are included here. If a criticism must be raised with this otherwise outstanding collection, it is due to the absence of those other two charting songs. Whatever the reason - most likely licensing restrictions - a five-star rating would have been a no-brainer had those two tracks been included.
Minor faults notwithstanding, Ace has an incredible accomplishment here. Sound quality, as one would expect, is top-notch. As many of these recordings (performers as well) were one-off novelties and not expected to be part of any album or ongoing career, most of these tracks were never mixed into stereo. Consequently, most tracks appear in mono but a handful - 9-11 and 17 - are preseneted in stereo. With most music CD's, the music is the meat of the matter but in this case, the massive liner notes booklet with its 28 pages often trumps the music it is describing. Packed with photos, label and publication shots, the setting of the stage in the music world for Beatlemania and fascinating background on each of the included tracks, the booklet is worth the purchase price alone.
Many CD products have tackled the topic of the musical opportunists that were inevitable with an event as monumental as Beatlemania. No other compilation however has done it so well as has this Ace package."
Fantastic
Carol | Monroe.New York | 01/27/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"
I was just 12 years old in 1964 when the Beatles came to America.
I grew up with them and thier music,and heard all these songs about them. Especially "We Love You Beatles " by the Carefrees. Over the past
40 years,I have searched in vain for copies of these songs,and finally found them on this "Beatlemaniacs" CD. These songs brings back special memories for me. I recomend this collection to any Beatles Fans."
Track Listings (24) - Disc #1