Lj Plays the Beatles

Laurence Juber | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 13, 2000)
• Original Release Date: June 13, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Solid Air
• ASIN: B00004TFCO
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,877 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Inspired Fingerstyle Guitar Renditions of Beatles Songs, March 10, 2001

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lj Plays the Beatles (Audio CD)

As a former member of Paul McCartney's latter-day Wings (he appeared on Back to the Egg in 1978), it is only natural that the classically trained Laurence Juber would eventually record a collection of Beatles songs.

Juber covers songs from all of the Beatles except Ringo--"Octopuses Garden" would have been a nice addition. With most of these songs, Juber uses altered tunings. Overall, these fourteen acoustic solos, showcase his formidable fingerstyle guitar skills.

I first heard Juber as a solo artist last year when I picked up a cutout copy of his second album Naked Guitar and was stunned by the beauty of his playing. When I saw this loving musical and artistic tribute to the Beatles (Baby Boomers will recognize the cover), I knew this had to be my second purchase. I wasn't disappointed! RECOMMENDED

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and then some., November 16, 2004

By 

T. Bowen (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lj Plays the Beatles (Audio CD)

As many of us are, I am a long time and never ending admirer of the Beatles and all they encompassed. Over the years I've taken interest in various tributes, variations etc. of their music and usually am disappointed. Somehow I missed this one and stumbled onto it recently. Halfway through the second track I knew I found one of those great albums that will always stay above the surface. There's too much to go into here...all I can say is I can't imagine anyone past the entry level Beatles fan not enjoying this. Juber has pulled off a great and rare thing here, making tribute to the music we all know and love like a lifelong, irreplaceable best friend, while displaying his inventive arrangement skills and breathtaking talent as a guitarist. There's some twists and turns and depth to challenge us but he's not out to lose us and forget what brought us all here in the first place. Beyond that, or I guess in addition, it's simply an acoustic guitar daydream, perfectly produced. Impressive stuff to put it mildly. I just wish I'd found it a few years earlier...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent musicianship with excellent songs., May 7, 2001

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This review is from: Lj Plays the Beatles (Audio CD)

I first heard Laurence Juber on Al Stewart's "Between the Wars" CD (which I believe is currently unavailable -- a shame) a few years back, and was impressed by his musicianship. When I heard he had released a CD of Beatles songs, I knew I had to acquire it.

I'm not in the least disappointed. LJ's virtuosity shows on all tracks -- the guy can finger-pick with the best of 'em. The fourteen songs he chose to record on the CD cover pretty much the range of the Beatles repertoire -- from early classics like "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Things We Said Today" to later works like "Let It Be" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". All the songs except two -- "Here Comes the Sun" and the aforementioned "While My Guitar..." -- are from the Lennon-McCartney penned tunes; as another reviewer mentioned, a Ringo Starr song would've been nice to round out the collection. But that is a very minor nitpick, not worth getting bothered over.

The opening track, "When I Saw Her Standing There", establishes in the first few bars the amazing ability of Mr. Juber on guitar. An intricate bass line over which he (and how does he do this???) plays the rhythm/melody is as fine a finger-picking as one could ever hope to find. What is amazing is how on many songs he not only manages to get the melody and basslines going but also some of those "fills" that the Beatles managed to throw in as well.

Finally, by no means is the technical merit (which is considerable) reason alone to get this CD. LJ's arrangement of many of the songs show a creative approach that makes the songs more interesting than one might think an acoustic solo guitar would provide. For example, his arrangement "Oh Darling" makes it a track I unexpectedly enjoy (the song as recorded by the Beatles never held a whole lot of attraction for me); he takes "Can't Buy Me Love" and plays it not in its familiar pop-rock arrangement, but in a slow, bluesy/jazzy arrangement. Quite interesting.

Bottom line is this CD deserves the five stars it has earned in these reviews. By all means this is one worth the price.