Customer Reviews

Lost Songs: Songs the Beatles Wrote But Never Recorded

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

As an incurable Beatle-maniac, I looked forward to hearing some of the cuts on this cd. BIG disappointment!! All of the songs are remakes of the original versions, and bad ones at that! None of the original Peter & Gordon or Billy J Kramer versions here. To make matters worse, the remakes are not even faithful to the originals, in some cases not even sticking to the original melody as written, but going off on interpretive "tangents"!! Example: I hardly recognized "Bad To Me" as done here. Save your money, it's not even worth the curiosity value.

A huge Beatles fan who stumbled across this at the CD gift shop at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I actually think this is (was) a great idea for a CD......but this particular production is horrible. They should have tried to keep the songs in the contemporary period they were written. Instead, they take songs which were simple tracks written in the earlier years and try to combine elements from Beatles albums spanning their entire career. The result can best be described as an atrocious mix of taking songs that you may have found on "Please Please Me", and remixing them to fit the style of "Revolver" or "Sgt Peppers". Oh, and it doesn't help that the band they used sucked too. I can think of about a dozen Beatles tribute bands out there that maybe could have done this properly....these guys are BAD. Don't waste your money.

It would be nice to hear Beatles versions of all these songs, but this is as close as we'll ever get. Actually, the demo for That Means A Lot is availible on Anthology Two, but none of the other songs were ever recorded by the Beatles themselves. The newer arrangements are interesting, although a couple are downright painful to listen to (especially Tip Of My Tongue). All in all, I recommend this to any Beatles fan.

Fazzari massacres these compositions. He can't sing. Plain and simple. The band should be ashamed of themselves. Listen to the samples. They'll make you angry. Total garbage.

It would have been more honest if these players had just presented this disc as their own interpretations of these fine songs. These songs do NOT sound as though the Beatles were doing them. Any creditable musicians with genuine love for the early Beatles sound and atmosphere could have done a better job recreating these numbers, if that was the desire. For a good comparison, listen to "That Means A Lot" done by Billy Sullivan (not half so well known as Vinny Fazzari), on his "All American Popster" album -- exquisite!

Goldenlane's 31-track compilation of Beatles covers covers a lot of ground, offering up a few worthwhile period and modern reworkings, and a host of flaccid remakes by famous names in less famous contexts. On the high end, Affinity's early 70s jazz-rock cover of "I Am the Walrus" adds a funky bottom end with Lynton Naiff's organ and Mo Foster's, and Billy Preston swings "Eight Days a Week" as an organ instrumental. Dweezil Zappa's instrumental version of "Tomorrow Never Knows" layers synthesizers and drums beneath dramatic, wordless vocals, and though Robby Krieger and Jackson Browne's version of "Across the Universe" doesn't add much to the original, it feels heartfelt and sincere; same for Denny Laine's jaunty reading of "Blackbird."

Less impressive are by-the-numbers arrangements featuring vocals from Starship's Mickey Thomas, Santana's Alex Ligertwood, Toto's Bobby Kimball, Pablo Cruise's David Jenkins, Ambrosia's David Pack, the Tubes' Fee Waybill, and others. Soft rock from Air Supply and the Little River Band are not the band's best moments. The cavalcade of Beatle-era knock-offs is represented by the Buggs, competent musicians who sound like they were plucked from a music hall, rather than a rock club, for this cash-in. Elton Jonh, not to be confused with Sir Elton, covers Badfinger's "Come and Get It," and Jackie Lomax sings "Sour Milk Sea," both written by Beatles but not generally associated with the band.

The collection's most rocking moments come in former teen-idol Leif Garrett's stomping version of "Birthday," Sweet's Cheap Trick-like cover of "Ticket to Ride," and Molly Hatchet's take on "Back in the USSR." All three, like many of the other recent recordings are borrowed from Abbey Road: Tribute to the Beatles on Goldenlane's sister label, Cleopatra. None of these new versions are revelatory, and with so many truly great Beatles covers on the market, there's little to recommend this collection in place of picking up the few selected tracks such as those from Affinity, Denny Laine and perhaps a couple others. Better yet, pick up the recent Beatles catalog reissues. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

I got a huge kick out of Vinny's interpretations of the Beatles' songs that they never recorded. Sure. they ver due elements from the later years that they should have skipped, as has been written here. But the don't mimic previous covers, but try to recreate the early Beatle sound. It's light and it's fun. It's is not a must have as a Beatles fan, but I think you'll get a big kick out of this disc.

These songs, with a few exceptions, are at the bottom of Lennon and McCartney's substantial catalog of work, and the fact that they themselves never bothered recording them speaks volumes. In fact, most of the various early-60's recordings of these numbers are at best "poppy", and are more often simply embarrassing. Vinny Fazzari's accomplishment, then, is pretty substantial: Taking John and Paul's throwaways and turning them into topnotch, driving pop.

If you're looking for the originals, then by all means seek them out and play them to your heart's content. But if you'd prefer a truly innovative and loving interpretation of forgotten Beatle tunes, then give this a spin. Fazzari, you're great!

It's a shame these Lennon/McCartney compositions were never put out by the Beatles themselves, because I really think they are great songs. The arrangements are interesting, and the band plays the songs well. This CD comes highly recommended for any Beatles fan.