Customer Reviews

Mclemore Avenue

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Okay, okay. Enough with the Booker T. In-Jokes..

This record means business. No fooling around. Split into 15-20 minute medeleys that make you wonder why the Beatles didn't do it themselves (came close on "Sgt. Pepper," a record with almost no deadspace..).. The music.. oh the music...

It's so skillfully crafted; and done with care, at that! It's amazing what Mr. T. Jones can do with his hands and some keys. For that matter, it's amazing what Mr. Cropper can do while revisiting "I Want You," or the guitar work heard in "Because," which is radically different than the Beatles' version (hard to harmonize with no voices!!)

All in all, it's MORE than just a tribute album, it's a very skillfully done proving disc, letting everyone know that, yes, it IS "Abbey Road," and NO, it is NOT conventional!

quack

An odd but great album. Releases like this are common now in this era of "tribute" albums, but in the late 60's something like this was uncommon. Booker T. Jones (organ, piano) and Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass) were big Beatles fans and cooked up the idea of covering the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album in the MG's laid-back funky Memphis soul style. It sounds like a bad idea, but it works. The stripped-down, propulsive MG's arrangements bring an edge to these familiar songs that makes them sound brand new. This isn't the best MG's album, but it's close.

I really do love the Beatles, and every little bit of what they do, but Booker T & the MGs' cover of Abbey Road stands on its own legs. It is an album you will play 3 times for every time it occurs to you to play Abbey Road. If you like the Beatles, this an album you will want to own, and if you like Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr., and Donald Dunn (yes, "Duck"), you will be glad you own this CD. Either way, get this one.

If you are a BTMG fan and a Beatles fan, you cannot beat this CD. I have all the BTMG material and playing this in wax, when first released, was a lot like the experience of playing Sergeant Pepper the first time.

It is beautifully done. Very few albums I own are as good as this. I'm very glad it came out in CD. GREAT!!!!

The greatest band in America took on the greatest band in England, and the boys from Memphis held their own. This is a very cutting edge and ahead of its time (Think Pink Floyd, Metallica) album. The Beatles and The MGs' influence and superiority on and over the future of music is clearly evident here. Some may not consider it an essential MGs album, because by covering Abbey Road, it doesn't feature original material. However, hearing the Stax Records house band burn through these great compositions is an amazing experience. Al Jackson does things that the wonderful Ringo Starr could never imagine. Duck Dunn does the Paul McCartney thing better than Paul McCartney. And Steve Cropper never even heard Abbey Road! Booker T. Jones taught him what to play! Another testament to these two men's greatness. How could you do The Beatles without lyrics? Only one band could. When the MGs got their hands on anything, including the material here, one quickly forgets and doesn't need anything but the music. The whole band is in peak form. They bring their Stax soul/funk to the table and also, show themselves as world class musicians as on their both beautiful and barn storming cover of "Something". And In The End, McLemore Avenue equals or argueably betters Abbey Road.

I first acquired a vinyl copy of this album a couple of years after its release, in 1970, after stumbling across it at one of the many record shops I used to frequent. Always a great admirer of Abbey Road by The Beatles, it was immediately visually intriguing, for obvious reasons. Having long ago lost track of that initial copy, it wasn't until I bought the Booker T & The MGs "Time Is Tight" box, that I remembered just how brilliant this album-long Abbey Road tribute was.

It consists of instrumental covers of Abbey Road, more or less in its entirety, albeit not in corresponding sequential order. It is everything and more anyone familiar with the legendary Stax house band's sound might expect: soulful, organic, inspired and, above all else, so tight - it's obvious these guys have played together before.

McLemore Avenue - the address of Stax studios - is one of those albums you can put on when you feel like listening intently to masterful musicianship, alone in the dark, perfectly positioned between the speakers; or when you feel like moving to that wonderful MGs groove; or just as pleasant, yet almost always engaging, background music. If you're a Beatles fan, and have somehow managed to miss this album, you have an unexpected treat in store.

Frustratingly, copies of McLemore Avenue appear to be difficult to find. This Japanese reissue, is an expensive option, especially given that it is not one of those limited edition, vinyl replica paper sleeve items, as you might expect. It is one disc in a standard jewel case. The sound is everything you would expect, however, and I am pleased to now have a pristine CD of this much-loved album.

I looked for this CD every since I heard "She's So Heavy" on a local college radio show. The CD is a wonderful interpretation of the Abbey Road Tracks by the Beatles. Booker T and the MG's put a shine to this material instrumentally as only they can do. This is such a nice CD to relax to. I would recommend this to any Booker T/Beatle fans! Many times the organ sound makes it sound like Gary Brooker of Procol Harum is playing and that's a compliment. So that sonic texture is there too, like a cherry on the cake.

This is a truely great peice of work. One of my favourite instrumental albums, from my very favourite instrumental band.

VERY nice to listen too. The band members really worked their instruments nicely when puting this one together. If you like Abbey Road, you'll love this.

This is a really nice Booker T tribute to the Beatles and simple one of the best. I do agree that the organ tends to overpower the other instruments at part, but the entire MGs are all centered around the unique organ sound that most bands don't have. There are a lot of awesome solos, and ends very strong. It does get kind of weak on tracks 2 and 3 but ends strong on the final track.

Love it!!!! It makes me happy. The base line keeps turning my lights on and off (I have the clapper).