Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts... [Import]

Big Daddy | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 4, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• ASIN: B0000561VB
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,582,353 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Full title - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Big Daddy, a Los Angeles-based comedic pop group that emerged in 1983 on the Rhino Records label, specializes in performing contemporary hits in the style of 1950s & early-'60s rock & roll. Crown Records

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beatles get gene-spliced with hits of the past--neato!, December 26, 2002

By 

Alan Hutchins (Denver , CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts... (Audio CD)

Big Daddy is (or was) a collective of accomplished, 50's-and-60's obsessed musicians who find a way to channel yesterday's hit parade into the material of some other era. Some of the members can do uncannily accurate impersonations of various singers of the past. Though the band was usually known for their clever revisions of relatively current pop hits, they decided back in '93 or so to focus their efforts on an entire, song-by-song remake of the Beatles' 1967 LP "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

Their blueprint for this (and all of their discs, for that matter) seems to have been to play a spirited game of "what if". The answers to these "what ifs" are the content of this disc. What if Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon had recorded "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite" in the same manner as his hit song "Palisades Park"? What if Jerry Lee Lewis had torn into "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" just as if he were doing his hit "Breathless"? What if Buddy Holly had been around to record "A Day In The Life" as if it were a cross between his hits "Oh Boy" and "Everyday"? What if Dion had belted out "Fixing a Hole" at the same sessions as his hit "The Wanderer"? How about if some beat poet decided to read the lyrics to the lone George Harrison composition on the disc, "Within You Without You", over appropriately "hep cat" sounding backing from some bongos and flutes? Other artists who are imitated or referenced here include Johnny Mathis, Elvis Presley and even the Dominoes' "Sixty Minute Man" (spot-welded onto the frame of "When I'm Sixty Four"). You're probably getting the idea of this disc by now...and you're either smiling or cringing. If you're smiling, read on.

This could be classified as a parody of what some think of as the Beatles best album, but these guys are not trying to imitate or even poke fun at the Beatles. What Big Daddy is up to is sort of in a class of its own-I know of no other artist who reinvents songs based on earlier unrelated hits in the manner they do. It's funny and skillful at the same time. It helps to know the Sgt. Pepper album and assorted 50's/60's hits pretty well; otherwise, you won't `get' the joke or the musical references.

The performances and sound here are great, the good humor and high spirits are evident, and the overall package is a musical blast if you're open to some major screwing around and reinvention of Beatles songs. Track down this hard-to-find disc and enter an alternate Sgt. Pepper universe you are sure to enjoy. As the package says, "A real swell time is guaranteed for all!"

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than Beatles covers, June 14, 2001

By 

John Holderried (Queens, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts... (Audio CD)

OK, I found these guys through collecting covers of Beatles songs, and their work seemed ambitious - to not just cover a song, but a whole Beatles album! But their spin is unique, to take rock songs and cover them in a 50's early rock/doo-wop style. Their other CD "Cutting Their Own Groove" matches up 80's songs with styles of particular 50's songs ("Like a Virgin" in the style of "Venus", "Welcome to the Jungle" in the style of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight") and is absolutely inspired. There's some of that magic here too, you can treat this album like a puzzle and try to name the 50's act they're mimicking in each song. Imagine "With a Little Help From My Friends" in the style of Johnny Mathis and you'll get the idea. If the Beatles had stayed a skiffle/rockabilly cover band and not developed their own style, they might have ultimately sounded like this.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as the original for entirely different reasons, January 23, 2003

By 

Tom Tuerff (That there Phoenix place) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts... (Audio CD)

Let's see if I can explain this in a couple of sentences: Imagine if stars of the 50's took some of their most famous songs and then played the songs from Sgt. Pepper to THEIR songs' arrangements. Trust me, it works.

Example: Buddy Holly singing "A Day in the Life":

I read the news today, Uh-Oh, Boy
(Dum De Dum Dum, Oh Boy)
About a lucky man who made the gra-ha-hay-hade...

This is easily one of the funniest--and most musically entertaining--albums I own. It's nice to see that SOMEBODY, somewhere, is still offering it for sale. And you should buy it!