Stax Does The Beatles

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 26, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Stax
• ASIN: B000ULQVHK
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,089 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The fab funk of Stax Records takes on The Fab Four on this soulful tribute...includes 15 of The Beatles' best as interpreted by Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, & Booker T. & The MGs and More!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Embrace, March 23, 2008

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stax Does The Beatles (Audio CD)

"Stax Does the Beatles" is a satisfying collection recorded 1966 to 1972 when the Beatles' music was everywhere on the airwaves. The disc starts with an alternate take of Otis Redding on "Day Tripper" as the band blasts through the track losing the distinctive bass line and adding a potent horn chart. Of the four Booker T & the MGs tracks included on this set, "Got to Get You Into My Life" is an organ and drums duel that is marginally effective. "Eleanor Rigby" achieves a distinctive sound with a processed guitar. Booker T's "Michelle" starts sounding like "Spooky" by Classics IV before the lovely McCartney melody edges to the front. My favorite of their four tracks is the playful version of "Lady Madonna" that sounds like a stalker creeping up on you. Steve Cropper released a 1969 album on Volt with the title track "With A Little Help from My Friends" that appears on this CD with Cropper's furious electric guitar and a stately horn session. A live version of "Yesterday" was recorded by Carla Thomas at the Bohemian Caverns in Washington D.C. in 1967 that milks McCartney's mournful melody of love gone away. The Bar-Kays' instrumental version of "Yesterday" has elements of Spanish horn, their dreamy organ and mellow guitar. They also cover "With a Little Help From My Friends" at times full speed like a march and then dropping into a meditative moment before melody emerges. The Mar-Keys released "Memphis Experience" in 1971 that included a delicious cover of "Let It Be" that delivers the familiar melody with Stax flare. Isaac Hayes' version of George Harrison's "Something" went to #8 on the pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts with an epic rendering of this great tune. Obscure Stax artist Reggie Milner whose career ended when he was run over by a freight train adds vocal pyrotechnics to "And I Love Her." "My Sweet Lord" was George Harrison's big single after the band's breakup. John Gary Williams from the band the Mad Lads adds a spoken interlude that prays for lawmakers who he feels may be unacquainted with justice. The Bar-Kays conclude the anthology with a six-minute version of "Hey Jude" that floats magically like a big yellow balloon. This is a good collection with three takes never previously released and one on CD for the first time. It reminds how varied and amazing the Beatles' output was and how well other musicians could embrace it. Enjoy!

3.0 out of 5 stars A couple good cuts, July 8, 2011

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Ronald Mackenzie (San Francisco, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stax Does The Beatles (Audio CD)

Don't pay too much for this CD. A couple of cuts are fun, but many have not aged well (they sound really old fashioned). As they say, it doesn't have good "legs".

4 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The soul of the Beatles, April 29, 2008

By 

W. Noshie (Beirut, Lebanon) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stax Does The Beatles (Audio CD)

This album is worth 3 Stars. 3 stars because these are all Beatles songs, Sang by soul artists from the 70's and finally compiled by Stax. The reason for the 3 stars only is because these songs were never meant to be played as soul songs therefore none of the tracks is highly memorable.
This album is for any collector, who likes Soul music, and still enjoy to hear Beatles songs sung by other artists.