Redoing the Beatles

April 6, 2007 2:56 PM

Sgt. Pepper's 2.0. fourty years later, BBC 2 is preparing a recording session (with the original recording instrumentation and Geoff Emerick) to be aired on 2 June. Oasis, The Killers, Razorlight, James Morrison, The Fratellis, Travis and the Kaiser Chiefs are the artists currently announced. Not the first time someone covers the Beatles (there's even a mashup, previously covered on Mefi).
[via]
posted by darkripper (56 comments total)

Sounds positively dreadful.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:00 PM on April 6, 2007

*winces*

Why on earth do this?
posted by jokeefe at 3:05 PM on April 6, 2007

Travis? Please tell me Nigel Godrich isn't involved in this.... *walks away muttering*
posted by jokeefe at 3:05 PM on April 6, 2007

It might just be crazy enough to work!

On second thought... maybe not

On a related note, here's the trailer for the Sgt. Pepper's movie. It's... something else.
posted by Kattullus at 3:06 PM on April 6, 2007

Absolutely worstest Beatles covers ever can be found in an odd little album called "All This And World War II" which I played exactly once.
posted by Dizzy at 3:09 PM on April 6, 2007

yuck
posted by puke & cry at 3:12 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

*vomits*
posted by 2sheets at 3:14 PM on April 6, 2007

disgusting.
posted by tremspeed at 3:19 PM on April 6, 2007

What everyone else said. (Except Dizzy, just cause I never heard that particular covers record.)
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:24 PM on April 6, 2007

I have a copy of Big Daddy's Sgt. Pepper's cover album. That one was actually not that bad. This new one sounds like garbage.
posted by GavinR at 3:25 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

def seems like a silly idea, lets take something that means a lot to a bunch of people and fuck with it, perhaps we'll make something mediocre. bah -1

"The range and quality of artists involved ensure that this will be a fitting tribute to one of the great albums of all time."

::coff:: yeah, good luck with that.
posted by edgeways at 3:26 PM on April 6, 2007

the Sgt. Pepper's movie... should be evidence enough that this is a bad bad idea....
posted by R. Mutt at 3:30 PM on April 6, 2007

"The range and quality of artists involved" in the bad bad movie...

Peter Allen, Australian singer, Academy award-winning songwriter and Las Vegas performer.
Keith Allison, member of Paul Revere and the Raiders.
George Benson, jazz musician.
Keith Carradine
Carol Channing
Charlotte Crossley, Sharon Redd and Ula Hedwig, (the Harlettes, Bette Midler's back-up singers).
Jim "Dandy" Mangrum, vocalist of southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas.
Sarah Dash, member of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles and LaBelle.
Rick Derringer, guitarist, member of the McCoys ("Hang on Sloopy"), Steely Dan and The Edgar Winter Group.
Barbara Dickson, RSO Records recording artist, cast member of John, Paul, George, Ringo....and Bert, a musical co-produced by Robert Stigwood.
Donovan, British recording artist, and Beatles friend.
Randy Edelman, film and tv score composer
Yvonne Elliman, who had a hit with "If I Can't Have You" from Saturday Night Fever (1977)
José Feliciano, Puerto Rican singer and guitarist
Leif Garrett, teen idol
Geraldine Granger
Adrian Gurvitz, English singer/songwriter
Billy Harper, jazz saxaphonist
Eddie Harris, jazz saxaphonist
Heart
Nona Hendryx, member of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles and LaBelle.
Barry Humphries, Australian comedian, appears as his alter ego Dame Edna Everage.
Etta James, American blues, R&B, and gospel singer.
Dr. John
Bruce Johnston, member of the Beach Boys
Joe Lala, percussionist
D.C. LaRue, disco musician
Jo Leb
Marcella Detroit,(as Marcy Levy), musician, singer, songwriter who, at the time had worked with Bob Seeger and Bruce Springsteen.
Mark Lindsay, lead singer of Paul Revere and the Raiders
Nils Lofgren, member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.
Jackie Lomax, guitarist, singer/songwriter, friend of George Harrison
John Mayall, English blues singer and songwriter
Curtis Mayfield, American soul, funk and R&B singer, songwriter and guitarist
Bruce Morrow,"Cousin Brucie", an American radio personality
Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits
Alan O'Day
Lee Oskar
The Paley Brothers
Robert Palmer
Wilson Pickett
Anita Pointer of The Pointer Sisters
Bonnie Raitt
Helen Reddy
Minnie Riperton
Chita Rivera
Johnny Rivers
Monti Rock III
Danielle Rowe
Sha-Na-Na
Del Shannon
Joe Simon
Jim Seals and Dash Crofts
Connie Stevens, actress
John Stewart
Tina Turner
Frankie Valli
Gwen Verdon, actress and dancer
Diane Vincent
Grover Washington Jr.
Hank Williams Jr.
Johnny Winter
Wolfman Jack
Bobby Womack
Alan White
Lenny White
Gary Wright
posted by R. Mutt at 3:33 PM on April 6, 2007

There was a relatively good Sgt. Pepper's cover comp called Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father, released in 1988, with Sonic Youth, the Wedding Present, the Fall (among the first times I'd heard any of those bands, which I grew to love) -- not all of the compilation was great, but to me in a Midwestern suburban high school in the '80s, it had a cool indie-UK vibe. This, though, seems like a weak cash-grab.
posted by lisa g at 3:35 PM on April 6, 2007

Not the first time someone covers the Beatles (there's even a mashup, previously covered on Mefi).

What the fuck? You mean people have covered the Beatles before? I had no idea! Or was this just one of those "Oh shit I have to pad out my posts with half a dozen extra Googled links and Wikipedia pages because single-link posts are bad" efforts?

And just for future reference, saying there is a mashup of The Beatles is also a real, real big understatement.
posted by Jimbob at 3:35 PM on April 6, 2007

Jimbob, please return to the parking lot of BeatleFestConWorldExpo '83. You left the lights on in your Gremlin.
posted by Dizzy at 3:43 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

k.
posted by Jimbob at 3:45 PM on April 6, 2007

I read the news today oh, boy
About some lucky bands who made the grade
And though the news was rather bad
Well, I just had to laugh
I'd burned the phonograph
They played the life out of some songs
They hadn't notice that the times had changed
A crowd of people sat and LOLed
They'd seen this shit before
Nobody was looking for a retread from a bunch of whores

I heard a song today oh, boy
Some english artists had just changed the world
A crowd of people tried to cash in
But I just turned away
I'd heard it in the day
I'd love to turn... this... off...

Logged on, opened this thread
Was appalled by what I'd read
Clicked over to MetaTalk and dropped a snark
Checked my pulse, and noticed I was dead
Found my soul and said goodnight
Headed straight into the light
Found my way upstairs and sat a spell
Somebody noticed and sent me back to Hell
Ahhhhhhhhhhh

I read the news today oh, boy
About the Sgt. Pepper's 2.0
And though it impacts me not at all
It felt like quite a fall
Now I know how many times to bang my head against the wall
I'd love to turn... this... off...
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:54 PM on April 6, 2007 [24 favorites]

Go Raining Henderson (the Hendersons will all be there, late of Pablo Fanques fair, what a scene)!

No one can stop them. But ignoring them will be something, anyway.
posted by kozad at 4:02 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

It will only cheapen the original. While they are at it why don't they cover Stairway to Heaven.
posted by Mr_Zero at 4:02 PM on April 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

Mr Zero: don't give them bad ideas :)
posted by darkripper at 4:05 PM on April 6, 2007

It was 40 years ago today? God am I feeling old...

At least Love wasn't a train wreck -- of course, it's a remix, not a cover.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot at 4:06 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

Mojo magazine put out an all-covers SPLHCB CD with their March '07 issue. A mixed bag quality-wise but all new artists to discover, for me at least.

This just reeks of--dare I say it?--commercialism rather than artistic inspiration. Although at least Oasis will have a chance to play Beatles' music they haven't denatured and called their own, so that'll be a nice change.

Did someone look at the Love CD and think, "hmmm...mid-period Beatles, slightly different but not off-puttingly so, mega-sales worldwide...by Jove!...get me Liam Gallagher on the phone!"
posted by the sobsister at 4:11 PM on April 6, 2007

i have a vinyl sgt pepper knew my father (mentioned by lisa g, above). the fall's version of a day in the life is, well, it's the fall. what do i need to say? the wedding present's it's getting better all the time is similarly awesome.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:14 PM on April 6, 2007

Oh, Flo. Why do you do this to me?

It will only cheapen the original.

I've always found that argument lacking. I understand that seeing someone do a crap job of emulating something you're fond of could be frustrating, but, gods, it's not like they're replacing the album; they're just making a knock-off.

Anything that can be cheapened by as little as a poor imitation hasn't got the yarbles to be a classic in the first place. Pepper and the boys will live through this.
posted by cortex at 4:24 PM on April 6, 2007

But when is someone going to update that classic Beatles tribute track, "One Down Three to Go" by the Meatmen?

(Here's the tablature, Mefi musicians!)
posted by Methylviolet at 4:27 PM on April 6, 2007

Julie Taymor's new film, Across the Universe, looks much more promising. Blake Leyh (mefite) did the sound design.

here is his music blog entry with links to the trailer and mp3

excerpt - Across The Universe is a musical featuring 35 re-imagined Beatles songs. It tells the story of a young man from Liverpool named Jude who comes to America looking for his father and becomes embroiled in the counter-culture of the 1960’s in New York. The film features new versions of the songs, sung live by the actors, with a few celebrity cameos from the likes of Bono (I Am The Walrus) and Joe Cocker (Come Together). The film is 95% finished, and I think it’s great - one of the most enjoyable working experiences of my career, and the most elaborate sound design I have created since The Abyss in 1989. The film is scheduled for a release in September 2007, and you can see the (corny but effective) trailer here.
posted by vronsky at 4:37 PM on April 6, 2007

The cover is going to be the collected bands taking a massive shit on Lennon's grave.

Christ alive, I can't think of any bands less appropriate to do this. What do a bunch of throwback trad pub bands have in common with a band who were always looking forwards?
posted by influx at 4:38 PM on April 6, 2007

dang, vron--
I lurrrve "The Abyss" and am gratified to know you had a hand in it.
posted by Dizzy at 4:39 PM on April 6, 2007

Not me diz, I'm just a fan.
posted by vronsky at 4:50 PM on April 6, 2007

Oops.
Picked the wrong day to stop huffing Keith's da.
posted by Dizzy at 4:52 PM on April 6, 2007 [3 favorites]

Geoff Emerick is the engineer who threw a fit and stormed out of the room when George Martin told him to cut up the carnival music tapes into one-foot lengths, thow them up in the air, then tape them back together (Results can be heard in the middle of Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite). The engineer and the equipment may add flavor to the music, and yes, you can learn to distinguish the greats like Tchad Blake of Bill Bottrell, but they don't make the music great. That requires great musicians, and in the case of Sgt. Peppers, a great producer.

And Oasis areren't frauds merely because they're self-deluded. Worst. Pablum. Ever.
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:55 PM on April 6, 2007

...Tchad Blake or Bill Bottrell...
posted by Devils Rancher at 4:57 PM on April 6, 2007

1. Collect a lot of shitty British bands.
2. Get them to cover the Beatles.
3.???
4. Profit!
posted by eustacescrubb at 5:05 PM on April 6, 2007

There was a relatively good Sgt. Pepper's cover comp called Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father, released in 1988, with Sonic Youth, the Wedding Present, the Fall

Also Wet Wet Wet, Courtney Pine and Frank Sidebottom. Spectacularly fucking odd album, that. Also, as if to prove that my head is full of useless bibble, it's the only LP on the NME label.
posted by jack_mo at 5:05 PM on April 6, 2007

Bearing all the above in mind, it's Pepper 2.0 about as much as the Star Wars kid is Empire Strikes Back.
posted by Sparx at 5:35 PM on April 6, 2007

Yea, except I feel sorry for the Star Wars kid.
posted by R. Mutt at 6:07 PM on April 6, 2007

And in 2008 it will be the 'Cheap Trick Live at Budokan' 30 year anniversary tribute album. With covers by Paul Anka and Ozzy.
posted by drinkmaildave at 6:22 PM on April 6, 2007

I'd pay serious jack to hear ol' Paul cover "Dream Police".
posted by Dizzy at 6:34 PM on April 6, 2007 [1 favorite]

No, My Chemical Romance will do "Dream Police."
Pussycat Dolls will do "Surrender."

Bands that suck now, suck a lot more than bands that sucked in my day, sonny.
posted by Methylviolet at 6:43 PM on April 6, 2007

Sgt. Peppers is a honeypot that keeps these twonkbucklers from doing the same thing to Revolver.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:13 PM on April 6, 2007 [2 favorites]

Wow - I was part of a house painting crew on the 20th anniversary of the release, listening to 8 hours of a classic rock station playing the "It was 20 years ago today!" snippet before and after every commercial -

God I feel old. Then I see drinkmaildave's comment about Cheap Trick. Live at Budokan was the first album I ever bought... As an 8-track....

I'm going to go in my room and wait to die.
posted by jalexei at 7:23 PM on April 6, 2007

If anybody wants to download an apparent (I haven't finished downloading it yet to confirm) zip file of "Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father", you can do so here.
posted by dbarefoot at 7:33 PM on April 6, 2007

Please tell me Nigel Godrich isn't involved in this...

He needs to be helping finish up the next radiohead record. No extra curricular activities for him!
posted by sparkletone at 7:44 PM on April 6, 2007

I love "Love," BTW. Didn't expect to. But it's delightful and mysterious and faithful to the Fab Four. Unlike, as we all predict, this forthcoming fiasco.
posted by kozad at 7:48 PM on April 6, 2007

Twonkbucklers?
posted by Rangeboy at 8:13 PM on April 6, 2007

I make up insults when I'm tired. Got a problem with that, mushpaste?
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 8:21 PM on April 6, 2007

Thanks, dbarefoot!
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:29 PM on April 6, 2007

And Oasis areren't frauds merely because they're self-deluded. Worst. Pablum. Ever.

[in whiny voice] Champagne Supernooooovaaaaaaahhhh.

*pukes*
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:37 PM on April 6, 2007

Here's Flo's parody, recorded.
posted by cortex at 9:12 PM on April 6, 2007

Ah the sweet paralysis of nostalgia combined with the jaded prescience that the future will suck. Either mefites have gone off their meds or they have become parents.

Let every song be covered. Let new things be made out of old things. It's life. Fear of letting people experiment and frequently suck is a sign that you have gotten old and conservative. The Beatles don't get diminished when someone covers Sgt. Pepper and neither do you.

If all you all close your eyes and hold hands and wish it was 1967 don't be surprised when you open your eyes and find yourself in a nursing home.
posted by srboisvert at 2:08 AM on April 7, 2007 [1 favorite]

To be fair, the Fratellis did a great cover of T. Rex's "Solid Gold Easy Action," even managing to turn it up a notch. So, whatever track they're doing should be worth checking out.
posted by kimota at 12:13 PM on April 7, 2007

Please tell me Nigel Godrich isn't involved in this...

He needs to be helping finish up the next radiohead record. No extra curricular activities for him!

As someone who's been waiting with bated breath for LP7 for what feels like years, I can only agree.
posted by jokeefe at 1:33 PM on April 7, 2007

Oh hang on.... it has been years! What was I thinking. They've had time to mess with Big Ideas beyond recognition [/bitter]. Sorry, derail, etc.
posted by jokeefe at 1:39 PM on April 7, 2007

I love the Fratellis, and so I at least look forward to their take on the Beatles (a band which I don't particularily enjoy).
posted by KingoftheWhales at 11:08 PM on April 9, 2007

Uncut magazine did this last month on their free CD. It was also catastrophically awful.
posted by chuckdarwin at 7:49 AM on April 20, 2007