Morgenstern, Dan. [Record Review: the Beatles: Abbey Road] Down

Records ore reviewed by Chris Albertson, Don DeMicheol, Gilbert M. Erskine, Ira Giller, Alan Heinemon, Wayne Jo nes, Lawrence Kart, Joe-n Litweiler, John McDonough, Dan Morgenstern, Irvin Moskowit z, Don Nelsen, Harvey Pekar, Har vey Siders, Coral Sloane, and Pete Weldi ng. Reviews are signed by t he writers. Ratings are, * * * * * excellent, * * * * very goo d , * * * good , * * fair, * poo r. When two catalog numbers are listed, the first is mono, and the secon d is stereo. SPOTLIGHTREVIEW absorb and utili ze are not grafted on to strong , original vibist, not in the chs s c their work but have become organic parts Jackson, Burt on or Hut cherson, but 1 The Beatles of it. Thu s, for exa mple, the clear Ray fluent and arresting player noneth ele,s. ABBEY ROAD-Appl e SO-383: Comt T ogeth er,· Something; l\'faxwel/ 's Silver H amm er; Oh l Charles influence on Harri son's Some thing, But Fischer (and the leader, toe\ or. Darling; Octop11s1 Garden; I Want Y 011 (She's or the obvious r&b roots of / Want You suppo ses) have chosen for the mo st pa So H tavJ) ,' H ere Comes Th e Sun; B ecause; Ai'ulley: you Never Give Afe Your J\foney; Sun ne ver result in the blackface embarrass unexciting tun es, predominantly b~llad· K ing; J\fean Mr. l\fu slard,- P olyl hel ene Pam,· She ments produced by some other white ad often Latin in flavor, and have pu t Aye; Ca m e itJ Th ro ugh th e Ba thr oom JJ1/indow; Golden Slumber s; Carry That IVeighl. T ht E11d; Her mirers. Again, there is no stra ining, which in the role of color ist rather than soloi;- !tlaitsty. is an important secret in this realm of Consequently , neither Ayer s nor Ha: Personnel: John Lennon , George Harrison, gui tar, voca l; Pau l McCartn ey, bass, voca l; Ringo black magi c. cock make many remarkab le state •nenl Scarr, drums, vocal; unidenufied keyboards (piano. As usual, Lenn on and McCa rtney are Ayers' best is on Sky, a quiet Lat ,n si· organ , Mo og synthesizer), seeings, percussion; George Marcin, reco rding director. responsible for the bulk of new material , ting for a charming tune , with a st. nni~ Rating: * * * * an d Come T ogether and espec ially Because, reed chart. Ayers demon stra tes fo( real I s there anyo ne who doesn't like the with its M oonlight Sonata va mp and pret the only time on this session what he h; Beatles? Th eir late st album pro vides no ty three-part ha rmon y, show that Lennon shown in abundance elsewher e: a , ,stin. reasons for any change in one's esteem is still very mu ch himself when he want s live ear for unu sual harmonies. for the four intrep id Liverpuddlian s, who to be. Also very fetching is J ohn 's Sun Han cock is provocati ve on the lil so far have pretty well weath ered th e King, with some It alian lyric s thrown in, cut , which features another supe r\ m various temp tation s of fame and fortune , while Mu stard and Pam display his fey chart: widely-spaced, shrill comm ents t John Lennon' s dillet-antic s with h is be humor. McCa rtn ey's Maxwel l's and Bath the quarte t. The tune, howe ver, seems troth ed to the contrary notwithstandin g. room Window are goo d examples of hi s wind down and stop arbitrarily aft ·r t' It no longer is necessary to proclaim funny side, while Slumb ers show s him pianist's characteristically sensitive solo. that the four some's astonishing success is at his mo st melodic. The rest of the album is for gtttab'. not manufactur ed but the result of genu But it is Harrison, in my opini on (ex pleasingly arranged and competent ! 1 pr ine tal ent; their durabi lity is proof enoug h. cepting Because) who weighs in mo st formed, but rather suffocating to the sok Here, th ere is no bre akthro ugh of th e hea vily here, with Something and H ere ists and best hear d as background mus:. order of Sgt. Pepper; basically, the album Comes the Sun. I've alwa ys had a special -H ei 1e111; is just the late st collection of Beatles affection for his work, which is very per songs. But that's qui te enough: 17 new sonal, melodi c, and convincingly lyrical. Wild Bill Davis pieces, ranging from teasers ( the one Ringo contributes Octup us', which re DOIN ' HIS THING-RCA Vi cto r LSI 41~ chorus H er Maj esty) to full-fledged addi semble s a children' s song in its artlessness IVtast/'s Kid; Londonderry Air; Cherry Orth~. Bo B te Ba Bi.i; Tb t Groaner; Gen erat or; Din.: tions to the canon (Come Together; Some but also is susceptibl e to other levels of Deedl t Linn Bum : Dre a ming by /h t Fir e,· P• thing; Here Comes the Sun, severa l more). interpretation. Hi s drummin g on the open in B oots; Funn y Thing. Personnel: Davis , organ; Bob Brown , aao :C Perhap s the most tellin g indication of ing track, by the way, is very good. tenor saxophone, flute; Di ckie Thomp son , gu1 1, the Beatles' ferti lity is the medley: eight Th roughout , the four demonstrate solid Orvill e Mason. Jymie Merritt, Fender ba,s: Ill nard Purdy, Chris Columbus , Earl Curry , dru~ (or 7),) songs, each of which has m ore musi cianship; no instru mental virtuosos, Rating: ** ½ substance than one is likely to find on en they take good care of business and alway s know what they want. The three sessions which mak e I p I\ tire albums by lesser groups, presented in LP are solidly in the rhythm-an d-blue Recor ding quality, mix, balance and almost thro waway fashion. That they can rock groove. afford to do thi s sort of thing spea ks for background is of th at high quality with Weasel, Generator, D eedle, and Fu~ itself, especiall y so since their work to which the name of George Martin has are pounding raucous tra cks not unli1 gether these days is done entirely within become synonymous. This music never the boisterous, frenetic performan ce.; S.: the co nfines of th e studi o. grates on the ear , not even in the climactic Butera used to dish out. Thi s is ' argl What is it that make s th e Beatles so cresce ndos of I Want You, and the dis likeab le? Maybe it is that they never seem creet , ta steful employment of the Moog due to the presence of Brown 's tenor si to strain for effects yet are meti culous is the best musical use of thi s questionable which is long on decibles but short 0 1, m~ cal interest. The results make one apr •ecii craftsmen; that their humor, even when invention to which th is listener has yet rather gru esome (as in Maxwell's Silver been exposed. the excitement of tho se JATP ten or binr Hamm er), is never offensive; th at their Thi s is h igh cal iber Beatles fare; the that ea rned the contempt of so ma' satire (as in Oh! Darling, a masterfu l missing star is merel y in defere nce to their critics. Even the ones that were ola)• takeoff on '50s gro ups) is never malicious , very best works, among which I would so grat uitously to the grandstands h ad rn• their lyricism (as in Somethi ng or Sun include the generally und erestim ate d Mag merit as impro visation than the teno wo K ing) never maudlin, but that their work ical Mystery Tour. -Morgenstern heard here . On the other hand , Brown plays a! still has pun ch and co nviction. Or m aybe 1 it can all be summ ed up in that old, un with co nsiderab le grace and appeal on Roy Ayers Bee, a briskly swinging riff tune. H e pll fashionable ph rase "goo d taste"-p lus gen DADDY BUG-Atlantic 1538: Daddy Bug; uine mu sicality and poetic imagination. Bonita ; Thi s Guy's In Love w ith Y ou; I Lo11e flute on Groa n er and gets some volaL Y ou i\1ichelle,· Shadows; Emmie; Look JO the effects on unison playing with Davi s. so: It is some time s overloo ked on this side S ky; /1 Coul d Only H afJfJtn IVilh You. 1 of th e pond how very Brit ish (English?) Personnel: Aye rs, vibraharp; Sonny Sharroc k. unintelligible groaning, probabl y by nro guitar (track 6); Herbie Hancoc k. piano; Bus doesn't add to the performan ce. His a the Beatles are . Much of their creative ter \Vi lliams (tracks l . 5, 8 ) or Ron Carter. 0 strength , I think , rests in their workin g bass; Mickey Ro ker (tracks I , 5, 8), Bruno return s to render an imitation of J oh Carr (track 6) or Fr eddy Waits, drums; wo od Hodges in Dreaming, which finds 03 class root s, their folk humor (transmuted wind quartet led by Jerome Richardson; String but not violated by individuality), their quartet led by Gene Orloff. in his mos t lush and romantic m ood.

Load more