No matter in what direction we may occasionally stray, we always return to The Beatles. Legends Play The Beatles is a collection of Beatles songs done by some famous artists. To be clear, none of them are legends. They are actual people whose existence can be verified. Legends are those whom some believe to have existed historically, but for whom there is no actual evidence of such. King Arthur is a legend. Judy Collins is not. Jesus Christ is a legend. Howard Jones is not. Despite the incorrect use of the word “legends,” this is a really good compilation, featuring folks like Judy Collins and Howard Jones, as well as Ann Wilson, Jack Bruce and John Wetton. Interestingly, several of these tracks come from another Beatles compilation, Keep Calm And Salute The Beatles, which was released in 2015, while several others come from yet another Beatles compilation, 2009’s Abbey Rd.: A Tribute To The Beatles. So if you already own both of those discs, you own the majority of the tracks on this one.
Legends Play The Beatles opens with “Here Comes The Sun,” a great choice to get things going, particularly at this time when we are trying to get back on track after a pandemic and four disastrous years of darkness in the White House. “Little darling, it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter/Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here/Here comes the sun.” Oh yes, that feels just exactly right. And we need that kind of optimism. This version by Richard Page and Steve Morse is a fairly faithful interpretation. This track was previously included on Abbey Rd.: A Tribute To The Beatles, and features Billy Sherwood on keys and bass. That’s followed by one of my personal favorite Beatles songs, “Across The Universe” performed by Ann Wilson. My very concert was Heart (John Cougar was the opener), and I’ve had a soft spot for Ann and Nancy Wilson ever since then. Ann does a really good job with this song, and I dig the percussion. This is one of the tracks that was included on Keep Calm And Salute The Beatles. Also from Keep Calm And Salute The Beatles comes John Wetton’s sweet rendition of “Penny Lane” (and in fact it follows “Across The Universe” on that disc too). Most of the songs chosen for this compilation come from the later years of The Beatles, with only three coming from before 1966.
Southern hard rock band Molly Hatchet delivers a good version of “Back In The USSR.” This song was previously included on Abbey Rd.: A Tribute To The Beatles, and was also on Molly Hatchet’s 2012 album Regrinding The Axes, an album of covers (they also do “Yesterday”). That’s followed by Andrew Gold’s cover of “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” which was also included on Keep Calm And Salute The Beatles. Andrew Gold also featured it on his final studio album, Copy Cat, an album of covers that contains his versions of “Lady Madonna,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Got To Get You Into My Life,” “In My Life,” and several other Beatles songs. We then get Air Supply’s rendition of “The Long And Winding Road,” which is from Abbey Rd.: A Tribute To The Beatles and was also included on the group’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” single, which was released the same year as that compilation. As you might expect, Air Supply gives us a wonderful rendition, featuring some beautiful vocal work from Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell.
In addition to Keep Calm And Salute The Beatles, 2015 saw the release of The Magical Mystery Psych Out: A Tribute To The Beatles, and from that compilation we have Electric Moon’s version of “Tomorrow Never Knows,” one of The Beatles’ most psychedelic-sounding songs (the Grateful Dead covered it in concert several times). Electric Moon delivers a really good rendition, giving it more of a dreamy atmosphere than the original had, and stretching it out a bit. That’s followed by “Rain,” which was also included on The Magical Mystery Psych Out: A Tribute To The Beatles (the Grateful Dead covered this one as well). I love what Sugar Candy Mountain does with this song, with those pretty backing vocals from Ash Reiter and that trippy jam at the end. One of this compilation’s best and most effective tracks is Jack Bruce’s rendition of “Eleanor Rigby,” which has a haunting vibe and is wonderfully sad. This track was included on Keep Calm And Salute The Beatles.
Howard Jones delivers a really nice version of “And I Love Her,” the earliest of the Beatles songs to be included on this compilation. What a great vocal performance! This too was on Keep Calm And Salute The Beatles. That compilation includes a Judy Collins track, “I’ll Follow The Sun.” This compilation likewise features Judy Collins, but performing a different song. Here she gives us a gorgeous and moving rendition of “Yesterday,” another of this compilation’s highlights. The track was included on her 2007 album Sings Lennon & McCartney. The disc then concludes with “Let It Be,” a fitting choice to wrap things up. Here it is sung by Glenn Hughes, with Geoff Downes contributing some excellent work on keys. This track was previously included on Abbey Rd.: A Tribute To The Beatles.
CD Track List
- Here Comes The Sun – Richard Page & Steve Morse
- Across The Universe – Ann Wilson
- Penny Lane – John Wetton
- Back In The USSR – Molly Hatchet
- Norwegian Wood – Andrew Gold
- The Long And Winding Road – Air Supply
- Tomorrow Never Knows – Electric Moon
- Rain – Sugar Candy Mountain
- Eleanor Rigby – Jack Bruce
- And I Love Her – Howard Jones
- Yesterday – Judy Collins
- Let It Be – Glenn Hughes
Legends Play The Beatles was released on August 6, 2021 on Cleopatra Records, and is available on both CD and vinyl (and apparently the vinyl comes in two colors).
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