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Various Artists: This Bird Has Flown: A
40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles’ Rubber Soul (Razor & Tie 2005) |
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In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that my favorite band of
all time is, indeed, the Beatles; additionally, however, I’m a rather
obsessive-compulsive collector of cover songs. From my perspective, the
combination of the two puts me in rather the perfect place to review this disc,
since, although I’m partial to the original versions, I can appreciate the worth
of reinterpretations.
Given these facts that I have laid before you, I now hope you will feel
comfortable taking me at my word when I assure you that, on the whole, this is a
really disappointing tribute to a really great album.
The key to an extremely strong tribute album is to find that very delicate line
where you’re incorporating enough of your sound to make it distinctively yours
without removing too much the musical magic that made the song so good in the
first place. It’s a tightrope walk, make no mistake…and, unfortunately, This
Bird Has Flown begins by taking one wobbly step onto the rope, then, on its
second step, proceeds to frantically flail its arms about and offer absolutely
no confidence that it’s going to do anything other than fall into the abyss
below.
That initial wobbly step comes courtesy of a disappointingly paint-by-numbers
version of “Drive My Car” by the usually dependable Donnas; it sounds almost as
though the band was asked to strip itself of all personality before entering the
studio. From there, it’s a version of the song that inspires this collection’s
title – “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” – but it’s by the Fiery
Furnaces, who seem incapable of producing anything in a studio that doesn’t reek
with eccentricity; their neo-psychedelic take on the song removes most of the
familiar elements, leaving only the lyrics intact. (Sufjan Stevens performs the
same maneuver to “What Goes On” later in the disc, but, somehow, his intricate
rewriting of the song results in the listener wanting to check out his albums;
the Furnaces, meanwhile, seem desperately quirky.) Eccentricity is also a
problem on the closing pair of tracks; Nellie McKay’s take on “If I Needed
Someone” removes any hint of George Harrison’s chiming guitar in favor of
getting jazzy with it, and the Cowboy Junkies’ languid “Run For Your Life” is
likely intended to sound menacing, but it brings the proceedings to an
anticlimactic end.
The disc isn’t a complete loss, though; indeed, most of what lies between the
opening and closing pairs of tracks is actually rather enjoyable. Dar Williams
and Mindy Smith present enjoyably folky versions of “You Won’t See Me” and “The
Word,” respectively, Ben Harper successfully transforms “Michelle” into a reggae
song, and the lightly banjo-powered rendition of “Think For Yourself” by the
Yonder Mountain String Band is quite nice. When Rhett Miller sings “Girl,”
although he doesn’t change the arrangement from the original version, he still
makes it sound like he could’ve written it himself.
It’s when “tribute” turns to “re-imagining” that things go wrong on This Bird
Has Flown; as such, those only familiar with Rubber Soul in passing
may find more to enjoy here than the purists who know it backwards and forwards.
But, then again, those who don’t know Rubber Soul that well should
probably just skip this tribute altogether and go check out the original
instead.
~Will Harris
wharris@bullz-eye.com
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