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The Other Side of Abbey Road

George Benson - The Other Side of Abbey Road Audio CD

A fair review of the George Benson "The Other Side of Abbey Road" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all George Benson reviews here, or go back to the George Benson tabs.

Band: George Benson
Title: The Other Side of Abbey Road
Rating:

Release Date: 1998-03-24
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Golden Slumbers/You Never Give Me Your Money 2: Because/Come Together 3: Oh! Darling 4: Here Comes the Sun/I Want You (She's So Heavy) 5: Something/Octopus's Garden/The End

fluff
So one should expect superficial and trite. well it's George Benson. George delivers in spades. Turn the volume down low and you'll get the full elevator music effect you are looking for.

Disappointing and commercial
I had known about this record for years and always wondered what it sounded like, so I downloaded the MP3 album. I love Don Sebesky's arrangement of "Day in the Life" with Wes. Turns out, wondering was better than hearing. The arrangements of "Here Comes the Sun", "Oh, Darling" and "Something" are really lugubrious, and the string quartet is scored with particularly trite jazz harmony. There is none of the light quality of the Beatles' originals. Sure, the rhythm section and the blowing sound nice on "Come Together" and "She's So Heavy", but it's not that hard to make minor blues sound good.

This record sounds less like a serious attempt to interpret the Beatles than a novelty album neither the players nor the arranger really enjoyed making.

IT DIDN'T ALL "COME TOGETHER"
COVER VERSIONS OF THE SONGS FROM THE BEATLE'S ALBUM ABBEY ROAD, WHICH HAD BEEN RELEASED MERE MONTHS BEFORE. 1969 RELEASE ON THEN-EMERGING CTI RECORDS, THIS IS ONE OF THE FIRST GEORGE BENSON ALBUMS ON THAT LABEL (OF WHICH THERE WERE QUITE A FEW, I HAD EM' ALL A LONG TIME AGO). ANOTHER REVIEWER IS CORRECT IN SAYING THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER, BUT IT IS A NICE TRIBUTE ALBEIT A BIT TOO COMMERCIAL FOR A JAZZ ALBUM. .

For a Cover Album, this is very good
One reason why I think "Abbey Road" stands out is the state of the Beatles as a band during the time of recording. While most people consider "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" not only the greatest Beatles album of all time, but the greatest album of all time - I tend to think that "Abbey Road" is the superior album. "Abbey Road" was recorded at a time when tensions and emotions were high between the four members of the band. It is when emotions are high that often a band produces their best work. Fleetwood Mac also did their best work under similar circumstances. Tensions and emotions between the members of Fleetwood Mac were running high when they recorded "Rumours" - and it became their most successful album. Great works are often targets to be covered by other artists. "Rumours" was an album that was covered by a variety of artists on a tribute album: "Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours". While there was an admirable job of the covers on this collection, it failed to capture the emotions of the original. When I discovered George Benson's "The Other Side of Abbey Road", my initial fears that surrounded the Fleetwood Mac "Legacy" cover began to surface. My curiosity of seeing a legendary Jazz artist such as Benson cover my favorite album outweighed the fears I was having. While I knew it was going to be impossible for Benson to reach the level of emotion that the Beatles had on "Abbey Road", I was very surprised how close Benson came to hitting the mark, I was surprised how much Benson "got it" when it came to covering "Abbey Road".

George Benson is basically a jazz guitarist and vocalist. In the 1970s Benson suddenly found success as a pop star with such hits as "On Broadway", "Give Me the Night", and "Turn Your Love Around". It was Benson's "This Masquerade" that gave him critical acclaim as he would take the coveted award at the 1977 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year. Many people forget that Benson's musical roots are in jazz. It is a jazz cover of "Abbey Road" that is done on "The Other Side of Abbey Road".

It is important to note that "The Other Side of Abbey Road" is not a full cover of the Beatles' "Abbey Road". There are only 10 songs that are included on "The Other Side of Abbey Road". The songs that are missing are "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "Sun King", "Mean Mr. Mustard", "Polythene Pam", "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window", "Carry That Weight", and "Her Majesty". This was something that I found disappointing because I have an immediate curiosity about how Benson would have covered these songs.

Benson does not order the remaining songs in the order in which they appear on the original Beatles' "Abbey Road" album. Normally this would be something that disappoints me, however Benson structures the 10 songs included into 5 tracks. Four of the five tracks include combining two or more songs on one track. The five tracks are "Golden Slumbers/You Never Give Me Your Money", "Because/Come Together", "Oh! Darling" (the only 'single' track), "Here Comes The Sun/I Want You (She's So Heavy)", and "Something/Octopus' Garden/The End" (the one track with more than 2 songs). While I didn't feel I would like the way that Benson combined the songs - it works. Benson does a beautiful job at providing the fusion needed on each of these tracks. Benson could have easily found a way to fuse all ten tracks together into a single one - but I do think the way he combined the songs helps to break things up a bit.

Benson also doesn't sing all of the tracks. He uses instrumentals for some of the covers while providing partial vocals on others - and this also hits the mark beautifully. Benson also assembles a terrific orchestra to cover the songs. This includes Strings, Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, and Piano! Included in this band is Herbie Hancock on piano.

Here is a brief summary of the five tracks:

"Golden Slumbers/You Never Give Me Your Money": Benson "wraps" at the beginning and end a vocalized "Golden Slumbers" around an instrumental "You Don't Give Me Your Money". "Golden Slumbers" has an orchestral feel to it while "You Don't Give Me Your Money" a smooth jazz feel to it (that also has some orchestral qualities to it).

"Because/Come Together": This is one of the album's highlights. "Because" starts out with the orchestral feel to it before the segue into "Come Together". Many say Aerosmith nailed the passion of this song with their cover. I would also subscribe that Benson nails it here with his jazzy cover. I love how Benson will improvise later in the song and make the use of the horns.

"Oh! Darling": Benson provides a supper-club style feel to this cover. This isn't my favorite Beatles song, but Benson does a nice job on this.

"Here Comes the Sun/I Want You (She's So Heavy)": Once again Benson starts out with an orchestral feel ("Here Comes the Sun") and then goes into a jazzy feel of "I Want You". While it doesn't have the same haunting feel of the Beatles original, Benson puts his own haunting spin on "I Want You" (as heard in the instrumentals).

"Something/Octopus's Garden/The End": Benson does an incredible job on this. He starts out with an orchestral feel on "Something" that is mostly instrumental with partial vocals. Benson really captures the passion of "Something". The segue isn't quite smooth into "Octopus's Garden" and "The End", but it works. The latter two songs are instrumental and provide a jazzy feel. These latter songs showcase the talents of the band that Benson assembles.

I wish the liner notes provided some insight into why Benson did what he did. Still, all in all this is a surprising good cover. Jazz and Beatles' fans should enjoy this. .

How do you make a tribute just months after the original?
It speaks volumes, that so soon after the release of Abbey Road, it so affected the culture, that it demanded this wonderful tribute album. I guess this is how to make a tribute just months after the original. IT truly is the other side of Abbey Road. Abbey Road seen through the eyes of some of the greatest Jazz musicians in history. A wonderuly delightful stop at the side of the Abbey Road. Oh, Darling please believe me this album will never do you no harm!.

You can see a complete list of all George Benson discography, or go back to the George Benson tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.