Great concept, great performances

By SML "reader in Northridge"

Terrence Farrell is not the first to take Beatles songs and arrange them for guitar solo, but his work certainly ranks up there with Chet Atkins'. Listening to the Beatles is great, of course, but to hear many of these songs stand on their own -- no McCartney/Lennon harmonizing vocals, no Harrison electric guitar riffs, no sitar, no George Martin -- one realizes what great songs they are. "If I Fell," for instance, is not just a great Beatles ballad as performed, but a gorgeous melody that doesn't require lyrics or the Beatles. The same way jazz musicians all give their renditions of the standards, the songs of Lennon and McCartney lend themselves perfectly to the interpretations of great musicians. Richie Havens is a good example of this. But on the instrumental side, many Beatles orchestrations or covers are not very good. This album, while usually keeping it simple, is very inventive at times. "Here, There and Everywhere" is an especially interesting take, as is "Norwegian Wood."

Reprinted from Amazon.com