George Martin "In My Life" 1998**

Often referred to (by, among others, Paul McCartney) as the fifth Beatle, Sir George Martin has scored music for the theatre and cinema, and has produced and arranged many records. Despite that, he'll always be remembered mostly for producing (almost) all our beloved Beatles albums - the exception being "Let It Be". His contributions (the string quartet on "Eleanor Rigby", piano solo in "In My Life") were on the spot and helped raise some already great songs to the level of masterpiece. So it's no surprise that he returns to the Beatles songbook here. What is puzzling is his oddball choice of collaborators, ranging from talented musicians (Jeff Beck), less talented musicians (Celine Dion), talented non-musicians (Robin Williams) and non-talented non-musicians (sorry Goldie Hawn!). He tries to give new twists to the familiar tunes and is only intermittently successful. Opener "Come Together" by actor Robin Williams & jazz singer Bobby McFerrin is pleasant enough, if redundant. On the contrary, re-imagining "A Hard Day's Night" as sensual late-night jazz with Hawn imitating Marilyn Monroe is a bold and interesting move. Jeff Beck on electric guitar delivers a masterful instrumental jazz-rock version of "A Day In The Life", ditto for acoustic guitarist John Williams on a beautifully orchestrated version of "Here Comes The Sun". Virtuoso violinist Vanessa Mae gives her own classical interpretation of "Because", aided by a choir. Celine Dion turns everything into pop mush and "Here There & Everywhere" is no exception. The orchestration is reminiscent of James Bond movies, of which Martin has scored a couple. Phil Collins delivers a medley from "Abbey Road". The comedians try to inhabit the characters in the songs as if they were movie roles: Billy Connolly impersonates a circus ringmaster on "...Mr. Kite", while Jim Carey tries different voices as he obviously doesn't have an idea who "The Walrus" is supposed to be. It's said he was inspired by a character from "Alice Through the Looking-Glass" but I guess only John Lennon knows for sure, and he isn't around to explain. Martin also reprises here his instrumental music from the "Yellow Submarine" soundtrack, which has to be the less-played side of any Beatles record. For those who don't own the LP, side A contained the songs and Side B the orchestral movie score. Nobody ever turned it around to listen to Martin's composition, so he must have thought it was worth another chance and included it here. Another Martin instrumental is "Friends And Lovers" a beautiful orchestral piece that segues into the centrepiece of the album "In My Life". It features Sean Connery reciting the words of the song, backed by a sad piano and strings. I'm sure it was supposed to be a sensitive and affecting epilogue, but I found it fairly ridiculous. The album was designed to be Martin's final statement, at the age of 72. As it turns out, he lived enough to celebrate his 90th birthday and only passed away earlier this year. It was one of the shocking deaths of 2016, only instead of "I can't believe that Bowie (or Prince) is dead" it was "I can't believe George Martin was still alive". No disrespect meant - the man left a tremendous legacy behind. Any time you want to celebrate it, play The Beatles' Rubber Soul or Revolver. Not this CD.

*** for Come Together (Robin Williams & Bobby McFerrin), A Hard Day's Night (Goldie Hawn), A Day In The Life (Jeff Beck), Because (Vanessa Mae), Here Comes The Sun (John Williams), Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (Phil Collins), Friends And Lovers (George Martin)

** for Here There & Everywhere (Celine Dion), I Am The Walrus (Jim Carey), Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite (Billy Connolly), The Pepperland Suite/March Of The Meanies/Sea Of Monsters (George Martin), In My Life (Sean Connery)