CD REVIEW: THE WANNABEATLES-WE’RE
STILL ROCKIN’
BY ROQUE LAZARUS FOR COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE & RADIO SHOW
Country Music News International
Magazine and Radio Show CD Reviews
ALBUM:
WE’RE STILL ROCKIN’
BAND:
THE WANNABEATLES
01. Let’s run away 3:14
02. If we knew then
2:58
03. Before
thy were fab 2:36
04. This Song’s for you 3:28
05. In ‘63 3:11
06. Louise 3:12
07. We’re still Rockin’ 4:05
08. The land of you and me 3:26
09. Oh Betty! (The Betty White Song) 2:14
10. Bristol Lights 3:28
11. License to spy 2:21
12. If we simply love 3:34
The Beatles started out at an underground
Liverpool venue called ‘The Cavern Club’,
But ‘The WannaBeatles’ got their start playing at a Mexican
restaurant in Nashville where “Beatles and Fajitas” were the chosen fare.
THE WANNABEATLES BAND MEMBERS:
BRYAN CUMMING-GUITARS, HORNS&VOCALS,
DAVID TOLEDO-DRUMS&VOX,
DENNIS SCOTT-GUITARS&VOX, NATHAN
BURBANK-BASS, KEYS&VOX.
This Grammy-nominated cover-band who have
featured on National TV on FOX NETWORK , is obviously the World’s favorite
Beatles-Bootleg act and so we shall see…and not forgetting they are USAS’s representatives
for the BEATLES 50th Global anniversary.
Here in my music cd review I would not like
to make any more comparisons besides the one above and hence write it on a ‘as
is where is basis!’
01. Let’s run away 3:14- As the song opens
to a rainy sound and a guitar strumming with a singer opening an invitation to
an escapade…He promises the listener freedom with travel and wings-spread.
The beautiful Synth bubbles from the keyboards get you lots in Santiago before
the wailing guitar makes its appeal too in a quick 8 bars before a breakdown to
‘Learn to fly’ in a SKA shaped rhythmic Coda.
02. If we knew then 2:58- This love ballad
of hope and reconciliation makes fervent appeals to a partner saying ‘If we
knew then what we know now’. Do you ever wonder where we started taking the
road uncharted? Strange but true. Ballads such as these do play a huge role in
the patching-up of emotional wounds in the lives of partners where tempers have
gone awry! A full accompaniment takes time getting used to with a heavy pad and
multi-guitars with drums and bass a tad broadly under-layered. The classic
Guitar riff sticks in your brain like a ear-worm.
03. Before they were fab 2:36- An original
track written but the WANNABEATLES. A quick-paced track with an instrument that
sounds like a cross between a soprano sax-musette and English horn…unless it’s a mono-reed blues
harp. As I wonder about it…a surprising Tenor sax solo blares its way through
but respectfully to make way for distorted guitars. Before they were Fab almost
ends in a break-beat lunga-pausa and
a drum solo on toms only toooo short a Carnavalistic Outro.
04. This Song’s for you 3:28- This track
comes a little lighter on the ears but there is no respite from the guitar
strumming. The soothing harmony and the coo-ing vocals state solemnly ‘I’ve
come to know what love is…hence this song is for you. The dotted-crotchet
phrasing before verse 3 is a classic definition of a musician having an ear or
not or plainly a classical musician playing jazz fake off a fakebook. But how
could words reveal the feelings of hearts that are apart? I CANT HELP BUT
NOTICE THE TIGHT Combination of drums and bass along with the rhythm section.
There goes a bass-glissando in a classic big slide and the guitar heralds the
ending in a flouring with vocal oohs in a graceful rallentando Finale.
05. In ’63
3:11- THIS IS AN ORIGINAL SONG BY
THIS BAND. The World had lost a leader and 35 cents for a gallon of Gas…there
goes the Tambourine in a busy double-time to the chorus. The ode to that
glorious year 1963 reminds the World that the USA put a man into space. And the
lil’ town of Virginia-beach bears witness to the glorious rise of a cover-band
which can hold on their own and show who they really are. A GREAT BAND who can
imitate as well as embellish and extemporize and compose too if they like! The
thin line of respect and admiration drawn between duty and honor keeps me
guessing what they are really up to in 2020
06. Louise 3:12- A wishful fanciful desire
to patch up with Louise as the singer stands by her window and there is a big
chance she would say know but optimism is the order of the Country lad and wait
he shall. The music is the same as for the others except for the guitars
distorting in flawless slides up and down the jumbo frets of a vintage six
string. Easier said than done! I shut my trap and listen!! The mix is a little
louder than most albums I have heard recently maybe the MASTER was set to max-drive
without saturation.
07. We’re still Rockin’ 4:05- Here is an
energy track that you would surely like but breaking down in half-time before
culminating to the end of a lovely phrasey-cadence at the beginning of the next
verse where you’d expect a solo. The form of composing I perceive is TERNERY
and here comes the whistling cowboy in the M2 solo a cheerful staccato-legato
well-pitched live or a well sampled tone. This rock track does a tricky off-beat near
the end. The biting guitar solo never for once interferes with the attention of
the listener as he appreciates the track holistically!
08. The land of you and me 3:26- This
‘humpty-dumpty’ Dr.Blues styled shuffle, I wonder is it a type of medium
foxtrot and a song called ‘Burning Bridges’ has a similar appeal. In the land
of you and me’ continues in its 6/8 meter using a Neapolitan-sixth smartly here
and there and the four part chordal phrasing in beautiful voicings are
appreciated by someone who has studies Anna-Butterworths ‘Harmony in practice”
and Lovelocks counter-point! A beautiful refrain at the end in vocal-brilliance
concludes this thematic puzzle convincingly!
09. Oh Betty! (The Betty White Song) 2:14-
This one too is an original written by the WannaBeatles! Is she is Archie’s
Betty and Jugheads pal; Veronicas Nightmare? I dunno but this singer seems to
be head-over-heels in love with her with a romantic Saxophone sounding like a
Baritone played an octave above. The Bass player’s smart thumb-stopping
technique makes beautiful articulation as we swear “we love Betty
White”. I have respect for this song-writer and the team’s smooth
execution!
10. Bristol Lights 3:28- Whatever happened
to the sound of the album as the band drops a surprise on us with the ballad
completely unlike anything you have heard before. They make towers touch the
sky where cultures are refined where no one knows your name but they know what
to do. The overlay of BRASS gives an EPIC feel to the track as a
Solidarity-March rolls you on to angelic voiced realms. The side-strum rolls away down the streets
with the Marionette beating time!
11. License to spy 2:21- This must be a
completely new way to mix up Genre but the MIX is still the same thankfully for
the Engineers…I am getting used to surprises and the sound scheme is growin
on me. It’s something like an Overture I would have said except there is no
sign of the motifs from the previous. And who heard of an overture at the end!
The heavy brass spells BIG-BAND RULES as the word BAZOOKA rips your attention
away!
12. If we simply love 3:34- This sober
piano-ballad backed by symphonic simulated orchestra closes this Golden
collection of 12 beautifully-executed tracks. These guys take the cake where
perfection is a primary necessity in a world of quantized timing and compressed
tracking and the voice is mixed and eq’ued to the safe periphery before sibilance
occurs. The guitar solo in fuzz mode beautifully creates a bridge of wonderment
before the song culminates in a memorable brief finale!
Though the last few songs in the album have
won my heart, I’m sure everyone out there has their own choice and who knows I
could learn to love Rock-n Roll with Rock when rolled into Country music like Marmalade
with cheese and butter (cut out the peanut) The WannaBeatles have grown in the
shadow of the Beatles but have carved a niche in your hearts with this album;
their extensive researched ‘labor of love.’
Do gift a copy of this work of art and
respect by the band and the team and the ones who inspired them…gift it to
your friends and if you don’t own a copy yet, well gifts are best-bought for
your own birthdays too!
These guys have a BIG fan following and
houses run full tp their electrifying performances.
Check them out at
https://www.facebook.com/thewannabeatles/
And
https://www.thewannabeatles.com/
Roque
Lazarus forCountry Music News
International Magazine & Radio Show
lazarusroque@gmail.com +91-8275439795
One Response
Thanks you CMNI, its an honor to be accepted as a CD review writer for your prestigious Blog