Back to school with the Beatles

On Sept. 9, millions of Beatles fans worldwide will enjoy a shared experience that scores of college students have annually. While the college kids are acquiring all those textbooks for the fall semester, the Beatlemaniacs will be snapping up the brand-new The Beatles: Rock Band video game along with the upgraded CDs of the Fab Four’s entire catalog. Both groups will be opening their wallets and forking over Big Bucks for the aforementioned items. Woe to those who are college students and Beatles fans!

Now I’m no expert on video games, but as for the CDs, let’s just say the Beatles music has been in need of a major overhaul since its initial appearance on CD back in the ’80s. Last year, the reporters at Britain’s Mojo music magazine, coinciding with their coverage of the 40th anniversary of The White Album, were invited to Abbey Road Studios for a private listening session of the “upgraded” edition of that 1968 release. To say they were impressed would be a major understatement. Of course, the rest of us less privileged fans were left drooling about what we thought was the imminent release of the upgraded CDs. Well, it took a video game, which features the upgraded masters on its soundtrack, to finally light the fire and get these upgraded discs to the public.  

This release has already been dubbed by some in the music biz as the Last Great Blast of the CD era, since the Beatles are the only major music act (besides Garth Brooks) whose music is not available online, and won’t be for the foreseeable future. Not only will all the individual albums get reissued (including the Past Masters collection of tracks that weren’t included on the original albums), but the entire stereo collection will also be available as a boxed set. Please note that the first four albums (Please Please Me, With the Beatles, Hard Days Night, and Beatles for Sale) will appear in true stereo mixes for the very first time-on CD or any other format. The stereo mixes that EMI/Capitol created for those albums back in the ’60s are the much detested “fake stereo” sound that put instruments on one channel and vocals on the other, which is great for karaoke parties but certainly not for headphone listening. That alone is cause for celebration.

But for diehard collectors, the real treasure comes in The Beatles in Mono limited-edition boxed set, which collects on CD for the very first time every Beatles album that was actually released in mono in the UK (Abbey Road and Let It Be were released in stereo-only worldwide). Back in the day, the Beatles and their legendary producer Sir George Martin were more concerned about the sound of the mono mixes of their records, stereo mixes being a mere afterthought. Listening to these mixes on even the more sophisticated productions like Revolver, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Magical Mystery Tour makes this fact quite evident. Even the back-to-basics production of The White Album (which was never released in mono in the United States) is a revelation in its mono mix. It’s fun to discover the previously unheard sounds that pop up on these mono versions, something I discovered when I inadvertently received a mono copy of the Sgt. Pepper LP back in 1970. Again, this is a limited-edition set that EMI maintains will be gone when the initial pressing sells out, while the stereo box will become a permanent part of the catalog.

Beatlemaniacs will simply respond, “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!”

This month’s column is dedicated to the memory of Fergal Gallagher, my booth manager at Irish Fest for the past 12 years (and who was active with the festival much longer than that), who died suddenly at age 71 Aug. 2, mere days before this year’s festival. Besides his many years with Irish Fest, Fergal also worked with the Penfield Children’s Center and hosted the long-running Celtic music program “Radio Erin” on WYMS. We also shared mutual admiration for the late “Wizard of Waukesha” Les Paul. He told me Les was one of his very favorite music stars when he was growing up in Ireland. Perhaps that affection for the jazz legend might have led to one of Fergal’s greatest achievements. What many don’t know (I certainly didn’t) is that Fergal was the guy who came up with the idea of Jazz in the Park in Cathedral Square. Yes, I will deeply miss Fergal and his truly contagious positive energy. But I’m glad to know his legacy will benefit untold numbers of people for years to come.

Now Hear These

Global Union, Humboldt Park, Sept. 19-20, noon-5pm

In its brief history, this free world music festival has become the official conclusion to the festival season in Milwaukee, and once again, this festival promises to deliver a rousing send-off. This year’s lineup includes acts from Ethiopia, France, China, and Mexico. But I would highly recommend the fest’s opener, Chicago’s Mucca Pazza on Saturday at 1pm. This 34-piece aggregation performs in recycled marching band uniforms, but they put on a show the likes you’ll never see anywhere, not at Camp Randall Stadium or Stanford University. I’ll leave it at that. More info, including videos, at alvernopresents.alverno.edu.

Richard Thompson, Walking on a Wire 1969-2006

Since his days as a founding member of the seminal English folk-rock group Fairport Convention, singer/songwriter Richard Thompson’s stature has grown to the point where he now ranks alongside greats like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. And he’s one hell of a guitarist. Unfortunately, his last career retrospective was 1993′s Watching the Dark, a three-disc affair, plus 2006′s six-disc RT, a rarities collection.

The situation has now been rectified with Walking the Wire, the first comprehensive Thompson retrospective, a four-disc box that compiles songs from the Fairport days up to “Dad’s Gonna Get Me” from his 2007 Sweet Warrior album. The set contains just about every great song any Thompson fan would want, and it makes for a killer intro to his incredible body of work. I would have liked to see “Now Be Thankful” and “Easy There, Steady Now” make the cut, but “Roll over Vaughan Williams” is included, so I’d say that’s a fair trade-off. And the set abounds with plenty of his jaw-dropping guitar work.

Junior Brown, Shank Hall, Sept. 11, 8pm

Speaking of jaw-dropping guitar work, this longtime Milwaukee favorite returns to Shank Hall to help kick off the venerable club’s 20th anniversary celebration.

Believe it or not, it’s been 20 years since club owner Peter Jest, in a classic example of life imitating art, hung up a papier-mâché Stonehenge in the former Teddy’s building and, naming it after the Milwaukee club in the classic movie This Is Spinal Tap, christened it Shank Hall. Thousands of acts have played the club over the years, and many will be back for the celebration (more about that in future columns).

One of the most popular acts is Junior Brown, the master of the guit-steel guitar, an instrument of his own design that allows JB to switch from six-string to steel guitar flawlessly during the same song. Live is the best way to experience Junior Brown. From the wicked humor of his latter-day honky-tonk classics like “Party Lights,” “Broke Down South of Dallas,” and “My Wife Thinks You’re Dead,” to his killer covers of tunes like “Secret Agent Man,” “Foxy Lady,” and “Heartbreaker,” you’re always assured of a big ol’ party when Junior Brown comes to town. More info at shankhall.com.

Jack Grassel and Guillermo Espinasse, El Refugio

Completing this trio of great guitarists is Milwaukee living legend Jack Grassel, and I emphasize living. About five years ago, Jack was stricken with a rare illness that doctors gave him little or no chance of surviving. He miraculously pulled through, but the prolonged illness left his skills (including his prodigious guitar talent) greatly reduced. He basically had to relearn everything. But with the support of many, especially his wife, vocalist Jill Jensen, Jack did reclaim his skills. His playing today is as good as, if not better than, ever.

Which brings us to his new CD, recorded with Argentine guitarist Guillermo Espinasse. Jack and Jill (I just couldn’t resist using that) met him while honeymooning in Mexico. Upon hearing Espinasse at a Mexican club, Jack wanted to hook up with him for some jamming, although the “No Music” rule was in effect during the honeymoon. But, as often happens with music, the urge was just too strong. Even the language barrier couldn’t prevent them from joining forces, as they have many times since.

This CD was recorded mostly in one three-hour session on one of these Mexican sojourns. The result is a nice mix of standards and originals with both axmen on top of their game. Please be aware the majority of the album’s tracks were cut in one take, with very minimal dubbing. It’s a summit meeting of great musical minds, again illustrating that music is the truly universal language. And it’s one of my favorite albums of 2009. More info at jackgrassel.com.

Herb Alpert & Lani Hall, Wilson Center for Performing Arts, Sept. 26

Speaking of jazzy couples, it’s not every day you can attend a concert featuring a living legend. But that’s what you’ll get if you’re at Brookfield’s Wilson Center Sept. 26. Trumpeter Herb Alpert, who sold untold millions of records as leader of the Tijuana Brass in the ’60s, together with his wife, vocalist Lani Hall (who was the original voice of Sergio Mendes’ Brasil ’66 on hits “Mas Que Nada” and “Fool on the Hill”) and is an award-winning artist in her own right, will be performing in support of their recently released Anything Goes album. It’s a classy collection of standards including the title cut, “Fascinating Rhythm,” “The Trolley Song,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon,” “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” “Bésame Mucho,” and many more, performed with a basic rhythm section and done with a Brazilian twist. Looks like Herb is following the lead of fellow trumpet man Doc Severinsen, who had retired from performing only to emerge recently and head back out on the road.

While most people know Alpert for his many hit records, his most lasting contribution to music is the impact of the label he cofounded, A&M Records. A&M, along with Atlantic and Elektra, is one of the great independent labels founded by people who were music fans first. Take a look at your collection and see how many of your albums bear the familiar A&M trumpet logo. Although Alpert himself retired from the music business years ago, he continues to make an impact through his Alpert Foundation, which helps underwrite many of the great music programs seen on public television. And he still finds time to make some pretty good music as well. More info at wilson-center.com, or (262) 781-9470.

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