When Adage Group CEO Herb Jordan and legendary music business entrepreneur Owen Husney of ZoomMuzic realized that Beatlemania’s steam was finally dissipating into thin air above the heads of our new American generation, they took the calling upon themselves to change the impending course of historical amnesia. They decided to produce the newly released album entitled BEATLES REIMAGINED.
“There’s nothing left for the Beatles, but to be relevant to today’s music,” explains Herb Jordan. “Beatles Reimagined is a compelling artist discovery project whose mission is to reinvigorate the timeless writing of Lennon and McCartney through the eyes of today’s most creative independent artists, not through the filter of 1963.” The album sets out to honor the “greatest modern songwriters” of all time – the Beatles – with an infusion of distinctly 21st century musical sensibilities.
Under the Community Projects Label, the Adage Group partnered with Round Hill to miraculously purchase the North American publishing rights to a handful of hits in 2012, and then the acclaimed producers were to set to begin a selection process of finding new and upcoming talent that could potentially create a brand new compulsion towards the Beatles and knowledge of their lead in the British Invasion of the 60’s through their contemporary sounds. For the classics are only classics if they are still called upon, revered and honored as influential. So, why not let the past and future influence one another in a beautiful artful combustion?
Pooling from contemporary Indie Rock musicians we now have a 12-song album with the Beatles’ super hits from 1963-64; “I Saw Her Standing There,” “She Loves You, “From Me to You,” “Misery,” There’s a Place” and many more. Just recently released, it’s already gaining critical acclaim, as it captures the essence of harmony, lyricism, and past pop traditions of the Beatles with a newly imagined take. The timing really couldn’t be better, as it is indeed the 50 year anniversary of the birth of Beatlemania. And to top it off, 100% of the net album sales for the label hosting this project will be donated to the Rock ‘N’ Roll Camp for Girls that empowers girls in Los Angeles through music education. You can even expect to hear the album’s tracks in multiple avenues throughout film and television, including a recent episode of HBO’s “True Blood.”
Within the hotly tipped U.S. Indie artists there is still a span of musical sound. The album features Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Well Pennies, Mobley, Jhameel, Badwolf, Adventure Galley, Night Panther, Feverbody, Doom & Gloom, Leftover Cuties, Brett and Gypsy Death Star. Strict rules were laid down for the musicians by the twenty-something production team of Tim Anderson (Ima Robot, Solange) and Kevin Carvel (Atlantic Records, A&M/Octone, NBC’s “The Voice”). Each artist had to be Indie, none could be born in the era of the Beatles, and all of the songs selected from the breakout period had to be truly re-envisioned by each band on their own terms to hold their own unique sound.
Check out all the tracks on iTunes!
1.) “All My Loving” The Well Pennies (acoustic folk)
2.) “From Me To You” Mobley (indie-rock)
3.) “Misery” Feverbody (downtempo/lo fi)
4.) “I Saw Her Standing There” Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros (alternative folk)
5.) “I Wanna Be Your Man” Night Panther (electro-dance-pop)
6.) “I Feel Fine” Jhameel (indie-pop)
7.) “There’s A Place” Leftover Cuties (retro-pop)
8.) “She Loves You” Badwolf (new-rock)
9.) “Please Please Me” Adventure Galley (new-wave)
10.) “And I Love Her” Doom & Gloom (old-school soul)
11.) “There’s A Place” Brett (electro-pop) (iTunes Exclusive)
12.) “I Wanna Be Your Man” Gypsy Death Star (dance, electronic) (iTunes Exclusive)
“…Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, the most well-known band featured on the album, recorded a rockin’ country version of the classic ‘I Saw Her Standing There.’ …That sense of fun, breezy easiness comes across in the band’s cover, with the familiar lyrics bouncing over swingy strings and effortless harmonies.”
–Emma Greenberg, ROLLING STONE (9/30/2013)
“What happens when you take the songs of arguably the most influential band in rock’n’roll history, and pass them along to the coolest musicians playing right now? Welcome to Beatles Reimagined, a 10-song album of Beatles covers by everyone from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros to Mobley. The collection, which was put out by Community Music’s Community Projects label, is as diverse as the music of the Fab Four; it ranges from an acoustic-folk version of ‘All My Loving’ to an all-out dance party-fied ‘I Wanna Be Your Man.’ The timing couldn’t be better–besides the fact that it’s been exactly 50 years since the start of Beatlemania, there’s the little problem that more and more young people (read: us) don’t actually know the British foursome’s music.”
–Rebecca Davis, NYLON (10/13)
