Harmless have well and truly carved out a niche for themselves in the world of cover version compilations, with the justly deserved success of “The Wonder of Stevie” (Stevie Wonder covers) & “The Marvel Of Marvin” (Marvin Gaye covers). Their latest collection follows the same idea, concentrating on cover versions of original Beatles compositions – surely one of the most widely covered bands of all time? Given this, compilers DJ Spinna & Jazz DJ Adrian Gibson have done a terrific job, achieving a nice balance of obscure covers that merit rediscovery (rather than being included because they’re obscure), and more commercially obvious cuts, travelling across soul, jazz, funk, latin and reggae. Highlights include Byron Lee’s marvelously overblown “Live & Let Die”, Overton Berry Trio’s “Hey Jude” and Ramsey Lewis’s classic jazz reading of “Back in the USSR”. There must surely be enough material to warrant several in the series, but for now, this is a great primer for all things Beatle related and down right funky.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Darren Wall