Across The Universe

The only digital video of "Let It Be" is this long gone 12" Laserdisc.

Rife with tension, boredom, and outside distractions, the sessions that were eventually collated into the album and film "Let It Be" should have, by all rights, been The Beatles' swan song. The bond that The Beatles had nurtured through their teens, and over the previous decade as a band, was at a breaking point. The fact that an album and a movie were assembled from that chaotic mess is something of a miracle, surviving even Phil Spector's unwelcome meddling with the music by slathering on layers of choral and orchestral syrup. Thankfully, the subsequent miracle of George Martin being able to put Humpty together again for the final hurrah, "Abbey Road", still lay ahead.

Despite the 'revisionist history' talk at the time, I was very glad when Paul McCartney oversaw the 2003 release of "Let It Be: Naked", a new edition of "Let It Be", which presented the album as originally envisioned, prior to the addition of Spector's production excesses. The removal of the sonic sugar coating revealed that there were not just some solid songs there, but those songs were made far better by this simpler incarnation, which proved an excellent application of the famed 'less is more' theory.

From "Let It Be: Naked", here is John Lennon's "Across The Universe", presented as The Beatles intended. No strings, no choir, no effects, no chirping birds, and no Yoko. Enjoy!

"Across The Universe" has been covered numerous times over the years with the expected mixed results. Most of them, particularly David Bowie's rendition on his 1975 "Young Americans" album, are much too heavy handed; crushing the delicate filigree of the lyric under musical bombast and vocal overkill that is more of an unwitting tribute to Spector's production than Lennon's songwriting.

Some good friends of ours have, for the last 13 years, sponsored a series of house concerts in their home. They feature nationally touring Folk and Americana songwriters who come to their house and do an acoustic concert in the living room! Some are names you may know and many are not, but every show we've attended has been excellent. An important distinction is that the artist gets 100% of the proceeds from admission and CD sales. The house makes nothing. It's not a business; it's very much a labor of love. I rather enjoy not knowing what sort of musical surprise awaits us at any given performance. Plus, the sound quality is superior, and the volume is very comfortable. If you've not heard of, or attended a house concert, do so at your earliest opportunity! You'll wonder what took you so long to try it.

Kagey Parrish & Laura Wortman: The Honey Dewdrops

One recent house concert featured the Virginia-based duo of Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish, who perform under the name The Honey Dewdrops. With a blend of new Americana and traditional folk music, they create inspired songs that are rooted in the experience and lives of real people. The songs they write shine with energy and emotion through intimate performances with a handful of acoustic instruments and tightly layered harmonies.

When playing live, The Honey Dewdrops focus on dynamically blending the sounds of instruments and voices by singing and playing into a single microphone. There is a 'high lonesome' quality to the way their voices blend that is familiar, yet the mixture is unique. Their music covers the ground between hand crafted folk songs, Appalachian fiddle tunes, and spirituals. In their own way, the duo fills up a room with sound and feeling that lingers long after the show is over.

Go buy this CD right now! You'll love it.

Unusually for musicians of their genre, Kagey and Laura also happen to be enthusiastic fans of The Beatles, incorporating at least one of their songs into each performance. They also seem to have discovered the band in the same way that many of us have. During a recent conversation, Kagey told me, "We have both been lifelong Beatles fans. We got into music by listening to them at a young age and collecting all the records. It was like a gateway drug; from there we were introduced to a lot of the Rock music of the 60's." When asked about what other music influenced and helped them form their own music, Kagey replied, "After the Beatles, the music that we both loved was acoustic music ranging from old-time, blues, bluegrass, and singer-songwriters. There is something profound and honest about folk music that draws us into the stories about and for people. There's also something magnetic about acoustic instruments, unplugged and without effects and amps. This is how we found the acoustic duet harmony singing format. We think it's a really powerful way to play music." I agree completely, as their method has a way of drawing the listener in, and it's a very inviting and comfortable place to be; like a favorite old flannel shirt.

You'll notice in this video, shot for them very recently by some friends, that although the mike is front and center, their instruments are indeed unplugged, so what you hear was captured by that single microphone. The Honey Dewdrops recently played a festival in Baltimore, where they performed 5 Beatles songs: "All I've Got To Do", "Lovely Rita" (both of which they played at the house concert I attended), "Something", "Strawberry Fields Forever", and the song they perform for you here, "Across The Universe". They also learned the entire "Please Please Me" album, front to back, and performed it live in August and September of last year! I'll bet that took some work.

Here are The Honey Dewdrops with their lovely version of "Across The Universe". Enjoy!

Merchandise sales make it possible for independent artists like The Honey Dewdrops to continue writing and recording new music for us to enjoy, and also finances their road trips so they can come to our towns and play for us. The artist is getting paid and recovering costs when you buy their music, and that feels good to know. With that in mind, I encourage you to visit The Honey Dewdrops website, where you can read more about them, listen to and purchase their music, and then go to one of their concerts when they are in your area. Their CD's can also be found on iTunes, CD Baby, and Bandcamp. It's good stuff, people!

As much as they were revolutionary in their time, The Beatles are now rarely the first to do anything. Although the 2009 remasters of The Beatles' entire catalog of albums were much needed, the availability of their films has been patchy, at best.  "The Beatles Anthology" successfully made the jump from VHS to DVD in 2003, but that's 10 years back, so it could stand a remastering for Blu-Ray. So far, only "Help!", "Yellow Submarine" and "Magical Mystery Tour", which underwent a sorely needed full restoration, are available in the US on Blu-Ray. "A Hard Days Night" was given a very good, yet short of definitive DVD release back in 2002. A good deal of material that rightly should have been included was passed over, but the print looks good. Oddly, it's on Blu-Ray only in Canada.

The film version of "Let It Be" last saw official release on VHS, Beta and Laserdisc in the 80's. Bootleg DVD's can easily be found online, but they're terrible. I suspect the film elements may be in less than desirable condition by now, so a full-on restoration may be needed in order to release the film in a definitive way. This sounds like the perfect project for Criterion, a top shelf purveyor of cinema classics, but I do have to wonder if Paul and Ringo have any interest in participating. Here's hoping that happens before we're all too old to remember how to operate the video player. Heck, I'm still waiting for an official release of The Beatles' TV cartoon series, and their Christmas recordings, done for their fan club from 1963 through 1969. I'm told they're in the pipeline, but... we'll see.

Kool Kovers would like to extend a hearty "Thank You!" to Kagey and Laura of The Honey Dewdrops for their participation in the writing of this feature. Go see them play and buy their music!