The Beatles on Ukulele

Although, push comes to shove, I've always been a Rolling Stones guy, nobody likes the Beatles on ukulele more than me. I would, therefore, urge you to go here:

http://thebeatlescompleteonukulele.blogspot.com/2009/02/005-here-there-and-everywhere-bill.html

You have to copy the address and paste it in your browser, a state of affairs about which I am truly apologetic. But it's worth it because, once done, you can not only listen to a lovely rendition of "Here, There and Everywhere" (about which, really, what's not to like?) but you can read a pretty engaging essay about same. Made me wish I had a Beatles songbook with me so I could follow along.

A lot of the songs on this ambitious site (The Beatles Complete on Ukulele) fall a bit short implementationally. But there are some beauties, yes there are. I would additionally call your attention to local girl made good Leah Siegel singing "In My Life."

http://thebeatlescompleteonukulele.blogspot.com/2009/04/012-in-my-life-leah-siegal.html

Whew!

And don't just take my word for it. The New York Post offers this:

After falling in love with the ukulele, veteran producer Roger Greenawalt decided to load every Beatles song onto his hard drive so he could learn to play them on his new favorite instrument. "It was only 9.4 hours [of music]," says Greenawalt, "which meant you could play it in a day. So that became, 'Let's do that. Let's play every Beatles song in a day on ukulele."

Along with friend and fellow producer David Barratt, he organized a 14-hour show at Spike Hill in Williamsburg in December where, along with 67 singers and about 40 musicians, they performed every original song The Beatles ever recorded.

That event inspired a mission and a Web site: TheBeatlesCompleteOnUkulele.blog-spot.com. Starting inauguration week, Greenawalt and Barratt began posting one uke-tinged version of an original Beatles song each week, featuring a different guest musician each time. They'll continue until they've recorded all 185 on July 24, 2012, the eve of the London Olympics. The tunes are recorded either at Greenawalt's "Shabby Road" studio in Williamsburg or on Barratt's laptop in Fort Greene.

Songs posted to date include Dandelion Wine's solemn "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Kathena Bryant's deep-country take on "Oh Darling," Kirsty Rock's slinky "Come Together" and Peter Buffett's flapper-style throwback on "You Never Give Me Your Money." The only constant on the covers is Greenawalt's uke.

Every song is accompanied by an in-depth essay, usually written by Greenawalt, which often offers insights into the arrangements. Such as when they asked a lesbian vocalist to sing "Run For Your Life" to counteract the song's misogynistic tint, which Greenawalt wrote about at length.

While Ben Kweller and the Strokes' Albert Hammond Jr. have both promised to participate, the biggest star drawn by the project was famed investor, Warren Buffett, who, it turns out, is a ukulele enthusiast. He won't be playing on the site, but he met with the musicians to discuss their shared love of the four-string wonder.

"He plays the ukulele very well," says Greenawalt. "He tells a story about going on vacation with Bill Gates and several other couples, and he taught all 14 people how to play 'You Are My Sunshine' on the ukulele."

And because this blog is about painting, not playing the uke, here's my B&W portrait of Big Warren: