Book details hidden work of Beatles
By KEN HOFFMAN Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
There are hundreds of books about the Beatles — and I've read most of them — but none ever kept me peeled like Beatles Deeper Undercover, an updated version of Kristofer Engelhardt's 1998 intense narrative discography of the lads' contributions to other artists' recordings.
Engelhardt is an all-around Beatles buff and veteran producer of Ringo Starr's solo tours. If any of the Beatles so much as cleared his throat, strummed a chord or, in the case of Paul McCartney, fired up a chain saw on a recording, the episode is in the book in precise and exact detail.
McCartney played a mean chain saw. In 1994, McCartney invited the band Nervous to record tracks at his home studio. While the band was rehearsing, McCartney was outside doing yard work with a chain saw. The band liked the roar of the power tool and invited McCartney to bring it into the studio. Fumes from the chain saw set off the smoke detector, and the fire department was called. By the end of the day, McCartney, the chain saw and a chorus of firefighters all contributed to the track called, naturally, The Chain Saw Song.
“Another strange one was George playing guitar on a song called Basketball Jones, one of Cheech and Chong's hits,” Engelhardt said. “I wrote this book because there wasn't an in-depth examination of the Beatles' musical contributions outside the group, probably because it was such a difficult subject. The Beatles often had to go ‘undercover' for contractual reasons. I also found this subject to be one of the most fascinating and musically rewarding aspects of their careers.”
I asked Engelhardt which former Beatle performed on the most outside projects? I figured it had to be McCartney, a songwriting machine and tireless studio rat.
Surprisingly, “in total, it's Ringo,” Engelhardt said. “George also made a lot of contributions up until his death. With the exception of Yoko's recordings, John didn't contribute to many other artists, except for friends such as Elton John or David Bowie. Paul initially contributed most to other people, mainly songs he wrote for them. However, when he had his band Wings, he didn't do much outside his group. Later, Paul became much more generous.”
The Beatles helped more than 250 artists, from jazz great Count Basie to rock legends the Rolling Stones to comedian Eddie Murphy to rap superstar Jay-Z. The artist who benefited most from a Beatle boost was Donovan. They're all in the book.
Beatles fans, rock addicts and trivia crazies will pore through Beatles Deeper Undercover, dog-earing pages and underlining “I didn't know that” stories in each section. I loved this book.
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