Thursday, March 28, 2024

Super Tuesday This Week: McCartney, Van Halen, Flack, Fray and Bentley

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Circle Tuesday February 7th–yes, it’s already February 7th, believe it or not. A big crop of A list albums are released on Tuesday. Paul McCartney‘s wonderful “Kisses on the Bottom” is not the only Beatles-eque CD of the day.Roberta Flack is delivering her long-awaited “Let it Be Roberta,” a stunning reimagining of Beatles songs like “We Can Work it Out,” “In My Life,” “Come Together,” George Harrison’s “Isn’t it a Pity,” and –shockingly–a three minute version of “Hey Jude.” On the latter, Roberta simply turns the main song into an acoustic rendering and drops the long “na-na” section. Her versions of “Let it Be” and “The Long and Winding Road” are terrific, too. Go straight to amazon or ITunes right now for these CDs. Then of course Van Halen has “A Different Kind of Truth” with David Lee Roth returning as lead singer and Wolfgang Van Halen replacing Michael Anthony as bassist. There are also two more contemporary releases: from the Fray, and from country star singer Dierks Bentley. McCartney is all set for a big Grammy weekend (MusiCares Person of the Year and the Grammy show.) I’d be surprised if Van Halen doesn’t rear its many heads also over Grammy weekend. But if the record business is looking for a push, this Tuesday is it–at least until March 6th when Bruce Springsteen releases “Wrecking Ball.”

PS Leonard Cohen released an exquisite album last week. For some reason he called it “Old Ideas.” This is like a marketing buzzkill. How about “New Ideas,” Leonard? Or how about any of the nine titles of the songs on the CD? Anything but “Old Ideas.” For a guy who lost all his money, and needs to make some, you’d think he’d pick something a little more exciting or enticing. Anyway. It’s not like the album is just Lenny crabbing away. The lyrics and melodies are magical, and he adds great female back up singers. Get it.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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