Mae West: More Fab 4

MAE WEST and a number of notables tried to cash in on the phenomenon known as The Beatles. The Stranger's staff writer Ari Spool, in his mini review of a new book — — Fab Four FAQ: Everything Left to Know About the Beatles... and More! [authored by Stuart Shea and Robert Rodriguez; published by Hal Leonard, 2007] — — offers some bittersweet backward glances.
• • According to Ari Spool, In Chapter 34 of Fab Four FAQ: Everything Left to Know About the Beatles... and More!, there is a list of 10 odd covers of Beatles songs. It's a pretty star-studded list — — MAE WEST, Lena Horne, and Bing Crosby are all on it.
• • When the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, every label that wasn't carrying Beatles records took a huge hit in sales. In desperation — — today's RIAA willy-nilly litigation party is not the first time the record industry has been driven by desperation — — many record labels persuaded their old-school failing artists to try and contemporize by covering Beatles songs.
• • This strategy revived exactly zero careers, which is probably why I'd never heard of any of the recordings. Mae West's cover of "Day Tripper" is said to "have growled rather uncomfortably through the Fab's guitar-laden rave up." [This bombed for Mae. However, Mitch Miller's corny cover of "Give Peace a Chance" did no better — — even though he was then the president of Columbia Records.] . . .
• • Source: The Stranger [Seattle, Wash.]
• • Byline: Ari Spool
• • Published: 26 September 2007
— — http://www.thestranger.com/ — —
• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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Mae West
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • 1928 • •
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Mae West.