Various Artists
Listen to What the Man Said: Popular Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney
Oglio
Coming Up: Independent Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney
Oglio
While these two tributes to Sir Paul are dominated mostly by out-of-towners-some better known (Barenaked Ladies) than others (the Jellybricks)-there are some local ties. First off, that Hofner bass you see adorning the cover of both CDs? It belongs to Erik Evol of Philadelphia’s very own Manta Ray. As for the music, Delaware’s radio-friendly popsters John Faye Power Trip (featuring former Caulfields frontman John Faye) give “Coming Up” a modern rock roughening up on Listen to What the Man Said. It’s a curious choice (akin to covering Mixed Emotions on a Stones tribute) but a workmanlike performance that adds to the original without turning it into parody, as can happen with many a tribute album “re-working.” At the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Philly’s Kyf Brewer (who’s the voice behind VH-1’s Where Are They Now?, and fronted hard rockers Company of Wolves in the early ’90s) delivers a faithful reading of Macca’s Scottish folk ballad, “Mull of Kintyre,” replete with Highland bagpipes and mandolin on the Coming Up CD. As for the non-Philly highlights, Robyn Hitchcock and his Soft Boys cronies all but steal the show with a stripped-down and snotty “Let Me Roll It,” and Sloan makes real pretty on “Waterfalls.”
