Ticket to Ride: A Beatles Tribute

Back in ‘03, my church choir got to sing with The Swingle Singers when their tour came through & I IMMEDIATELY bought this album. Lost it over the years and am SO GRATEFUL that it came today! Thank you so much! 😭😭😭

I love the Beatles and their music, but I always felt that the songs were what set them apart from other groups. The diversity of tribute albums, crossing just about every genre of music, reinforces that belief. I sometimes broaden my musical horizons via Beatles tribute albums - it is a good way of trying something new which still has a base of familiarity. And so it was that I selected this CD. The first time I played it, I wasn't sure, but on the second play, I loved it.Despite the inclusion of Yesterday, the songs are generally not the most frequently covered - Penny Lane, Revolution, Day tripper, Lady Madonna, Strawberry fields forever, Drive my car and I am the walrus are all well known, but how often do you come across covers of these songs?The Swingle singers are made up of four men (two tenors, two bass) and four ladies (two sopranos, two altos). Their roots lie in jazz and classical music, but their a cappella style is very much their own. Classifying music is often difficult, but I wouldn't even begin to classify this. It's not the kind of music I would listen to very often, but it is one of those CD's that I choose from when I want something different to listen to.

If you are a fan of the original 'French' Swingle Singers from the '60's beware of this. This is a new group of highly polished singers. Yes I am sure they are talented singers, it's just not the same as the original; SS. The current version of SS use zoo zoo zoo Esquivel type singing which is OK for Esquivel fans but has no place in the Swingle Singers sound. They should have really changed the name and clearly dated the packaging. This CD cover makes it look like lost recording archives when it absolutely is not. Not recommended unless you like Glee, perfect Pitch and all of that modern accapella stuff that is popular theses days.

I love the Swingles, and they've been producing amazing a cappella music for decades. their take on the Beatles is delightful.

Not the best use of Swingle Singers. Some of the arrangements tend to be over-elaborate, and a couple of arrangements are verging on raucous. Several of the songs are little-known Beatles songs.

Just what I wanted

In order to best enjoy this CD it is probably best to consider the Swingles' arrangements less as "imitations" of the Beatles, than as "variations" on songs of the Beatles, something like what Jazz people do when they pick up an old standard and provide their own version, whose character can be dramatically different from the original.So, yes, the character of the Beatles' songs is changed and sometimes quite dramatically - although you never loose sight of the originals, of course. Usually the Swingles' versions for a cappella octet aren't as adrenalin-filled and raging as those of the Beatles, and in the "sad songs", like Yesterday, they may not be as wistfully sad. Lady Madonna is less driven and hectic, but more sensuously "Gospel" than the original.But the arrangements and realizations provide their own rewards: they are harmonically richer, with more ambiguity, melodies shared between different voices and sometimes tossed between them, and with vocal counterpoint added. There's the unique sensuousness of the vocal timbres, the fascination of the vocal percussion - soon the Swingles would be recording  Beauty and the Beatbox  with the collaboration of Shlomo the Human Beatbox, see my review), and some nice touches in the arrangement, like the obsessive "frrrap ! frrrap ! " in Birthday, the "Ku-tah!" in Lady Madonna, or the concert of vocal honks that opens "Drive my Car" as in Ligeti's opera "Le Grand Macabre". Track 11's arrangement brilliantly mixes "Blackbird" and "I will" - why not. (well, here' why not: I far prefer "Blackbird" and "I will" kind of ruins it). In some tracks some voices sounds as if they were electronically re-processed (as in Revolution, The Walrus or Strawberry Fields), as they are in the originals. There are nice antiphonal effects in Strawberry Fields.So, sure, this is for "A capella" enthusiasts. Some fans of the Beatles (obviously not all!) might also enjoy it, especially if they happen to be "A Capella" enthusiasts.

I don't think an a capella album could be more epic. This is awesome, and really pushes the boundaries of vocal music.

Fabulous covers of Beatles classics

This is definitely not for fans of the original Swingle Singers. No scat singing here.

Similar in many ways to the King's Singers "Beatles Connection" album, this has some absolute beauties. There are one or two moments when an American twang overpowers what should sound quite English, a minor quibble. I do love it though

Je connaissais les Swingle Singers qui ont fait un nombre impressionnant de disques. Du classique en passant par le jazz. Mais les Beatles ont été repris tellement de fois par d'innombrables interprètes que cette fois-ci on reste sur notre faim. C'est très bien fait, mais cela manque d'originalité. Pour les inconditionnels des reprises des Beatles seulement.

Some very great a capella singers