Search - Booker T. & the Mg's :: Mclemore Avenue

Very very tasty versions!

Alan Riva | Valley Village CA, USA | 10/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I looked for this CD every since I heard "She's So Heavy" on a local college radio show. The CD is a wonderful interpretation of the Abbey Road Tracks by the Beatles. Booker T and the MG's put a shine to this material instrumentally as only they can do. This is such a nice CD to relax to. I would recommend this to any Booker T/Beatle fans! Many times the organ sound makes it sound like Gary Brooker of Procol Harum is playing and that's a compliment. So that sonic texture is there too, like a cherry on the cake."

A Forgotten Gem

Craig Young | 01/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first acquired a vinyl copy of this album a couple of years after its release, in 1970, after stumbling across it at one of the many record shops I used to frequent. Always a great admirer of Abbey Road by The Beatles, it was immediately visually intriguing, for obvious reasons. Having long ago lost track of that initial copy, it wasn't until I bought the Booker T & The MGs "Time Is Tight" box, that I remembered just how brilliant this album-long Abbey Road tribute was.



It consists of instrumental covers of Abbey Road, more or less in its entirety, albeit not in corresponding sequential order. It is everything and more anyone familiar with the legendary Stax house band's sound might expect: soulful, organic, inspired and, above all else, so tight - it's obvious these guys have played together before.



McLemore Avenue - the address of Stax studios - is one of those albums you can put on when you feel like listening intently to masterful musicianship, alone in the dark, perfectly positioned between the speakers; or when you feel like moving to that wonderful MGs groove; or just as pleasant, yet almost always engaging, background music. If you're a Beatles fan, and have somehow managed to miss this album, you have an unexpected treat in store.



Frustratingly, copies of McLemore Avenue appear to be difficult to find. This Japanese reissue, is an expensive option, especially given that it is not one of those limited edition, vinyl replica paper sleeve items, as you might expect. It is one disc in a standard jewel case. The sound is everything you would expect, however, and I am pleased to now have a pristine CD of this much-loved album."

Good for what it is

Jason Weber | 04/13/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a really nice Booker T tribute to the Beatles and simple one of the best. I do agree that the organ tends to overpower the other instruments at part, but the entire MGs are all centered around the unique organ sound that most bands don't have. There are a lot of awesome solos, and ends very strong. It does get kind of weak on tracks 2 and 3 but ends strong on the final track."