Search - Knickerbockers :: Lies: Very Best of

Best Song The Beatles Never Wrote

Ford Sonje | Florida | 10/29/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"AllMusic.com calls "Lies" the "best and most accurate early Beatle imitation ever recorded; the lead vocals were a dead ringer for John Lennon and the whole production could have fit in snugly on the second side of A Hard Day's Night."



I completely agree. It was a great song. This 1966 recording fooled everyone, self included, until told otherwise. It could have even fooled Lennon ... depending on his mental state.



After listening to samples from other tracks, The Knickerbockers (from New Jersey) sound to me like they were a gifted, working club band -- required to play familiar hits every night. There's plenty of good musicianship and vocal talent present. There is even originality, but restrained to writing new material in the style of others -- as "Lies" amply demonstrates. Successful forgery is a kind of artistic achievement, after all.



Too bad that these guys didn't have a mentor who could have channeled their talents into something stronger.



If you're into 1960s minutiae and trivia, this CD probably rates more than 3 stars, but I gave it 3 for general, old fogey, audiences."

Lies

Peter Gitlin | Phoenix, AZ USA | 01/12/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For what it's worth, "Lies" is the greatest Beatles song ever not written by the Beatles. I think this band only had one hit, but man did they summon the spirit of the Fab Four on this song."

That '60s sound!

Paul Smith | 04/25/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Vocally these guys sounded very much like John and Paul. They were definitely drawing heavily from The Beatles style-a bandwagon that several groups at the time were eager to jump on. But if you listen closer you see that they were doing some interesting things with distortion that were a bit ahead of their time. The Knickers had their thing together and Lies! is a great addition to the sound of the '60s. Check it out!"