If imitation is truly the greatest form of flattery, Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr must be continually blushing. Anyone who has ever picked up a guitar knows at least one Beatles hit, and artists as varied as Count Basie, Booker T., The Chipmunks, The Smithereens, and Easy Star All-Stars have each released tribute albums for the Fab Four. And now, 45 years after the original release of Rubber Soul, Soulive are adding some funk to their favorite Beatles tracks in Rubber Soulive.
Covering this classic material is nothing new for Soulive. Over the last decade, the threesome regularly performed Beatles songs live, and for Halloween 2009, the Evans brothers and Eric Krasno celebrated by trying out an all-Beatles set in DC. According to Krasno, the outfit originally intended to cover all of Rubber Soul. But with such a deep, diverse catalog, they chose to expand their scope and picked the ones that lent themselves to the Soulive sound, flavor, and experience.
Once a tracklist had been agreed upon, the threesome put the album to wax in only four days. After stripping away their vocalists and horn section, many of the Beatles’ groundbreaking arrangements pushed the abilities of Soulive. For “Eleanor Rigby”, guitarist Neal Evans covered the entire string section with his two hands. Recorded at Alan Evans’ own Playonbrother Studios in upstate New York, the album consists of 11 tracks and contains 40 minutes of “wah-drenched guitar licks, soaring Hammond organ lines and relentlessly propulsive swing.”
Rubber Soulive will be offered September 14th on the band’s own Royal Family Records. The album will be available on vinyl, CD, and MP3. You can check out the complete tracklist below. Be warned, though, as track 12 may not appear upon release in the States. And, via a press release, expect more fall tour dates to be announced shortly.
Rubber Soulive Tracklist:
01. Drive My Car
02. Taxman
03. In My Life
04. Eleanor Rigby
05. I Want You (She’s so Heavy)
06. Come Together
07. Something
08. Revolution
09. Help!
10. Day Tripper
11. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
12. She Came in Through the Window
Soulive 2010 Tour Dates:
07/23 – Floyd, VA @ Floyd Fest
09/04 – Edgartown, MA @ Nectar’s
09/05 – Edgartown, MA @ Nectar’s
09/10 – Hancock, NY @ Camp Minglewood
10/02 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/16 – Clearwater, FL @ Coachman Park
11/12 – Live Oak, FL @ Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival
11/13 – Live Oak, FL @ Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival
11/14 – Live Oak, FL @ Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival
12/30 – Boston, MA @ The Paradise
12/31 – Boston, MA @ The Paradise
