Performers aspiring to greatness envy the Beatles -- there are few such phenomenons, setting so many things in motion from hairstyles to slang to radical upheavals in musical fad. Surely the field of entertainment loosely described as music about the the Beatles' music, while not quite worthy of being called a genre in its own, has nevertheless resulted in an incredible amount of diverse material -- of which Don Latarski's Fab Four on Six stands among the greatest examples. It features a lucky 13 of the Lennon and McCartney catalog cut down into acoustic guitar fillets with no fishy stink, plus a perfectly appropriate cover of a Fab Four cover, "Til There Was You."
Latarski sounds like a brilliant guitarist. He has released a series of CDs on the Crescent label but due to lack of exposure it is impossible to determine where Fab Four on Six stands in his spectrum of quality. As far as great guitar music goes, the Beatles is it all right. The judgment can stand from several different perspectives: Latarski's approach is not to extrapolate on guitar sounds associated with the original songs, even when the original is such a classic of acoustic guitar such as "Blackbird."
What he grabs is the structure, melodies and rhythms, endlessly entrancing aspects of Beatlemania which always seemed intrinsic to the guitar alone -- and never mind the sitar. It is alot of fun the way Latarski concocts introductions in which it is initially impossible to figure out what song he is going to slip into. His relaxed ad-libbing on some of the pieces includes much to be appreciated; some players who have tried this material seem too intimidated by it. The chords do move in unusual ways, requiring textural decisions which, in Latarski's case, are wisely motivated by much he seems to understand about the sonority of the original records, the way the rhythm moves with confidence on "With a Little Help From My Friends," the washed-out after-party cosmos of "Magical Mystery Tour." He's made a great choice of tunes and does them all well. Fab Four on Six has potentially great appeal to fans of classic rock, country, classical guitar and what the hippies like to call "wooden music."
© Eugene Chadbourne /TiVo