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David Barratt reinterprets The Beatles...on ukulele!
by Tom Walsh
“Let us be clear,” states David Barratt, the mastermind behind The Beatles Complete on Ukulele, “This is not an album. It is a reinterpretation of a complete work.” You may have no idea who David Barratt is, but the chances are you’ve heard his work. If you watch TV or listen to the radio you have probably heard his music on commercials for Revlon, Michelin, BMW, USA Today or any other number of other commercials. The reinterpretation of a complete work that David is talking about just happens to be the 185 songs from The Beatles library done with ukulele. Hence the name ‘The Beatles Complete on Ukulele‘ , or TBCOU for short.
So, how and why does a man that seems to be so well-versed in the composing of music for TV and radio commercials take on a project like reinterpreting the complete Beatles catalog? As David puts it, “it seems like such an obvious thing to do. It is the defining pop collection that continues to endure.” That may be a slight understatement as claimed sales for Beatles records are known to be anywhere between 600 million to 1 billion, making them the best-selling artist of all time followed closely by Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson.
The sheer numbers are daunting. Not only are there 185 songs that have garnered between 600 million and 1 billion in sales but between 1962 in 1970 the Beatles had twenty seven number one hits, were honored with seven Grammy awards, and have received fifteen Ivor Novello awards from the British Academy of songwriters, composers and authors.
They were also listed in Time Magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people of the 20th century. So, to take on a project of this size you not only have to have the passion for it, but you need to know what you’re doing and take it seriously to succeed.
Interstatelive.com recently had an opportunity to interview David Barratt and question him on this massive undertaking.
After composing music for so many TV and radio commercials like Revlon, Michelin, BMW, USA Today and many more. Why The Beatles Complete on Ukulele?
It seems like such an obvious thing to do. It is the defining pop collection that continues to endure.
The Beatles between 1962/70 is without parallel. The things that influence it, and the things it influences are infinite.
Why would any serious musician NOT want to do it.
A friend of mine (Will Lee) put together a band (The Fab Faux) that re-creates the Beatles works in exactly the way that they were recorded. I believe this is totally valid but what our project is about is something slightly different. Everything we record has the same diversity of styles as the Beatles but does not COPY The Beatles.
A very good example of this #64 “A Day In The Life”. Our version imagines what it would sound like if Paul had written John’s part and John had written Paul’s.
Do you actually play the ukulele on this album and if so, why and how did you get into the ukulele? If not, how many ukulele players are on the this album and who are they?
I play on a lot of the songs but not all. I play the ukulele but I am not a ukulele PLAYER. There are many more skilled in the ways of the ukulele than I.
I am always willing to give up center stage to players I want to hear. Ira Seigel, Gerald Ross and Jack Hues of Wang Chung have all contributed Uke to this project, and I have loved everything they have played.
Let us be clear. THIS IS NOT AN ALBUM. To quote my friend Ben Walker -
“Musicians get quite precious about The Album as an artistic form, and there are loads of albums that are so much more than a simple play list of songs. That’s great, and there’s nothing to stop musicians creating 45-minute collections of songs for download if that’s what they want to do.”
What we are doing is not an album. It is a reinterpretation of a complete work.
You have artists such as Samantha Fox, Wang Chung, and Victor Spinetti on this project. How did you go about getting these artists and what was their initial reaction to the concept of this project?
All of those particular artists got in contact with us because the project interested them. It is incredibly freeing for an artist to let rip on a Beatles song and a lot of fun.
Victor appeared in all of The Beatles films (Hard Day’s Night, Help and Magical Mystery Tour) so it was an enormous pleasure to work with him. He was a good friend of John’s in the 60’s and directed and co-wrote John’s play “In His Own Write” at the National Theatre.
Jack Hues from Wang Chung has an encyclopedic knowledge of The Beatles and is a magnificent musician. He has played on a couple of the songs and his daughter (Violet Ryder) has recorded a remarkable version of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” that comes out on Jan 18th 2011.
What other artists do you hope to get to appear on this album and you having a hard time getting artists to take this project seriously?
I haven’t had a hard time getting anyone talking the project seriously really. If you download what we have done so far it is very easy to see that it not a gimmick. The work we do is at a very high standard. There is of course a sense of humor about the project but the version(s) we have been releasing are great recordings in their own right.
As far as “Dream Artists” I have a list.
1. Paul McCartney - I’d love for him to record George Harrison’s “Something” in Strawberry Fields NY or somewhere in Liverpool with Ringo playing percussion.
2. Vladimir Putin - Again, an intriguing character and a hyper-charismatic human being. He can sing too. There is a video of him singing “Blueberry Hill” . Vlad - if you are reading you can call me ANYTIME. “Back In The USSR” would be perfect.
3. Jake Shimabukuro - Probably the leading Uke player on earth at the moment. This man can do things with a ukulele that humbles me profoundly. Whatever you want to do Jake.
4. The Rolling Stones- I love Mick. I love Keith. It would be great to do a song with ‘em. They did start the career with a Beatles song
The project began in January of 2009 and is set complete July 2012. Why 3 1/2 years to complete?
There are 185 songs written and recorded by The Beatles between 1962 and 1970. We are releasing one song every week. That’s 185 weeks.
Where is the recording taking place and are you doing absolutely all the production on it?
Most of the recordings take place at my studio (The Abattoir Of Good Taste). Sometimes I take my small mobile set up to someone’s house and I record there. On occasion people have sent me parts via the web and I have remixed and added
parts at my studio. We have had contributors from all over the world in a number of languages. For “Michelle” by Floanne, we did the French bits in English and the English bits in French.
The video you just released covering 'Let It Be' focuses a lot on Obama's speeches. Is the video meant to be political, fun or little bit of both?
A bit of both. Obama is one of the most charismatic people on earth and also has a bit of the preacher about him. To put him in the context of a gospel choir made sense.
He is of course our first Hawaiian President so he is a natural fit with the Ukulele.
I've heard George Harrison was a big ukulele fan and used to play his all the time. Is there a link there?
Yes. George loved the ukulele for a number of reasons. He used to travel with two so he could always play WITH someone. George was the most spiritual of The Beatles so it is no surprise that he played ukulele.
George’s mum sang George Formby (British Ukulele player) songs at home, and gave George a love for the instrument. In later life Harrison Joined The George Formby Society and the Ukulele Society of Great Britain and acquired Formbey’s Ludwig banjo-uke.
Do you know whether Paul or Ringo has heard about this project and if so, have you gotten any feedback from them good, bad or indifferent? For that matter have you received any feedback from anyone in the Beatles camp?
It has been rumored that Yoko heard some of what we have done and liked it a lot. I am sure it has crossed Paul’s path as well. I’d love for him to record George’s song “Something” as our penultimate release.
I’d welcome anyone connected to The Beatles to help us with the project.
Can we expect more videos to be released as the project progresses?
Absolutely. Of course they take a bit of time so it is unlikely that we will do it every week but I love making videos.
When the project is finally done will it be released as a set or individual volumes?
I’m not sure exactly how it will be presented when it is finished. It is possible that it would come out on vinyl in the form of each of the Beatles albums. There is also talk of turning the essays we have written into a radio show with the ukulele version at the end of each episode.
Other then re-recording the complete works of the Beatles with ukulele is there anything else you hope to accomplish with this project, maybe another reason behind taking this project on?
On International Ukulele Day we will be presenting ukuleles to the 10 most powerful people on the planet. Along with the ukulele we will include a simple instructional video on how to play “Let It Be”, a chord chart and a copy of our manifesto which is -
“The Beatles Complete On Ukulele hold this truth to be self-evident: if every citizen spent “a little bit of time” playing The Ukulele the world would be a nicer place”
As far as other projects go I am trying to get my project www.KARITO.org which I exhibited at The UN General Assembly to be exhibited in London during The Olympics in 2012 and am looking for funding as we speak. Any multi-national corporations that want to fund Karito let me know.
As far as the web goes I’m already working on a more ambitious project than even “The Beatles Complete On Ukulele”.
I’ve registered a site called www.theobituarycolumn.com
Every week I will create a piece of music in the form of an obituary or requiem and publish it on the site. This week for example Pete Postlewaite, Gerry Rafferty and Mick Karn all died. I would pick one of them and create a song about or for them and publish it.
But it needn’t be someone famous. I could write with someone about their father, mother dog or milkman. I’d like to work with a team of writers and producers so eventually it could survive after my own death.
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