Booker T and the MG's - McLemore Avenue

Booker T and the MG's, most known as the Stax house band that brought the world Green Onions, were no stranger to cover songs. In 1970 they managed an entire album dedicated to covers of songs from the Beatles' Abbey Road. McLemore Avenue, named after the avenue that housed Stax studios, contains all but four of the original album's tracks (leaving out Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Oh Darling, Octopus' Garden, and Paul McCartney's closing ditty Her Majesty). Similarly to Abbey Road's second side, most of the songs here are arranged as medleys, which gives the album a lot of fluidity. What's interesting, though, is that the songs are not entirely replicated in their original sequence. "The End" fuses into "Here Comes the Sun" and "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" turns into "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". It's quite a curveball for anyone that's listened to Abbey Road enough to know all the lyrics by heart (as millions of people surely do).

Although McLemore Avenue doesn't offer the variety or studio professionalism that Abbey Road does, it's a lot more groove-driven. The signature Booker T elements are there, including the constant organ whir, loose guitar solos, and tight rhythm section of Donald "Duck" "Double Chin" Dunn and Al Jackson Jr. Sure, McLemore Avenue is a bit of a novelty. But it's more fun and laid-back than the original and it's something new, yet familiar (like Coke Zero or any romantic comedy ever made).

I wish writing about principles of good governance was as fun as this album...

Booker T and the MG's - McLemore Avenue (1970)