"Spread over two well-filled discs, here is a very interesting and beautifully played set of some of the most well-known songs ever written. Variety is the order of the day, as Thomas has made every effort to arrange each successive piece for a new combination, so you get on the one hand a number of solo classical arrangements such as Her Majesty, which becomes delightfully ragtime in feel, a cheeky "From Me To You", a slightly exotic "If I Fell", next to "Hello Goodbye" for two steel-string guitars, "Help", for three mandolins and a steel-strung guitar, "Come Together" for four steel-strings, a jazz guitar and a bass guitar, and even "I Feel Fine" for bottleneck slide guitar! This is all beautifully done, lots of fun and all wonderfully played and should be owned by anyone interested in fine guitar playing, and/or the music of the Beatles." [Chris Dumigan, Classical Guitar magazine] "This two-disc project showcases Thomas' impressive technique on several acoustic instruments: steel string guitar, classical guitar, mandolin, 12-string, bottleneck slide, bass guitar and a banjulele. The Atlanta native multi-tracks his solo playing so that some songs may have three or five or eight instruments interweaving simultaneously, a prodigious undertaking in and of itself. However, what strikes one most about this collection is Thomas' bold arrangements. While Thomas plays a few of these "straight," he turns a few entirely on their ears, and fusses and tinkers with the rest. Straight, with only one instrument, and quite nicely done are "Yesterday," "Here, There and Everywhere," "If I Fell," and "In My Life." Happily, no surprises there. But Thomas takes the feverishly adolescent exuberance of "She Loves You" and transforms it into a lovely, achy, mature love song. It's a completely fresh reading and beautiful -- and it's pure genius....Thomas offers plenty of other fodder for discussion, but there's no denying his fine guitar work. And his new arrangements of old classics allow us to chew on some chestnuts with fresh ears." [Minor7th.com]
The Long and Winding Road
The Background "A 2-CD set of Beatles arrangements? You must be joking!" Such was my reaction to my music-industry-mogul friend Jorge Hernandez when he suggested the idea that led to this recording. The mere thought of it made the eyeballs roll skyward in knowing kitsch- anticipation, conjuring up images of muzak Yesterdays and William Shatner "singing" Lucy in the Sky…. Though I had arranged and played many times in concert classical guitar versions of Here, There and Everywhere and In My Life, I didn't believe that there was any way that a whole CD of Beatles arranged for solo nylon-string guitar was going to be artistically successful. But then a few ideas started to come--not just of straight classical guitar versions, but a whole menagerie of plucked-string instruments playing in different combinations, and of ways of re-interpreting these greatest works of the pop canon, of seeing them in a new light. Particular instrumental colours and playing techniques became associated in my mind with certain songs: tinkling harmonics and bowed guitar in Eleanor Rigby, bluesy bottleneck-slide guitar in I Feel Fine, a café chanson Michelle with a mandolin chorus….Others: I Want to Hold Your Hand re-imagined in ¾ time as an Irish jig, an African- inspired guitar duo in All you Need is Love, The Long and Winding Road pared down to its achingly beautiful essence… These ideas were captured on tape over the course of a year or so, some tracks coming quickly, almost as improvisations, some others painstakingly multi-tracked into "band" arrangements for up to eight instruments. Though it still sometimes felt like the idea of managing to record two CDs of material was indeed a joke, finally the project was completed. The end result?--Somewhere between pop, classical, world music, blues and jazz, between "easy listening" and guitar-head virtuosity. Of course, there are hits and misses--though my ideas of which tracks are which may be different from yours--but hopefully these arrangements manage to cast new light on some of the most well-known and loved music of the twentieth century, capturing the infectious melodies and harmonies of these classic songs with the magical sound of the guitar.
DISC 1 Hello, Goodbye (two steel-string guitars) Can't Buy Me Love (two steel-string guitars) Here, There and Everywhere (solo classical guitar) All You Need Is Love (two steel-string guitars) Her Majesty (solo classical guitar) Help! (three mandolins, steel-string guitar) When I'm Sixty-Four (solo classical guitar) I Want To Hold Your Hand (mandolin, three steel-strings) Hey Jude (classical guitar, three steel-string guitars) I'll Follow the Sun (classical guitar, two steel-strings, 12-string) I Feel Fine (solo steel-string guitar (bottleneck slide)) Eight Days a Week (three steel-string guitars, bass guitar) You Can't Do That (solo steel-string guitar) Come Together (four steel-strings, jazz guitar, bass guitar) If I Fell (solo classical guitar) Across the Universe (solo steel-string guitar) Day Tripper (five steel-string guitars) In My Life (solo classical guitar)
DISC 2 Penny Lane (mandolin, classical guitar, 12-string, bass guitar) Yesterday (solo classical guitar) Paperback Writer (mandolin, steel-string, classical guitar) Ticket To Ride (solo 12-string guitar) A Hard Day's Night (two steel-string guitars) Lady Madonna (solo steel-string guitar) Eleanor Rigby (four classical guitars, four steel-strings (1 bowed)) Blackbird (two classical guitars) She Loves You (solo classical guitar) Love Me Do (mandolin, three steel-string guitars) From Me To You (solo classical guitar) Let It Be (solo steel-string guitar) Yellow Submarine (two banjuleles, steel-string guitar) Michelle (three mandolins, two classical guitars) Get Back (solo steel-string guitar) Because (solo classical guitar) Norwegian Wood (mandolin, four steel-strings, bass guitar) The Long and Winding Road (classical guitar, steel-string guitar)
