Soulful tributes to The Fab Four began with George Benson’s famed The Other Side of Abbey Road just months after that iconic album hit the streets. 50 years later, Bob Baldwin gives some CTI-flavored soul to Beatlemania, even bringing one of his own tribute to the Apple Studio days on this successful release.
Baldwin plays piano, keyboards, vocoder, bass drums, melodica and just about anything that makes a groove, carefully selecting teammates for each song. Honey toned vocalist Lori Williams gives a modern R&B feel to “Something” and is rich with Baldwin’s piano for Paul McCartney’s “My Love” while coy for the sweet read of Baldwin’s own “Abbey Road.” Baldwin creates some jazzy trumpet sounds out of his keyboards as he is joined by singer CeCe Peniston on a soul trained “The Fool on the Hill.” Euge Grooves saxes get funky on “Imagine” and “Eleanor Rigby” gets a steady beat from drummer Tony Lewis and bassist Dave Anderson as Baldwin’s piano gives some Gene Harris gospel flavor. Baldwin makes it all, shall we say, come together here.