First Impressions

What a disheartening and somewhat frustrating choice to have You Are She released as a first single in 25 years, especially since this might technically be considered as a re-release of something issued in October of 1966. Disheartening because it's another trip back to the trough of songs they've already recorded and done a la Ark-eology (as it oddly wasn't included there, one wonders if it's a left over from those sessions), and frustrating for several reasons, as they seem to remain fixed in nostalgia land, and have chosen another small scale digital release which will undoubtedly make their limited number of fans happy, but will likely not gather anyone new.

Let me explain that last part. I say limited because, as I see it, there is really no promotion going on outside of the small Yahoo group/web site/Facebook/MySpace audience. I have no way of knowing how many people that is, but we do know that the Yahoo group has 244 members, Facebook 260, and though MySpace lists 2310 "friends", at least half of them are bands, radio stations or companies, and though Ringo, Paul, and the rest may be downloading these songs, I tend to doubt it. Certainly they have fans beyond that, but they haven't made appearances to be counted beyond what's noted above. What I mean to say is that sales outside the "family" would seem to be limited. And so, quoting a little known John Sebastian song, one step forward, two steps back.

As for the performance, well, there's a reason that the live version is a concert highlight; it's done simply, without adornment, overdubs, multi-tracking, and studio reverb. This version suffers a bit in comparison. I might have pointed out a comparison to a video I had here, from Chatham, NJ, done in 2008, which I find to be superior, but I have removed the video for several reasons and you'll need to rely on your own copy (come on now, I gave you enough time to download one from here, or from YouTube) to see if you agree. I'd very strongly suggest that you see them live to see exactly what I mean.

Please do buy their new release, and support their art and music, and certainly make up your own minds about it. Yes it's well done, but IMO, too much attention was paid to getting it shining and polished, and the warmth of the 2 people/2 voices that is certainly at the heart of their live performances, was forgotten.

Finally, I'm sure to get some disagreement with this. So, let me know. Keep it civil and everything gets published.