Album Review: Lucinda Williams – Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road

Abbey Road has become one of the most influential places in the music world and is a beloved album, place and idea. Abbey Road was the first recording studio, changing its name from EMI to Abbey Road after The Beatles named their album after the street the studio was on. They made 90% of their music there, specifically in Studio Two. This place of true magic has helped create some of the most legendary music from Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of The Moon to Radio Head’s The Bends and scoring from the Harry Potter series to Avengers: Endgame.

Lucinda Williams joined the many artists to create music at Abbey Road, but instead of recording her own music, she made a Beatles tribute album, playing 12 of their songs on Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road. People cover The Beatles all the time, but it is no easy task. Everyone knows the pure talent of John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr and the influence they had on the world, so of course no one wants to disappoint the legacy. Williams put a personal twist on each song, yet keeping the foundation of each track she picked from The Beatles’ discography. The most noticeable changes were the tempos, for instance, “Can’t Buy Me Love” originally 172 BPM with Williams’ version at 163 BPM. She makes changes in some compositions, the guitar solo in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is noticeably different; however, this was Williams’ goal, not to have these covers entirely copied and pasted.

“Something” kept the softness of the original version and held the subtlety and smoothness of the guitar. Some other noticeable differences in composition are “With A Little Help From My Friends,” Williams turned it almost country rock, and “I’m So Tired” which originally has a lot more grit, although Williams does do a good job going back and forth on musical planes.

Lucinda Williams Sings The Beatles From Abbey Road is a great concept album as Lucinda Williams went back to the place where it all started to recreate some legendary songs. This album is a good listen for anyone who enjoys covers and likes to hear different interpretations, but for a true Beatles fan, it can always be hard to listen to something that is not their own.