00:13 Intro 02:00 Ain't That A Shame 05:09 I'm in Love Again - Fats Domiono 07:30 Back In The USSR 11:30 Ain't She Sweet - The Edwards 12:40 Elvis Costello 13:37 The Lovers That Never Were w/MacManus 16:39 This Sad Burlesque - Elvis Costello 19:30 Gene Vincent 21:00 Be-Bop-A-Lula 24:40 Turn Tape Over 00:15 The Joker - Steve Miller 03:57 Hey Jude (dancehall style) 08:20 Steve Martin Bit 09:20 Spicy Omelet - Linda 11:30 Sugartime - Linda & Lee 13:20 Oobu Joobu 14:15 Spies Like Us - Demo 18:00 Let 'Em In - Shinehead 21:00 Soundcheck, check it 21:40 Can't Buy Me Love 24:00 bye bye
This show rocks.
Oh, there are still a few things I'm quite unhappy with, and I'll get to those in a moment. But anyway you slice it, both of the programs of "Oobu Joobu" we've heard so far have given us enough really good unheard McCartney to fill a quite wonderful bootleg--or maybe even a legit "Odds and Sods" collection--with each hour. This show sported several recordings that had me grinning from ear to ear.
But, I can't talk about those without talking about the bad news. The biggest problem being: it seems to be Paul's policy to never play a demo all the way through, instead going into the legitimately released version during the course of the song. In the case of the "Spies Like Us" demo aired this time out, that may not be so bad; I certainly enjoyed it and wanted to hear more, but musically it didn't add much to the song. It was about what you'd expect a "Spies" demo to sound like. However, this was downright criminal with the other demo aired this time out: a take of "Lovers That Never Were" on which Paul belted out the verses with great abandon in a style more than a little reminiscent of co-writer Elvis Costello, and then gave way to the Imposter himself, who sang the chorus is fine style. Right after the chorus ended (the "...unpainted dreams" line), Paul's voice came on and guided us into the released version. Frustrating! Nonetheless, the demo blows away the released version (IMNSHO), and it is a great thrill to have it.
The other problem I have with this episode is one that was not true of the premiere--and one that many people will consider a plus. Where the first installment had given us little in the way of recordings of Beatle songs, this episode relied to heavily for my tastes on the Fab Four canon and on oldies connected to the Fabs. Essentially all of the soundcheck and rehearsal material that makes up the bulk of the program was connected to the Beatles, as were two of the three songs from "Unplugged" included. (Why we need to hear three complete songs from "Unplugged" here is another matter...) Still, we have yet to here any music actually done by the Beatles, and Paul has devoted little of his speaking time to the group years, so I'm still hopeful that Paul will stay off the Beatle crutch and use this program to push his underappreciated solo works.
And I certainly can't complain about the *quality* of the versions of Beatle songs done here. In particular, two were wonderful. Pride of place goes to a delightful reworking of "Hey Jude" as an old-time music hall number, in the style of the song that Paul often used as a fake-off for "Hey Jude" on the '89-'90 Tour, "If I Were Not Upon The Stage". This version of the song is delightfully tounge-in-cheek without sacrificing energy at all, and I particularly enjoyed the coda, where Paul dropped the "na-na-na-nas" in favor of "Serves you bloody well right, bloody well right..."! This performance was pure joy to here. Also quite good was an electrifying run-through of Back In The USSR, with Paul playing around with the song just enough to give the sense of spontaneity that is so often missing from his live shows.
Also included from soundchecks and rehearsals were "Ain't That A Shame", "Be-Bop-A-Lula", and the "Up Close" arrangement of "Can't Buy Me Love".
Also, Linda checked in with a surprisingly strong version of the McGuire Sisters' 1957 hit "Sugartime", with the backing tracks produced by the legendary reggae producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. paul was very noticable on this track.
Paul didn't have any lengthy talk bitsat all on this episode, with the sole exception of Linda's weekly recipe (some kind of spicy eggs).
Outside material played was Fats Domino's "I'm In Love Again" (with Paul singing along on the first line!), one of Elvis Costello's finest songs, "This Sad Burlesque", Shinehead's delightful cover of "Let 'Em In", Steve Miller's "The Joker", and an old recording of "Ain't She Sweet" that sounded like it predated the Beatles version by a couple decades.
As with my first review, I caution that I'm writing on one listen, so mistakes are possible. In fact, I'd like to correct one mistake from "Oobu Joobu Revyoo #1"--the reggae singer Paul played a tune from was Winston Scotland, not Winston Scott.
The song of the week is a very tough choice, but I loved the "Lovers That Never Were" demo so much that I'm picking it even though it was incomplete. (I've never liked that song, and this version really saves it for me.) However, the "Hey Jude" merits special mention as well.
Again, overall I'm just thrilled by the series.
... Some say oobu, some say joobu, but I say oobu joobu, mama!
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