Beatles Producer Turns Swan Song Into a Lark

A peculiar tape is making the rounds of U.S. record companies in search of release here--and it’s got some people a bit baffled.

It’s a collection of Beatles songs with a cast of unlikely characters. While it includes such pop professionals as Celine Dion, Phil Collins and Jeff Beck, a few other names leap out:

Jim Carrey romps through “I Am the Walrus,” Goldie Hawn gives “A Hard Day’s Night” the Peggy Lee treatment, Robin Williams duets with Bobby McFerrin on “Come Together” and Sean Connery lends his Scottish baritone to a spoken-word rendition of “In My Life.”

No, it’s not a follow-up to Rhino Records’ “Golden Throats” collection of ill-conceived Beatles ventures by the likes of William Shatner and Mae West. This album, titled “In My Life,” is a labor of love by the man who arguably knows--and respects--the Beatles catalog more than anyone else: George Martin, who produced nearly every Fab Four recording. It’s a project that Martin, 70, has said will be his last production before his retirement.

The album is scheduled for March release in England by the Echo Label, with hopes for simultaneous U.S. release. But some of the initial reaction among U.S. record executives involves a certain amount of head-scratching.

“It’s hard to be critical, because in the history of popular music here is the greatest producer producing a catalog of songs by the greatest writers, so all you want to do is wish it well,” says one major-label executive, who asked that his name not be used.

“But it seems a bit of a stretch. I’m not sure what the compelling reason for making this album is, especially after the inundation of Beatles archive material we’ve experienced in the last few years.”

Echo co-founder and managing director Steve Lewis, though, says he’s had considerable interest from U.S. labels and dismisses the notion that this is a novelty record.

“Jim Carrey and Robin Williams are not trying to do comedic takes on the songs,” he says. “And this is not in any way intended to trivialize the Beatles’ work or George’s work with them. The objective was to make a record that had a different spin from the original recordings. There’s no point in him repeating what he did in the past.”

With Dion doing “Here, There and Everywhere,” the album has a seemingly sure-fire candidate for pop radio airplay, though Lewis says that contractual arrangements will likely prevent the song from being released as a commercial single. But the ultimate selling point, he says, is Martin himself.

“People realize that George has fine judgment and will give him the benefit of the doubt,” Lewis says.

Matt Hurwitz, publisher of the Beatles-oriented magazine Good Day Sunshine, agrees.

“It might seem like an odd cast of characters,” he says. “But whose judgment would be better to trust with this music?”