The String Quartet Tribute To Fleetwood Mac - Various Artists

I was prompted to shake the dust off a neglected corner of my record collection by a review posted by Nar recently. "The True Legacy of a Legendary Musical Divorce?" is about the Album "Legacy, a Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours" - a CD of cover versions of the songs from the classic Mac album 'Rumours' released in 1977. Nar also said that he was '…forever on the look out for new versions and covers of songs by leading artists ...
...may have escaped your attention the first time around.

The String Quartet Tribute's declared aim is to concentrate on one well known performer or group at a time and produce classical (instrumental) versions of the songs 'note for note'. Some albums are compendiums of the original's more well known titles; others, as here, are reproductions of a single album track by track. Their output to date has been both prodigious, varied and ... more

I was prompted to shake the dust off a neglected corner of my record collection by a review posted by Nar recently. "The True Legacy of a Legendary Musical Divorce?" is about the Album "Legacy, a Tribute to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours" - a CD of cover versions of the songs from the classic Mac album 'Rumours' released in 1977. Nar also said that he was '…forever on the look out for new versions and covers of songs by leading artists known and unknown.'. For completeness then, here is one for his collection and maybe one which may have escaped your attention the first time around.

The String Quartet Tribute's declared aim is to concentrate on one well known performer or group at a time and produce classical (instrumental) versions of the songs 'note for note'. Some albums are compendiums of the original's more well known titles; others, as here, are reproductions of a single album track by track. Their output to date has been both prodigious, varied and at times esoteric with features on such names as Led Zeppelin, Bjork, David Bowie, Madonna and Yanni. At the last count Vitamin Records lists 198 titles!!

So who are "The String Quartet Tribute"? Well, despite my best research efforts I'm still not too sure. I'm not even clear whether 'Tribute' is part of the group's name or whether it belongs in the title of each of their albums. They are led, at least in this instance, by Todd Mark Rubinstein who plays cello and bass. On the album under review the other performers are David Davison - 1st violin - and Paul Tobias - viola and 2nd violin (hey - doesn't that make a trio?!). They are joined on three tracks variously by Dominic Hradek (cello), Wesley Hredek (violin), Johnny Castle (bass) and Jeramie Brown (percussion).

Todd is also webmaster of the String Tribute web site (http://www.tmrpro.com). Although much of the output of the band is listed on these pages (you can even download a '25% off' coupon to use against on line purchases) and there is an active forum moderated and contributed to by TMR himself, it was surprising that there is no "Who Are …" feature to introduce the performers. I have found a number of reviews of other albums in the music literature which tend to suggest that the line-up is not constant and the String Quartet Tribute is brought together as necessary for each project.

What follows is a track listing of the album (the order is the same as the original) with some thoughts about the renditions. I have not attempted to grade each track with my usual star rating but for curiosity I have indicated how much the running time, in seconds, varies from the original. I have deliberately not described the original 'Rumours' album here. If you don't know Fleetwood Mac, then this version would probably not appeal to you anyway.

1. Second Hand News (-13)

The album kicks off with Lindsey Buckingham's 'Second Hand News'. Here the violin is given a rather too heavy handed treatment to be considered a "classical" interpretation. The background accompaniment tends to be rendered in a jerky monotone.

2. Dreams (-2)

The vocal line is taken by the lead violin which has mimicked the languid Nicksian approach quite well. The choruses are dialogues between the violin and viola. The accompanying bass lines chug along in early ELO fashion. The ending to the track is a bit abrupt.

3. Never Going Back Again (+8)

The group present this track with a polonaise - style foot-tapping rhythm. The dialogue between the lead instruments and the backing is 'busy' and tends to become disjointed at times giving the feeling that at least one more performer is needed to make up the numbers.

4. Don't Stop (+2)

Thios song received a rather jaunty treatment with swing cello backing. The lead instrument, particularly in the second half, is more Reinhart that Menuhin

5. Go Your Own Way (-6)

A rapid chirruping from the lower registers heralds the violin line. The arrangement goes with quite a swing and the lead bowing is quite light, producing a mellow sound this time - this could just be a movement from a genuine string quartet. This is probably the least immediately obvious interpretation of the all of the songs (although the tune is still recognisable) and is therefore probably the most appealing. Pleasant!!

6. Songbird. (-6)

Although this is a slow violin and viola duet the performance is still too heavy handed to capture the wistfulness of Chrissie McVie's original. Given that these instruments can produce the most melancholy of sounds in the right hands this is a pity.

7. The Chain (-4)

The first (and only) track to feature percussion. There is a steady pounding from a bass drum with occasional cymbal clashes. Over the top of this the theme is picked out in a strident and somewhat discordant fashion by the upper and lower registers in turn.

8. You Make Loving Fun (+3)

The initial vocal line is taken by the cello on this track. The second verse features the violin and the two amalgamate to present the chorus. The deep strumming sound in accompanying arrangement has more than a shading of The Beatle's "Eleanor Rigby".

9. I Don't Want To Know (-2)

The violin and viola take the high reaches of the verse in harmony in a pleasing rendition of the Stevie Nicks song. The counterpoint melody from the cello and bass keeps interest to the end of the track. Not classical by any means but well worth more than one listen.

10. Oh Daddy (-16)

Melodic and almost antiphonal chords swapped back and forth between the violin and viola are the Quartet's answer to what must have been a difficult question posed by Chrissie McVie's voice from the original song. The cellos can only repeat a minor variation of Eleanor Rigby.

11. Gold Dust Woman (-49)

The viola duets with a guest bassist while the violin varies between swoops and soaring through the higher registers. This was never one of my favourite tracks from the original album and fares no better here. As the lead out track it is overlong and tedious.

COMMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS

You may ask how I came to purchase this album in the first place. I have to admit that it was an unheard impulse buy and was one of a small bundle of similar items that I trawled from the browsers of Border Books during a visit to Tampa, Florida a couple of years ago. (The others included "Pickin' On … The Who", a bluegrass tribute effort which I had heard before and which I had thoroughly enjoyed. I've reviewed it previously on these pages).

There is, and always has been, a steady market for the tribute band in live performance and on record. Maybe they serve a fan base who cannot get to see the original; maybe their output boosts the availability of 'background music'. Many groups have had orchestral leanings in the arrangement of their songs (Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" is an example) which may have encouraged others to experiment and develop tunes further. One of the most successful of these in recent years must be Andrew Loog Oldham's orchestration of Jagger and Richard's "The Last Time" (he was the Rolling Stones record producer at the time and his instrumental tribute album 'The Rolling Stones Songbook', was released in 1966). This was the sound which subsequently inspired Richard Ashcroft to re-write it as The Verve's "Bitter Sweet Symphony". On the other side of the coin, classically trained musicians present the 'classics' with a popular bent (one example is Bond).

Did "Rumours" work for me? Unfortunately the thickness of the accumulated dust has to be the answer to that. The phraseology and tempi are quite similar to 'Rumours' but the playing of the lead instruments is for the most part quite heavy handed. The cello and bass sound is ponderous, often monotonous and outdated. This is neither a classical sound nor Musak. There are a few pleasing moments here and there but if you are a fan of Fleetwood Mac why would you not play the original? When in the right mood I could sit and listen to Fleetwood Mac all day. This effort merely gets tiring on the ears after the first half dozen tracks.

ALBUM AND AVAILABILITY

"Rumours" is a single CD, released in 2000, from the Vitamin Record label (CD-8521). Total running time is 38 minutes 15 seconds. The folded insert sleeve carries a track listing with timings. The authors of each song are acknowledged. The performers are listed as noted above with no additional information. Todd Rubenstein is credited as the producer.

You can listen to samples of the first five tracks at Amazon.co.uk

$15.98 (before 25% reduction from www.tmrpro.com)
$13.98 direct from the Vitmain Records website.
Amazon.co.uk will import the CD for you as a special order for £12.99

This really rates a 2 ½* - to give it a 'poor' would have been churlish.

 

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