Arthur Fiedler Plays The Beatles

 

Fool On The Hill

Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops
Plays The Beatles
Produced by Peter Dellheim
Recording Engineer: Bernard Keville
Cover Painting: Michael Gross
RCA Records Red Seal Stereo LSC-3117
1969

From the back cover: Musically, Arthur Fiedler likes to be "where it's at." In the winter of 1963 Liverpool was the place, and Mr. Fiedler was there. He was conducting concerts with the Royal Philharmonic, and intrigued by the overnight popularity of the "Mersey sound," he spent some time in hearing and absorbing the local groups. As a musician, he was both amazed and pleased that this music was achieving the significant goal of bringing youngsters together, causing them to participate and enjoy.

When he returned to Boston, Mr. Fiedler decided to adopt the "Mersey sound" for his orchestra. He started at the top: a symphonic arrangement of I Want to Hold Your Hand, the fantastically successful hit by Liverpool's most distinguished alumni: The Beatles. This became one of the most popular Boston Pops encores, and their subsequent recording itself invaded the best-seller lists.

Five years have passed, and aside from the fact that almost every male wears his hair just a little longer, it is generally accepted that the Beatles (the "writing" Beatles: John Lennon and Paul McCartney) compose terrific tunes.

Since Arthur Fiedler is wedded to the idea that everybody likes a good tune (whether it be Bach, Beethoven, Brahms or Beatles) he has enlarged his Beatles repertoire in recent years and picked some of their best creationsTM for this album. Since these are instrumental arrangements made especially for the 95-man Boston Pops Orchestra, care had to be taken to choose melodies that could live without the lyrics (arranger Richard Hayman has introduced some amusing musical references to such other Boston Pops concert regulars as Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss). Judging by the audience reaction in Boston's venerable Symphony Hall, there should be at least one of these albums in every home! It is Mr. Fiedler's modest goal to introduce youngsters to the splendors of the symphony orchestra and the rest of us to the creative tunefulness of today's young composers.

As a matter of interest we should add that these recordings are all brand-new. The pres- ent version of I Want to Hold Your Hand was taped on June 20, 1969 (Mr. Fiedler decided that the tempo of his 1964 recording was not quite as bright as it should be). While we re- corded and issued a "live" concert performance of And I Love Her and A Hard Day's Night some years ago, we concluded that new recordings made under the same ideal studio conditions as the rest of the album would give a better result. For those interested in all the Boston Pops-Beatles recordings, we refer you to UP UP AND AWAY (LSC-3041), which includes two of the prettiest Beatles ballads: Michelle and Yesterday.

Finally, there are two recent Pops encores which have had such rousing success in con- cert that Arthur Fiedler thought you would enjoy them too: Consider Yourself (from the Academy Award-winning "Oliver!") and what we can only call the definitive symphonic version of Those Were the Days. – Peter Dellheim

Arrangements by Richard Hayman, except as noted

Eleanor Rigby
And I Love Her (Arranger - Jack Mason)
Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da
Hey Jude
With A Little Help From My Friends
Yellow Submarine
I Want To Hold Your Hand
Penny Lane
A Hard Day's Night (Arranged by Jack Mason)
The Fool On The Hill
Bart - Consider Yourself (from "Oliver!")

Raskin - Those Were The Days