CD Review – Beatlesque Three by Alan Bernhoft

Beatlesque One (which for some reason is missing from my CD collection) was/is an amazing collection of songs that if you’re not paying close enough attention, will make you look up and wonder if you’re listening to some previously unreleased songs from the early days of the Fab Four.  Alan recreates the sound so well, that six of his songs were featured in the mock-umentary “Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney”.  The movie’s director/producer, Marc Cushman remarked about his choice of songwriters, “We couldn’t afford The Beatles’ music, so we got the next best thing- Alan Bernhoft”

This brings us back to Beatleseque Three. It’s a fun album with a great opening song “Sunny Sky”.  Other standout songs are “Bored” and “Chun Li”.  This entire collection of songs once again highlights Alan’s ability to write a full/complete album of great tunes that brings its listener back to a bygone era of fun, peace and love.  And the production is superb!  My fingers are crossed that he will be able to keep up the good work from this and his first album to write Beatlesque Four.

BEATLESQUE 3 REVIEW by Powerpopaholic, Kip Boardman

Alan Bernhoft “Beatlesque Three”
As a Beatles tribute band, Alan Bernhoft has become quite a cottage industry amongst the fans of the Liverpool legends. After the first two volumes concentrate on the Beatles career before 1966, we move on in time with ‘Beatlesque 3′.

It gingerly starts with “Sunny Sky,” a Rubber Soul styled number and the choruses here are a bit more challenging. This works better on “Everybody Smiles” where Alan does his best Ringo vocal imitation. “Civilization” has a Lennon styled vocal that mimics “Mind Games” and we then move into the Mystery Tour era with a string of verbs that describe how “Bored” our singer is. Alan hits his stride here, and other standouts include “Miss Vonnie” and the Pepperish “Colliding Circles.”

BEATLESQUE THREE REVIEW (Absolute PowerPop)

Alan Bernhoft-Beatlesque Three. Bernhoft is back with the latest installment in his “Beatlesque” series. The first two primarily mined the early Beatles sound, so he’s moved on to the Sgt Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour/White Album era on this batch. The results are engaging, with the McCartney side of things represented with “Sunny Sky”, which doesn’t have a direct Beatles counterpart, and “Honey Love”, which does recall “Honey Pie” with its old-timey opening. Lennon is given voice with “Bored”, which draws on “I Am the Walrus” for inspiration, and “Say in Silence”, which has a “Dear Prudence” vibe. And is “Chun Li” Bernhoft’s answer to Yoko Ono? Finally, no nakedly Beatlesque effort like this is complete without a song titled “Colliding Circles”, the name of a supposed long-lost Beatles track. It’s all fun, in a Rutles-esque kind of way.