Young@Heart Chorus reviewed
Young@Heart Chorus
Mostly Live
(Rhino)
Though technically not the Young@Heart soundtrack, without the visuals, this companion to the retirement-age music documentary still gets by, occasionally offering some contender-esque interpretations of modern rock and R&B.
Young people sing old music all the time; it has to be that way if songs are to survive. But the United States has long-since entered a phase where our Depression-era and early-Boomer seniors are getting on — the last generation whose youth culture was not rock ‘n’ roll. Young@Heart rams “turn that racket DOWN!” folks into Sonic Youth, The Clash, Neil Young, and Outkast in a way that actually makes novelty of incursions by Pat Boone and even Johnny Cash (see Unchained). The chorus, aged 73 to 93, turn in some fairly harrowing work. Top of the list is Joe Benoit’s lead on U2’s “One,” which reclaims the song’s soul from the wailing mess of Mary J. Blige’s version. Ninety-two-year-old Eileen Hall serves up a heap of English-accented camp on “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” and “Hey Ya” turns the original on its head by swerving toward a speakeasy. Not everything works, despite brave renditions of “Walk On The Wild Side,” “Ruby Tuesday,” and “Fake Plastic Trees.” But, if anything, hearing non-comedian Steve Martin spit out “bitch” on Sonic Youth’s “Schizophrenia” might tempt you to feed your own gammy a copy of Evol for the holidays — on vinyl, of course.
— Steve Forstneger
Click here to stream some Young@Heart audio and video.
