My Beatles Heart

 (10 customer reviews)

This CD is a masterpiece! Only Willy Chirino can mix Beatles music with latin flavor without losing its original essence. "Because" is a mix with La Comparsa (Ernesto Lecuona) and his daughters voices are so perfect, that it is very hard to believe that it is not The Beatles singing the song. I can't describe it, its magnificent! Another favorites are Yellow Submarine and Black Bird. The latin flavor makes it impossible not to get up and start dancing! Willy, I am so proud of you, and honored that you were born in Cuba. Nobody beats you, and I must say that the Beatles wherever they are, are proud of your masterpiece and dancing away, the Cuban way!

In music, as in the plastic arts, the artist is inclined to admire, borrow, take and make his own from what has come before; hence, art begets art. What is fundamental throughout great art is something referred to by some as "the thing," which has no name and makes the work "Great Art."

Picasso admired Velázquez, Goya, Zurbarán and El Greco, who in turn admired Venetian artists from the Italian renaissance like, Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese. When the Beatles began their musical careers, they looked over the pond towards America, specifically to Rock & Roll, Blues and Rhythm & Blues; to artists like Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry. Who or what had the most influence on these artists? Well, if you listen to Rock and Roll classics like Richard Berry's "Louie, Louie" or Johnny Otis's "Willie and the Hand Jive" you will find clues. In fact, the distinctive Cha-cha-chá rhythm of "Louie, Louie" and the 3-2 Son clave...Read more

I was expecting something imaginative and innovative similar to what I have come to expect from Willy Chirino, instead I wished I had not wasted my money on this CD. What I got from My Beatles Heart is a bland poor imitation (Willy's voice is still awesome) of Paul McCarthy/John Lennon sung to a mechanical Latin electronic beat. There are bits of salsa-like brilliance of the sort I was looking for (end of Black Bird) but most of these creative splashes only last 20-30 seconds in a 4 minute otherwise plain rendition of a Beatles tune (i.e. All You Need is Love & Yellow Submarine). Don't get me wrong, I am a huge Willy Chirino fan but was looking for his pioneering sound that I have been used to in older CDs such as Cuba Libre and Asere and the more recent Pa'lante. I would not waste your money on My Beatles Heart but rather if you want a hot Latin inspired version of Beatles tunes, buy RMM Tropical Tribute to the Beatles!