Stephen Bennett (Beatles Related)

Stephen Bennett - Beatles Acoustic Guitar Solos - 2005 - Cimirron / Rainbird

"I have loved the Beatles since I started playing guitar in the late '60s. Over the years I have put together solo arrangements of many of their tunes, those presented here and many others. For this recording however, I have gone back and reworked these 15 tunes so that they are as complete as I can make them. With some, I have tossed out my previous arrangements and started over from scratch. They are all in their original key, which sometimes presented a challenge, but I thought it was important that these tunes, which so many people around the globe know, be in the register the boys from Liverpool recorded them... sb" [From Stephen's web site]

Using acoustic 6-string, National Steel, and harp guitar, the hugely talented Oregonian guitarist, Stephen Bennett plays amazing versions of fifteen classic Beatle's tracks. Stephen uses rare Dyer and Merrill harp guitars for tracks 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 & 14. It is a joy to hear these great songs played so beautifully by a master musician. The album is V.H.R by A.O.O.F.C. Buy Stephen's brilliant "Reflections" album, and for other stunning guitar instrumental covers of Beatle's songs, listen to Laurence Juber's "LJ Plays the Beatles"album.

TRACKS

1. Eight Days A Week
2. A Hard Day's Night
3. Hello Goodbye
4. In My Life
5. Maxwell's Silver Hammer
6. Blackbird
7. Yesterday
8. Here, There And Everywhere
9. Strawberry Fields Forever
10. Penny Lane
11. Something
12. If I Fell
13. All My Loving
14. Hey Jude
15. All You Need Is Love

All songs composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, except "Something", by George Harrison

BIO

Stephen Bennett is an extraordinary musician, an acknowledged master of the harp guitar, a challenging teacher, a gifted composer, and a performer of astounding sensitivity. The Toronto Fingerstyle Guitar Association calls him “the Jedi Master of Fingerstyle Guitar”… Stephen has traveled the world and performed with the best. From California to Maine, Texas to Tennessee, as well as around Europe, Canada, Australia and Japan, Stephen has played all sorts of venues and events. He has released 20 recordings of music, along with a couple of DVDs, books and other instructional materials – and he’s always working on something new! The testimony of those who hear Stephen is that his work is the product of both mind and heart, intellectually challenging and emotionally satisfying – - and it is deeply personal, even as it is universal. Listeners have a feeling that they have stepped into the world of the musician, and for a short moment in time, there are only the two of them there. Says one reviewer: “With his ear near the body of the harp guitar, Mr. Bennett gave the impression of a father cradling a newborn baby . . . His performance was imbued with heart and grace.” The producer of a Texas music Festival writes, “Stephen’s music draws the listener in. He has the ability to make you feel as though you are a part of the music he is making. From France: “Stephen’s compositions are so beautiful, filled with great emotion and great sensitivity. He is one of those musicians who serve the music, and only the music.” “When I first heard him playing a few years ago in France, I felt like I had been pushed into a different world, where the lost emotions come back to your heart and make it beat in a different way. What Stephen can do, and few artists have this gift, is to speak directly to your heart and to move your best feelings!” Pierpaolo Adda, music journalist and festival promoter, Italy.“The image of Stephen Bennett embracing his harp guitar is the one that tends to linger. The fact that Stephen is only too happy to champion the cause of the harp guitar may inadvertently obscure his abilities on the six-string instrument. In what is becoming known as the Golden Age of Guitar Luthiery, it’s easy to overlook the fact that this is also the Golden Age of Guitar Playing. With six strings or more, as one of the most original and prolific composers and arrangers for the guitar on the current scene, Stephen Bennett is clearly a part of the latter heritage.” S. Rekas – Mel Bay Publications Stephen is also is the founder of the Harp Guitar Gathering, an event that celebrated its seventh season in October of 2009. The HGG seeks to celebrate all things harp guitar as it brings players, luthiers, scholars and fans together for a weekend of performances, workshops and camaraderie.Whether playing his great-grandfather’s harp guitar, slide on his National resonator guitar, or a standard six-string, Stephen Bennett is a musician to hear. His music has won awards and critical praise. In live performance and on record, his diverse musical influences and interests are joined in a life-long love affair with the sound of guitar strings. © 2009 Harp Guitar. Conforms to W3C Standard XHTML & CSS 2.8.6, http://truefiretv.net/sites/harpguitar2/?page_id=51

MORE ABOUT STEPHEN BENNETT

Stephen Bennett is one of the greatest performers and songwriters that we have ever had the pleasure of knowing. His music moves and inspires us to no end. Guitarist Stephen Bennett was born in Oregon, grew up in New York and has lived in Virginia for the last twenty-five years. Since his 1987 win at the National Flatpicking Championship, held in Winfield, Kansas, USA, he has come to be known as a guitar master, one who consistently garners critical praise and audience enthusiasm for his recordings and live performances. He is the only person to ever win awards in both flatpicking and fingerpicking styles in the nearly 30-year history of the National Guitar Championships. His arrangement and performance of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite has been played on radio stations around the United States and is regarded in some quarters as the alternative version. As one of the world's only performers on the too long neglected harp guitar, Stephen has created arrangements of classic tunes and composed new music as well. Three of his harp guitar compositions have been included in compilations on the Narada label, with the latest due out in March of 2001. Three other of his pieces have been licensed by the Bose Corporation. Stephen performs regularly around the US and recently in Europe as well, including a recent performance on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Armed with a standard six-string, an old National steel resonator guitar, his harp guitar, a broad repertoire, and thirty-five years of guitar playing experience, Stephen Bennett engages his audiences with an entertaining show of first-rate musicianship. © http://www.pick-uptheworld.com/featuredartist.html