I Am Sam - Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture [Soundtrack]

i am sam - music from and inspired by the motion picture [soundtrack]

Track Listings

1. Two of Us - Aimee Mann & Michael Penn

2. Blackbird - Sarah McLachlan

3. Across the Universe - Rufus Wainwright

4. I'm Looking Through You - The Wallflowers

5. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - Eddie Vedder

6. Strawberry Fields - Ben Harper

7. Mother Nature's Son - Sheryl Crow

8. Golden Slumbers - Ben Folds

9. I'm Only Sleeping - The Vines

10. Don't Let Me Down - Stereophonics

11. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Black Crowes

12. Julia - Chocolate Genius

13. We Can Work It Out - Heather Nova

14. Help - Howie Day

15. Nowhere Man - Paul Westerberg

16. Revolution - Grandaddy

17. Let It Be - Nick Cave

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Jessie Nelson's poignant tale of a mentally challenged man named Sam (Sean Penn) who recruits a lawyer to help him regain custody of his young daughter leans heavily on the lead character's obsession with Beatles songs, and his innocent trust in their wisdom and emotional truth. It's an artistic gambit that shrewdly lends itself to this mostly rewarding collection of Beatles covers by a wide range of contemporary artists, many of whom no doubt leapt at the chance to record a treasured song by their own musical heroes. The renditions are by and large faithful, and inform the elemental genius of the originals by the strength and variety of the artist's voices alone. The husband-wife team of Aimee Mann and Michael Penn (Sean's brother) can't help but find resonance in "Two of Us," just as Nick Cave's latter-day, heart-on-his-sleeve crooner infatuation makes "Let It Be" all his own. It's the reinterpretations that are riskier. While Paul Westerberg's stripped-down, nasal reading of "Nowhere Man" perceptively underscores Lennon's inherent Dylan fetish and Howie Day turns "Help!" from anxious plea to desperate dirge, Grandaddy smugly alt-rocks the energy right out of "Revolution." The Beatles hardly need anyone to burnish their reputation, but this album goes a long way toward underscoring their most undersung legacy as rock's most transcendent melting pot. -Jerry McCulley

I Am Sam - Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture,Various Artists,V2 Ada,Alternative Pop/Rock,Pop,Pop/Rock,Soundtrack,Soundtracks,Soundtracks & Film Scores,Tribute Albums

I Am Sam - Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture [Soundtrack]

Average customer rating:

I Am Sam CD
I AM SAM SOUND TRACK IS GREAT!
Disc of Beatles Covers Offers Lots of Room for Reinterpretation, Some Quite Wonderful
Strawberry Fields Forever!...FIVE STARS PLUS for this music!
Touching Movie, Beautiful Soundtrack

I Am Sam - Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Manufacturer: V2 Ada
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Tributes | Pop | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
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I Am Sam

ASIN: B00005TT77
Release Date: 2002-01-08

Tracks:

Two of Us - Aimee Mann & Michael Penn
Blackbird - Sarah McLachlan
Across the Universe - Rufus Wainwright
I'm Looking Through You - The Wallflowers
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - Eddie Vedder
Strawberry Fields - Ben Harper
Mother Nature's Son - Sheryl Crow
Golden Slumbers - Ben Folds
I'm Only Sleeping - The Vines
Don't Let Me Down - Stereophonics
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Black Crowes
Julia - Chocolate Genius
We Can Work It Out - Heather Nova
Help - Howie Day
Nowhere Man - Paul Westerberg
Revolution - Grandaddy
Let It Be - Nick Cave

Amazon.com

Jessie Nelson's poignant tale of a mentally challenged man named Sam (Sean Penn) who recruits a lawyer to help him regain custody of his young daughter leans heavily on the lead character's obsession with Beatles songs, and his innocent trust in their wisdom and emotional truth. It's an artistic gambit that shrewdly lends itself to this mostly rewarding collection of Beatles covers by a wide range of contemporary artists, many of whom no doubt leapt at the chance to record a treasured song by their own musical heroes. The renditions are by and large faithful, and inform the elemental genius of the originals by the strength and variety of the artist's voices alone. The husband-wife team of Aimee Mann and Michael Penn (Sean's brother) can't help but find resonance in "Two of Us," just as Nick Cave's latter-day, heart-on-his-sleeve crooner infatuation makes "Let It Be" all his own. It's the reinterpretations that are riskier. While Paul Westerberg's stripped-down, nasal reading of "Nowhere Man" perceptively underscores Lennon's inherent Dylan fetish and Howie Day turns "Help!" from anxious plea to desperate dirge, Grandaddy smugly alt-rocks the energy right out of "Revolution." The Beatles hardly need anyone to burnish their reputation, but this album goes a long way toward underscoring their most undersung legacy as rock's most transcendent melting pot. -Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

I Am Sam CD.......2006-11-10

Beatle's lyrics combined with today's musical talent. A great combination! If you love the Beatles, you'll love this CD. I keep ordering "one more", it's taking care of a lot of people on my holiday gift giving list!

I AM SAM SOUND TRACK IS GREAT!.......2006-11-04

I REALLY ENJOYED THE MUSIC WHEN I WATCHED THE VIDEO AND FELT INCLINED TO BUY THE SOUND TRACK. I AM GLAD I DID. I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTD.

Disc of Beatles Covers Offers Lots of Room for Reinterpretation, Some Quite Wonderful.......2006-07-21

I have to admit I have never seen the 2001 movie from which this soundtrack is based, nor do I know the significance of the Beatles music to the characters. However, once I heard Rufus Wainwright's acoustic cover of "Across the Universe", a touching performance that puts his yearning, mournful voice to good use, I was curious what other surprises could be in store on this disc. I later found out the reason these musicians were recruited for the recording was a matter of economics. Producer Andy Gershon wanted to use the original Beatles recordings, but apparently, Michael Jackson, who owned the rights to the Lennon-McCartney catalogue, was charging $300K for each song they recorded. As it turns out, the resulting disc is pretty solid, offering a great variety of reinterpretations of familiar songs - some quite wonderful, others less so but none too painfully.

Husband-and-wife folk rockers Aimee Mann and Michael Penn kick things off with a pleasing version of the optimistic "Two of Us". Pleasing also describes Sarah McLachlan's take on "Blackbird", which is greatly aided by Sean Ashby's delicate strumming. The pace picks up with the Wallflowers' jaunty "I'm Looking Through You" complete with Rami Jaffee's Austin Powers-sounding keyboards and Jackson Browne providing harmony vocals. Eddie Vedder's uniquely scratchy vocal delivery is well served by "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" where he accompanies himself ably on guitar and harmonica. Ben Harper gets into an appropriately psychedelic mood for "Strawberry Fields Forever" with particularly lush strings and fulsome horns, though he gets carried away with the bombastic ending.

Things start to fluctuate at this point in the disc. Sheryl Crow sounds somnambulant and rather constricted on a country-twanged "Mother Nature's Son", a sub-par choice for her slick performing style; and the plaintive Ben Folds barely registers on the too-brief "Golden Slumbers". In the one track that sounds like a Fab Four impersonation (or more accurately, a Beatlemania facsimile), the Vines cover "I'm Only Sleeping" in a comparatively generic manner. The Stereophonics make "Don't Let Me Down" sound like a mid-1970's Rod Stewart pop-rocker, while the Black Crowes put their familiar blues-oriented stamp on the most psychedelic of Beatles songs, "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds".

Chocolate Genius, led by Marc Anthony Thompson, refashions John Lennon's touching paean to his mother, "Julia", into a hazy dirge that actually brings a surprising resonance to the song. However, sounding a bit too much like MacLachlan, singer-songwriter Heather Nova lends little distinction to her version of "We Can Work It Out", granted one of the most lightweight songs in the Lennon-McCartney canon. Howie Day effectively slows down "Help!" into an atmospheric, almost halting plea of quiet desperation. Dylan sound-alike Paul Westerberg croaks through "Nowhere Man" with little flair; and in perhaps the biggest departure from the original, the now-defunct indie band Grandaddy turns "Revolution" into a chugging slow-poke rocker. On the final track, Aussie musician Nick Cave lends his recognizably barren style to a somewhat desultory "Let It Be". It's a mixed bag for sure, but what really comes across is the unbeatable craftsmanship and magical yin-and-yang perfection of Lennon and McCartney.

Strawberry Fields Forever!...FIVE STARS PLUS for this music!.......2006-05-09

It will always be incredibly challenging to match the artistic talent that The Beatles possessed. Nevertheless, this set of songs by the artists on this CD is as good as it gets to achieving a proper, respectful tribute to The Beatles with thoughtful and passionate cover songs.

The CD has a whopping 17 tracks for almost an hour of music from the movie (or inspired by the movie) I Am Sam. The music was beautifully woven into the movie; but even with just this CD you'll be blown away! It's a must-have for fans of The Beatles, the artists here, and fans of great rock everywhere.

The CD starts off strong with a rendition of "Two Of Us" by Aimee Mann and Michael Penn. I think their personal relationship helped make them harmonize so well for this song. The Black Crowes do an excellent job with the musical arrangement for "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds;" the drums are first-class! Sheryl Crow injects a great country music accent to "Mother Nature's Son." Sarah McLachlan performs a very sensitive rendition of "Blackbird;" and the CD ends beautifully with one of my very favorite Beatles songs, "Let It Be" performed by Nick Cave with Chaz Jankel on piano. Awesome!

Amazon writes that some of the "reinterpretations (on this album)...are riskier." I don't agree. While risks were taken, you won't know it! For example, Grandaddy does a great job of adding their own spice to "Revolution" and Paul Westerberg's voice was rather pleasing to my ear on "Nowhere Man."

The quality of the sound is excellent; and all of the musical arrangements are very thoughtfully produced. The liner notes come with a few color pictures from the motion picture I Am Sam; and you also get the song credits.

Overall, this CD is the product of an exceptionally talented group of artists who perform a noticeably sensitive suite of covers of great Beatles songs. This album will touch a nerve in you and leave you wondering why they couldn't have recorded even more. The singers expressed even the finest of nuances in the meanings of every word in every song; and I treasure this album as one of my preferred CDs. If this were a vinyl album I would have worn the grooves off of it long ago.

Touching Movie, Beautiful Soundtrack.......2006-04-15

The music on this soundtrack compliments the movie alot. They're deep songs that fall into a deep story of a mentally ill man fighting for his right to care for his daughter. The songs on this CD are all meaningfull. They are all based off of Beatles songs. This album is 100% worth buying along with the movie.

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