Yim Yames: Tribute To (ATO)

Yim Yames

Tribute To

ATO

Sep 28, 2009 Web Exclusive By Frank Valish

When ex-Beatle George Harrison died in 2001, My Morning Jacket's Jim James was so moved that he recorded these stripped down versions of classic Harrison songs just days after the songwriter's passing. To say these versions, credited to Yim Yames, are mournful is an understatement. "Love You To," one of Harrison's contributions to Revolver, substitutes the original's jaunty sitar for a sadly plucked banjo. "My Sweet Lord" sounds positively elegiac and prayer-like. "All Things Must Pass" is gravely serious and sentimental. Even "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" can jerk a tear by its fourth minute. And on "Behind That Locked Door," when James sings, "It's time we start smiling/What else should we do?," it sounds like he is trying to convince himself. There is beauty in these renditions, a beauty weighed by the heavy grace of circumstance. The songs take on a new, more sorrowful meaning here. It is the perfect tribute, and enough to make you mourn Harrison's loss once again, eight years later. (www.yimyames.com)

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