Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
The history of rock music's occasional flirtations with the symphony orchestra is as long as it is spotted. But this odd, inaccurately billed (Keith Richards' participation was minimal) 1966 collection was one of the first, the brainchild of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, whose ambitions to become something akin to the UK's Phil Spector had already produced some Stones' covers via the Andrew Oldham Orchestra. Now punningly renamed the Arranbee Pop Symphony this collection follows the same tack, covering artists such as the Beatles, Sonny & Cher, Moody Blues, Four Seasons, and Wilson Pickett. The Stones, of course, are thick in the mix, with three of the four songs covered here being unreleased at the time of the album's production; Richards' involvement was largely for promotional purposes. By today's standards Oldham's middle Baroque, starched-collar arrangements would be considered either ironic or downright kitschy, though his string quartet driven 'Play With Fire' and 'Mother's Little Helper' are imbued with a strange, intriguing drama. This remastered edition's bonus cut, a cover of Otis Redding's 'I've Been Loving You Too Long,' also features a single verse inexplicably sung by Mick Jagger. --Jerry McCulley

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Disc 1:

1. There's a Place - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Lennon, John
2. Rag Doll - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Crewe, Bob
3. I Got You Babe - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Bono, Sonny
4. We Can Work It Out - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Lennon, John
5. Play With Fire - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Jagger, Mick
6. I've Been Loving You Too Long - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Butler, Jerry
7. Mother's Little Helper - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Jagger, Mick
8. In the Midnight Hour - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Cropper, Steve
9. Take It or Leave It - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Jagger, Mick
10. Sittin' on a Fence - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Jagger, Mick
11. I Don't Want to Go on Without You - Aranbee Pop Symphony Orchestra, Berns, Bert

Rating: - * Not quite your usual \"easy listening\"... ... Ok, of course "Aranabee" simply means R&B as in "rhythm and blues," but there isn't a whole lot of R&B in here. This diverges from most similar efforts (orchestral takes on pop songs) in that some of the melodies aren't quickly recognizable. You don't always find yourself humming the tune being covered. You can't record "I Got You Babe" without it being recognizable, but that doesn't apply to all of the covers. And it's nice that Mr. Jagger gave us a vocal on the last song. A few more cameo vocals would have been even better. This isn't individualistic enough to move it totally away from the old "easy listening" music category, but it does have some level of uniqueness.