Jackie Lomax
Is This What You Want?

LA RECENSIONE

In 1968, the Beatles were fully committed to acting as talent scouts and releasing whatever was pitched to them without worrying about the consequences, which would soon lead to the downfall of Apple.
In this case, more than a charitable act towards a budding artist, it was, above all, a personal favor from George Harrison primarily and the other Beatles towards an old friendship that dates back to the Hamburg days.

Jackie Lomax is not a good singer, not much better than Ringo, and he's a decent guitarist, a few notches below George. His songs are nothing special, an unpretentious pop/rock in line with the standards of the era set by the quartet in which his childhood friend played.

There isn't much to say about the tracks on the album. The title track is clearly a plagiarism of I Am the Walrus; surely John would have taken it badly if he ever listened to it. Sour Milk Sea was written by George for the White Album and later discarded. It's the most rock n' roll piece on the album and certainly the best... too bad it's not his original work.

Participating actively in the recordings were musicians like Eric Clapton on lead guitar, Billy Preston on keyboards, Klaus Voormann on bass, Mal Evans on special effects, and naturally three of the Beatles (George, Paul, and Ringo on their respective instruments) along with many other illustrious figures supporting a somewhat bland repertoire that, rather than aiming for the charts, sounds like a reunion of old friends who just want to have fun.

I don't know if they had fun playing it, but certainly listening to it isn't fun at all, in fact, it becomes boring even before the end of the first listen.