Here’s an angle on The Beatles we hadn’t seen before: Shane O’ Donoghue decided to reimagine four of the Fab Four’s songs as bottles of booze, inspired by the staging of the rehearsal space featured in Peter Jackson’s “Get Back” miniseries.
We asked Shane how this came about, and he explained: “I’m an Irish illustrator, based in Dublin, and have long worked with musicians and bands, mostly friends, looking to release vinyl and requiring artwork. I love the buzz of a piece of music transforming into visuals and ending up as a gatefold vinyl (if I’m lucky) that we can hold in our hands and get a connection to the hidden world of the band.”
Shane said that when he watched the “Get Back” documentary, “I was awestruck at the front-row seat we were being given to the inner sanctum of The Beatles’ songwriting process. I’ve never been in a band, but suddenly here we were witnessing the birth of a chorus here, the ad-libbing of a verse there.
“Iconic songs were being built on bluesy riffs and emerging from the gags and knowing smiles shared by the band. Songs like ‘Dig a Pony,’ which I hadn’t given much thought to, I have to admit, were suddenly gaining more power. ‘Across the Universe’ was floating higher into spiritual territory, and ‘Let it Be’ was, well, epic.”
In addition to all that, Shane said, his view of the documentary was “enhanced by the undercurrent of a party vibe, wine being drunk, hungover mornings, and cups of tea. And then the warm gradients of the set in Twickenham Studios — reds, blues, greens in the psychedelic backdrop.”
He said he sat down to draw and “the concept came by imagining the songs out in the world after the recording session. Released, what could they become? I loved the idea that I was now armed with insight to the vibe of the song as it was created, and started to imagine each lyric had a personality.”
He explained those personalities:
“Let it Be” — “Very English and folky, as English as a Gordon’s G&T.”
“Get Back” — “Deep South and hard livin’ bourbon.”
“Dig a Pony” — “A rock ’n’ roll staple, no frills JD [Jack Daniels].”
“Across the Universe” — “Oh so dreamy, taking you on a trip, it had to be absinthe.”
To get the colors right, Shane said, “I moved to ProCreate, the ipad art program, and blended the trippy backgrounds to add that surreal feeling to the illustrations — the same feeling I got watching John, Paul, George and Ringo create magic. Jai guru deva om.”
Shane’s prints are available on Etsy. To purchase them, go to https://aweekendoutwest.etsy.com.
