“Eleanor Rigby” by Bookie Baker - A Song/Video Feature

     It’s a Beatles’ song without a Beatle playing an instrument. Instead, eight studio musicians played string instruments. Bookie Baker took a different approach in their treatment of “Eleanor Rigby” – two acoustic guitars, a single violin, and drums. Their cover is powerful for reasons separate from those of the original.
 
     The first seconds of the cover are low resolution and quiet, encouraging the listener to “lean in.” It enhances the effectiveness of the power of the instruments that follow. The guitars are in the hands of the two members of Bookie Baker, namely Alex Montyro and Caolan O'Neill Forde. After a short time, the violin of Madeleine Watson joins. The violin takes a melodic approach, unlike the staccato of the Beatles’ release (which provides a tension, much like the violins for the iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”). The drummer is not shown in the video, but it’s Tonda Procházka. The dancer is shown – she is Daša Horváthová.
 
     The bio of Bookie Baker can be used for a geography lesson. Caolan O Neill Forde is from Ireland and Alex Montyro is Canadian. They explain:
  The collaboration began after Montyro opened a music venue in the Liaoning province of China and O’Neill-Forde wandered in looking for musical compatriots in a faraway land. Soon packing in large crowds to the ire of local communist party officials, the duo found themselves enduring multiple interrogations by local police after an arrest during a live performance. Released after being warned to never play music in the country again, they opened a map and considered options across the globe. One city became a clear standout due to its thriving renaissance of creativity, culture and commerce: Prague.

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Website: https://bookiebaker.com/
Bandcamp: https://bookiebaker.bandcamp.com/