~ Across The Universe ~
A Beatles Journey
12 Timeless Melodies as Performed by Eric Hansen


My first exposure to music was The Beatles. Growing up, trying to become an accomplished musician, and even today as I seek a new muse, I always go back to their recordings. What always strikes me is their brilliant use of melody and harmony; even in their most sophisticated arrangements what always stands out are the beautiful notes and lyrics. This compilation includes some of my favorite musical pieces, as well as others that I surprisingly rediscovered. I hope the listener can indulge and share the same moving musical experience that I felt recording this homage, and still feel whenever I perform these timeless melodies. Here is the track listing:

1. Michelle
Rubber Soul and Revolver are my favorite Beatles records. I think they really started to find their voice during these sessions and their song writing was really beginning to mature. Their experimental desires in the studio were also beginning to develop which would take their music to unprecedented heights. George Martin was helping them achieve pop music that was fresh and original. Michelle is one of my all time favorite melodies. When I was a kid I really liked the guitar solo in this tune. I had to do it here just so I could have a chance to play it myself.

2. Penny Lane
Penny Lane is an amazing composition. The melody is so easy to remember and fun to sing. The coronet solo is brilliant and was worth arranging for on it's own. This composition fits perfectly into any instrumental arrangement and sounded great in a two guitar format. My Ruck Classical guitar was sounding superb in the upper registers on this track.

3. If I Fell
I was listening to a favorite recording of mine entitled Brazilian Duos by Luciana Souza. It's nothing but guitar and voice performing Brazilian rhythms like Bosa Nova and Samba. I greatly admired Brazilian styles of guitar and always wanted to do something with that style. One afternoon I realized this style would be the perfect setting for an arrangement of "If I Fell". The chords are very jazzy and easily lend themselves to this style of music. I would really like to try this tune in a slower version with jazz quartet setting someday.

4. Strawberry Fileds Forever
Now this was a difficult tune for me to arrange. The Beatles version builds up wonderfully and has so much power with the layered drum tracks as the driving force in the final sections. I wanted to build up my arrangement with the same momentum and struggled at times to find effective ways to achieve this. I didn't want to go the easy way and just layer tons of guitar over each other. Eventually I was able to get some drama with the sweeping arpeggios behind th melody and a couple of simple harmonies to help thicken the up the sound as the arrangement progressed. The bizarre ending was another challenge with the solution being a minimalistic, Philip Glass inspired, sounding finale that fades out.

5. (The) Fool on the Hill
Fool on the Hill as well as Strawberry Fields comes from my third favorite Beatles Album of all time, The Magical Mystery Tour. It's such a sweet melody with a nice contrasting B section in a minor key. In the Beatles version there are two slide whistle solos which gave me the opportunity to do some improvisation. Something that is rare with Classical forms of music.

6. In My Life
The reason behind doing this arrangment was the awesome piano solo in the middle 8. I've always loved that solo and it sounds great with two guitars sharing the left and right hand piano parts. One of things I've always enjoyed with the Beatles were these interesting moments that would jump out of their music.

7. Girl
Girl was another challenging tune to arrange for. I wanted to keep the original "Italian" feel of this tune and make it fun for the listener to compare to the original version. The melody is not the easiest to adapt on a classical guitar. Some of the notes sustain a little longer than the guitar is good at doing so the tempo had to be just right in order to keep gaps from forming. The middle 8 section was especially difficult to arrange and I ended up with several version before settling with the one on the final release. I really like the counter melody that was played on the mandolin in the Beatles version. In my arrangement you can hear just how well that melody worked with the vocal melody.

8. I Feel Fine
This was a really fun tune to work on. Special thanks for Laurie Patti for the suggestion of the stops and slides in the first and second verses. Though this arrangment is the least classical sounding track on the CD it does a good job and breaking up the mood before the final 4 tracks are heard.

9. Across the Universe
Across the Universe is one of the songs that I overlooked when I was younger. I've grown to appreciate this composition very much recently. The lyrics and melody are probably some of John Lennon's finest work. Incredibly poetic and brilliantly composed it was such a pleasure to arrange. My arrangement starts off a little simple but builds up into a nice finale with influences of J. S. Bach. I particularly like the ending of the arrangement with the melody from the chorus being played in double time over the first guitar arpeggios.

10. She's Leaving Home
This was the first arrangement I composed for this project. It was more of a fun experiment than anything else at the time. The results were better than expected and thought it might be a good idea to do an entire CD of these arrangements. It would end up serving as a nice break from working on my smooth jazz project which I was having difficulty with at the time. She's Leaving Home is probably the least known tune in this collection but one the best melodies the Beatles ever recorded. The first time I heard this song I was completely blown away. I did use a pick (tremolo technique) on a couple of tracks to help with the long sustained notes in the chorus sections.

11. Here, There and Everywhere
Here, There and Everywhere is one of Paul's best ballads. The chord changes are great and the melody just fits within it perfectly. I was afraid my arrangement was a little too much on the simple side. Perhaps even a little to pretty but this track has turned out to be a favorite among many. It always gets a nice response when I perform it.

12. Eleanor Rigby, Arr. By Dr. Troy Gifford.
I have to give my friend Troy Gifford all the credit on this one. He has a Doctorate in composition from The University of Miami. We went to school together at Florida Atlantic University for our undergraduate degrees. Troy is now the head of the music department at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. Troy worked very hard on this arrangement in his spare time and it was a pleasure to record it. His arrangement is a powerful statement for the classical guitar and the perfect closer for the CD. The opening section showcases an improvisation that leads into a very deep and dramatic version of a classic Beatles track. In the final moments of this track there are 6 guitars layering over each other creating a wall of sound. When I was recording each track I had no idea how well they would fit together until I started mixing the tracks. I recorded this arrangement in one monster session on a Saturday afternoon that lasted 13 hours.

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