Finely selected boomer favorites and more

The soundtrack to Judd Apatow’s latest comedy, Funny People, is a terrific collection of favorite boomer artists in both familiar and less familiar contexts. Well-known tracks from Ringo Starr  (the 1973 George Harrison co-write, “Photograph”) and Warren Zevon (his devasating farewell, “Keep Me in Your Heart”) are complemented by thoughtful solo works from Paul McCartney (1997’s “Great Day”) and Robert Plant (2005’s “All the King’s Horses”), alternate takes, demos and live tracks by John Lennon (a demo of “Watching the Wheels”), Neil Diamond (an early take of “We”), James Taylor (a live version of “Carolina in My Mind”) and Wilco (a live version of “Jesus, etc.”).

Jason Schwartzman’s band, Coconut Records, sounds as if they were lifted from the early ‘70s when rock turned into glam and radio pop. Adam Sandler adds a low-key cover of the Beatles’ posthumous, “Real Love,” and a half-sung/half-standup novelty “George Simmons Soon Must Be Gone.” The latter’s mugging interrupts the album’s sincerity, and Maude Apatow’s cover of “Memory” from Cats might be charming once; but only once. Those two tracks aside, this album plays as a cohesive mix-tape rather than a series of marketing opportunities, and will please both those reliving the film’s story and those who simply like the collected artists. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]