TV REVIEW : A Nice, If Un-Fab, Salute to the Beatles

Marking the 30th anniversary of the Beatles’ first No. 1 hit in Great Britain, an assortment of contemporary musicians representing several genres pay homage to the fabbest of foursomes by dipping into the Lennon & McCartney catalogue for “A Beatles Songbook” (at 8 tonight on KCET-TV Channel 28, 7 p.m. on KPBS-TV Channel 15 and KVCR-TV Channel 24).

Nice idea for a special, but an even nicer idea for a weekly series lasting into perpetuity, no?

A Beatlemaniac might yearn for more of what’s represented here not just because the group’s songbook is close to a hundred tunes deep in eager-to-be-covered classics, but also because no one among this hour’s seemingly random sample of acts quite lands on a transfixing interpretation, though the show is pleasant enough and all involved turn in at least serviceable renditions of the chosen work.

Dr. John brings a slight swampland ambience and a tinge of boogie-woogie to “Come Together” and “Get Back,” respectively. Kathy Mattea tosses her moptop around like Paulie used to while making “The Night Before” into a brisk country lament. Upping the cute quotient even further, the Bobs do “Strawberry Fields Forever” a cappella, complete with weird coda (but, alas, without mumbling “cranberry sauce”).

Local faves Los Lobos, not really known for their psychedelic binges, take a fair if unremarkable stab at “Tomorrow Never Knows.” Buddy Guy is seemingly more of a natural for “Yer Blues” but, curiously, treats the dirge as a sexy lark, not a suicide note. Nils Lofgren slows “Any Time at All” down into a mid-tempo blues-rocker, shortly before the full cast re-emerges for the hour’s one truly dreadful moment, a closing sing-along of “Let It Be.”

All the artists are quality acts--even the guy who plays “Yesterday” on a saw--but their inclusion here, and the gigantic Kentucky Center for the Arts as filming site, appear to be arbitrary choices. For a one-time tribute, the Beatles deserved something either more adventurous or more relevant; then again, if PBS were to heed our advice about making this a regular series, we’d call it a nice start.