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Covers better than Original

Jerry Callo

By Jerry Callo
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BoomMF

BoomMF 1402

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On 11/25/2020 at 2:45 PM, jimmyjazz said:

I don't understand why so many classical players can't even swing just a little bit.  No groove.  My sis is the same way.

Reminds me of that Eagles doc (that might have been linked on Shaggy or we might've talked about it elsewhere) where Don Henley, in full view of the orchestra they hired to back a track, turns to the camera and in that exasperated Don Henley way complains that the orchestra can't grasp the concept of "blues" and play with feeling. I always thought, beyond my initial reaction to just assume Henley is habitually being a dick for its own sake, can you imagine if 60 classically taught musicians, who are trained to play in a specific, exact symphonic way, all suddenly try and "feel" the music instead? Probably gonna sound like cats fucking. What do you really want, Don? Go get a big band, dude, not the Philharmonic.

Whatevs, here's a cool version of I'm On Fire. I'm hesitant to call it better as this one of the few Springsteen songs I really dig. (All my favorite Springsteen songs are sung by Huey Lewis and the News loo) But the Springsteen video for this song is straight bullshit. Carson McKee has a great feel and it warms my ever aging heart kids today can appreciate these old jams on a seemingly personal level:

 

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tbone_

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Yeah, but you'd have to be half deaf to transcribe her opening violin riff the way she did.  I mean, just ape the song, it's not exactly difficult.  She literally straightened the phrase out, for no good reason at all.  Maybe it's just the lack of bends, which is probably a no-no on violin.  My guess is she had it transcribed to notation and played it off that, instead of listening to the track.
Not a big deal, just weird to me.

Agreed.

However I will give that guy props for hitting the Brad Delp notes.
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jimmyjazz

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kd lang kills "Hallelujah".  Any version.  They're all stellar.  I don't really get the Buckley/Wainwright versions.  I mean, Rufus changed the word from "ya" to "you", which is stupid.

Example 1a:  her pitch control is absolutely mind-blowing, and her interpretation of the lyric is exquisite.  She gets it.

 

 

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Jerry Callo

Jerry Callo 8958

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4 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Addendum:  I seriously cannot think of a singer who so effortlessly nails pitch center as kd lang does.  She is extraordinarily talented.

She is amazing and I forget about her until something like this pops up.

I'd love to hear Alison Krauss do a version of Hallelujah.  I quick google search didn't find anything, but she'd nail it.

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jimmyjazz

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31 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

That KD Lang is insane. Talk about holding a room in the palm of your hand.

It's really extraordinary, isn't it?  And when you watch her subtle hand motions and body movements, you start to understand how deeply she inhabits that song.

Plus, what might be my favorite lyric of all time (not crediting her, but of course Leonard Cohen):

 

Maybe there's a God above

But all I've ever learned from love

Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya'

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0xdeadbeef

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7 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

kd lang kills "Hallelujah".  Any version.  They're all stellar.  I don't really get the Buckley/Wainwright versions.  I mean, Rufus changed the word from "ya" to "you", which is stupid.

Example 1a:  her pitch control is absolutely mind-blowing, and her interpretation of the lyric is exquisite.  She gets it.

 

 

Wow.

This cover does indeed meet the criteria of the thread title.   

I'm not really familiar with kd lang as an artist, it seems like I mostly recall her for talking about her sexuality on talk shows or pissing off cattle farmers, but damn, can she sing. I clicked on the link expecting to give it the proverbial Gong after 10-20 seconds, but this one made it to the end...twice. 

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tbone_

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I always understood that most of these big public performance things were pre recorded and lip synced. Because typically they just can’t afford to risk any fuck ups.

And listening to that it sounds way to clear to be in a stadium. Maybe if she is really singing it’s a recording direct into the board?

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jimmyjazz

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4 minutes ago, tbone_ said:

I always understood that most of these big public performance things were pre recorded and lip synced. Because typically they just can’t afford to risk any fuck ups.

And listening to that it sounds way to clear to be in a stadium. Maybe if she is really singing it’s a recording direct into the board?

I can't see any way it wasn't live.  The little breaths, etc., they're all dead on.  That said, she's so good she could probably sync perfectly to a pre-recorded track.

But yes, a good mic for live performance (strong off-axis rejection) and decent separation from what is obviously a quiet crowd, it's possible it's just a straight feed.

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jimmyjazz

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Wow, that Tracy Chapman clip is stellar.  She's so good.  It's funny, she is like the other side of the same coin with kd lang, both have phenomenal vocal control, but Tracy has a consistent tiny vibrato that moves about pitch center -- intentionally (or at least naturally) of course -- whereas kd has no vibrato whatsoever.  Both of them are absolutely dead nuts nails when it comes to pitch center, though.

I had never seen that version of "Stand By Me".  It almost has an African vibe to it, the way she crafts the rhythm (and no, I'm not saying that because she's black).  Wow, again.  That one's going in the rotation.

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HamsterHookah

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On 1/25/2023 at 1:54 PM, Wiler77 said:

SIAP

I'm not sure I can say it's better than the original, because the original is so iconic, but this version makes the hair on the arms stand straight up.

 

I LOVE Tracy Chapman and have always celebrated her entire catalog. Love that cover song, thanks for posting.

One of my favorite samples of TC was a zany freestyle by a rapper at SXSW. It's a beautiful juxtaposition of melody and existential chaos: 

"Shawl neck on a drunk lawyer

Coke sh*ts in the toilet

Turkey sandwich in aluminum foil"

Preach.

 

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Chad Fuck

Chad Fuck 18134

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6 hours ago, irishtexan said:


This is what I was going to post. I very much prefer this version to the original, which is still pretty fucking awesome.

They also recorded it like a year after the original came out, which is pretty ballsy.

True, and it was at a time when covers had fallen out in favor of originals.  Not like the 60s when everyone covered everyone whenever.  I mean, Hendrix covered Sgt. Pepper's like the day after it came out.  

 

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Gil Bang

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I remember the first time I heard of kd lang. 

My folks went to a country show...I have no idea who they saw.  This was early 80's I'm guessing?  Anyway, they come home and my dad is raving about this "little bull dyke" that opened the show that's the "best goddamn singer" he's ever heard.

Now, this was a long time ago, and my 88 year old West Texas born pops has evolved quite a bit, but I have a vivid memory of his description of her. 

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