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Listening to this now


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We're still doing that jazz disk for Band-in-a-Box, and there are a number of pop songs that have been done by jazz artists, like the one in the above post.

So we stumbled on:

Billie Jean - Ben Sharkey

Nice  vocals and arrangement, though I think the piano solo is a little weak.16 bars would have been enough for me. YMMV

 

 

Edited by Notes_Norton
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The Air That I Breathe by Albert Hammond. It's the original and I've always thought it was the best version out there. I always loved Phil Everly's version too. I like them both equally actually. Never cared for The Hollies version.

 

Sorry if this has been posted before. This thread is too huge to check. Hah.

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16 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

The early Beach Boys were steeped in the doo wop tradition. 

In all this time (that is, since the '60s), I never thought of how the amazing Beach Boys vocal sound grew out of doo-wop, but now that you mention it, it makes sense.  I had a Beach Boys listening binge within the past year (lots of behind-the-scenes documentary videos among other), but the next time I will be listening with new ears. ? 

4 hours ago, pwalpwal said:

zappa had a love of doo wop

Yup!!!  Listening to this now (just one of many he did):

 

 

 

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A game I play when watching old performances is identifying all the now-vintage instruments in use. Here we have the unique Yamaha CP-80 , an electric piano that had real piano strings inside, and an Oberheim OB-X - the rarely-seen 8-voice, split keyboard version that would have been the latest in cutting-edge tech in 1982.

 

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One of the fun aspects of doing fake disks for Band-in-a-Box that are compatible with off-the-shelf fake books from Hal Leonard and other publishers is making musical discoveries.

I know of Mel Tormé, a singer called "The Velvet Fog" a composer who wrote the music and co-wrote the words to "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Flame), and later abandoned the sappy velvet fog ballads for some quite impressive jazz singing including some decent scatting.

While searching for versions of the Gershwin Brothers' "Fascinating Rhythm" we came across this clip from an old TV show (back when the world was in black & white instead of color. The performance is very, very old school (corny by today's standards), done very well for that genre, and what surprised me is Mel was a very good drummer. He uses the preferable 'military grip' to hold the drum sticks, has great control, and plays some nice licks too.

I enjoyed it and hope some of you will too.

 

 

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