Beelzebub BIAB

Blood and Roses

2009-10-21T17:05:00.002+10:00

Not dead - just busy.

Let's see now - miserable bastard songs. This is a great song from The Smithereens. Click on the title to hear my version.

Life gets Better...again

2009-04-25T00:48:00.002+10:00

This is more what I had in mind. GPs original is great but it is very jaunty.

This is just guitar (no BIAB at all this time) and vocal.

Life gets better

2009-04-25T00:32:00.002+10:00

New idea...

A lot of uptempo songs are really sad bastard singer songwriter fodder. I'm going to recover the misery from some songs. First cab off the rank is Graham Parker's Life Gets Better.

This try is almost all BIAB with just a little guitar riff on a real guitar. I've taken an axe to my voice with doubling and compression. I don't think it works but it's an attempt.

Just Another Nervous Breakdown

2009-04-09T20:32:00.002+10:00

This is getting silly now. It seems when approaching sophisticated muscianship I resort to Gumby style music. This another attempt at a song from Breakfast in America that wasn't finished before the deadline for Coverville.

Take the Long Way Home

2009-03-29T13:28:00.002+10:00

This is a bit of a joke, too. I was trying to see how noisy I could get BIAB and then added brainless grungy guitar and keyboards. Supertramp minus subtlety and a singing voice. However, my fourteen year old son who hates everything I record on principle, thought it was better than usual because it didn't sound much like me. Bonus points for picking that the different mixes of the backing rack are recorded twice slightly out of sync rather than just tweaked later. I used to do this with two reel to reels in the old days - the horror.

Lord is it Mine

2009-03-29T13:20:00.002+10:00

Well that didn't work.

I tried to do this properly. There's no BIAB here just 6 string, 12 string, bass and ukelele. Unfortunately I couldn't stay even close to in tune this time so I gave up. My wife Robyn had a go with a different arrangement for Coverville. The only thing that survived in her version was the little uke riff.

The Logical Song

2009-02-19T20:13:00.002+10:00

Ok this is really a terrific song from "Breakfast in America."

My only beef is that the instrumental at the end suggests that the singer has escaped from the restricted world he describes. My version suggests he did not. I wanted it mechanical and stripped back for the most part, but there is a tubular bells alert on this track.

I was trying for Gary Numan synths at one point but wound them back to a much smaller part. I'm trying to talk the song which means I probably do a bit of a Shatner.

Click the title to hear the result.

Casual Conversations

2009-02-17T20:43:00.004+10:00

Brian at Coverville (http://coverville.com/) has invited contributions for virtual tribute album to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of "Breakfast in America" by Supertramp.

This is no easy task as the hits are so well known that they are hard to approach and the album tracks are either all over the place or seriously pretentious and in some cases very lame. I don't know what I'll submit but I'll have a go at a few in the hope one is at least presentable.

I'm starting with a song that is hard to like. It is wimpy and whingy and Supertramp's version manages to sound like it was recorded in MIDI before MIDI was invented.

Such pomposity begs for a cuzzoo solo and ukelele backing and I couldn't resist. Click on the title above to hear my version which is so much more fun but much less appropriate than Supertramp's.

Play that Funky Music

2009-01-18T20:32:00.003+10:00

Since I've run out of BIAB recordings that I'm happy to post - unless I get very drunk - this is something very strange. I must have recorded this in the 1980s and it is basically using various applications on a Commodore 64 multitacked to a 4 track cassette recorder. It is far too long and very silly but am not exactly sure how it was possible.

Monday Monday

2009-01-18T20:25:00.002+10:00

Hmm - an unremarkable cover. If you've just come across this blog listen to the first ones I posted - I think they are better. Otherwise, click on the title to hear this one.

The Mamas and the Papas made their very basic song into something wonderful.

I'm a Believer

2009-01-18T20:18:00.001+10:00

A fun song to play. I'm clearing a backlog of songs to encourage myself to do some more recording.

The Monkees version is great but Neil Diamond's original still is the best.

April After All

2009-01-18T20:09:00.003+10:00

This is a cheat because I don't use Band in a Box at all on it.

My daughter was cajoled into adding cello with no practice to make it less obvious I couldn't hit the low note!

I couldn't find Ron Sexsmith's original but I did find a really good cover.

Mr Tamborine Man

2008-11-11T21:53:00.002+10:00

Click on the title to hear layers of guitars real and BIAB literally cover this Dylan track (via the Byrds).

Just for contrast here's the Byrds cover.

All Messed Up

2008-10-16T21:12:00.002+10:00

Click on the title to hear a cover of Peirce Turner's "All Messed Up."

Sorry nothing on U-Tube for this.

Hazy Shade of Winter Again

2008-09-26T19:21:00.002+10:00

On the other hand you could remove the hook from the sing and choose an inappropriate Latin Beat to see what happened. Click on the title to hear how it all went wrong.

Hazy Shade of Winter

2008-09-26T19:14:00.002+10:00

Click on the title to hear a version of this song.

This is just a MIDI backing this time based on a BIAB file plus the riff and brass added on Cakewalk. I made the backing some time ago and added grubby guitar work and vocals recently.

Of course you could just listen to the gorgeous Simon and Garfunkel original:

A Whiter Shade of Pale

2008-09-25T18:08:00.004+10:00

Click on the link to hear this cover.

This song is a Bach ripoff with ludicrously pretentious lyrics but is nonetheless so "of the moment" to be valued.

Now if you were covering this gem you'd do it to a reggae beat with a synthesized Mariachi brassband doing the organ part... and so would I.

If you want the original go here:

I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass

2008-07-26T17:45:00.003+10:00

Click on the title for my funky and fun version of this Nick Lowe song.

People used to say that Nick Lowe just nicked things on the wonderful "Jesus of Cool" album. You know, "So It Goes" is Steely Dan and Breaking Glass is David Bowie, blah blah blah.

Nonsense - the bass line alone of this song makes it stand out.

I don't know what the visuals on this clip are all about the song is the original.

Just Walk Away Renee

2008-07-19T16:40:00.004+10:00

Click on the title to hear my cover of this daggy great.

The original has strings, timpani, a flute solo, the kitchen sink, etc.

You'll see:

Cool non?

Ruby Tuesday

2008-07-15T20:11:00.004+10:00

Click on the title to hear my cover of Ruby Tuesday. I had fun with some toy keyboards that survived from the 80s. I wanted to create seriously dischordant noise - like Polyphonic Spree in a Box.

I only loved this song because my older sister had a Melanie album with it on. I do like the Rolling Stones original, but my heart is with Melanie. Is it just me or is this just same song as As Tear Go By. It's still great.

Build me Up Buttercup

2008-07-08T20:50:00.003+10:00

Click on the link to hear me start this song with an out of tune yell. Never mind, its still a great sing a long song and another classic great of the Bubblegum era.

I know the clip of The Foundations would have been nice but this anime silliness from Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy is fun and my third daughter would approve.

Good Vibrations

2008-07-05T22:36:00.002+10:00

Brian Wilson took months over his masterpiece.

I didn't. Click on the title above to see why craftmanship and time are not essential if you aren't serious.

Of course you could listen to the original.

Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes

2008-06-15T14:43:00.003+10:00

Click on the title to hear my cover.

This song is the Citizen Kane of bubblegum. Written for a studio group, when it hit big the band, Edison Lighthouse, had to be created.

It was covered with no commercial success at all by the Reels who did achieve commercial success with their cover of Bad Moon Rising. Perhaps Dave Mason's melancholic voice, which suited their despondent cover of the CCR song, just was not convincing on their poppier than pop version of Love Grows.

The original version is just great.

My version shows off the real instruments on BIAB when I let a solo saxophone noodle along for ages at the end. It seemed to be having such a good time I couldn't bring myself to lop it off. Note the key change was left in - wow.

Good Lovin'

2008-06-08T17:18:00.002+10:00

Click on the above title to hear my cover of Good Lovin'.

Since this song has Latin forebears I've turned things back with latin percussion albeit with ukelele and nylon string acoustic guitar. Oh and the alien chipmunks sing along.

I'm told the Young Rascals didn't do this first but theirs is the version I know.

The record's count in was all over the stereo spectrum and the song just rocketed along - another classic.

California Dreaming

2008-06-03T19:22:00.003+10:00

Click on the title to hear my cover of California Dreaming.

Lets's see.

The Beach Boys covered this. Jose Feliciano covered this. Even Queen Latifa covered the damn thing so why not me?

My version has lots of 12 string electric and some ropey harmony singing. The original only has the 12 string.

Nowhere Man

2008-05-27T20:00:00.002+10:00

Click on the title above to hear my cover of "Nowhere Man".

Don't cover the Beatles they say - because - everyone else does and it is never as good as the Beatles version.

...but that means my version will be seen as just another half baked attempt and will therefore carry no expectations. Brilliant no...

I'm making up the guitar riff as I go along in several different ways and I undoubtedly and perhaps unintentionally capture a certain pathetic quality that suits the song. They say John was writing this about himself. I'd rather apply it to Jeremy in "Yellow Submarine".

Venus

2008-05-22T19:55:00.003+10:00

Click the title above to hear my cover of "Venus" by Shocking Blue.

OK, everybody does this. Even Bananarama. And the last thing the world needs in another version.

BUT...

It's so much fun - even if yours truly struggles with the worlds simplest riff.

Best ever version. The Riptides. In 1983 INXS played Luna Park in Sydney but I went to see their support band "The Riptides" from Brisbane who did, amongst other things, a blistering version of Venus. It is available on their live double album, "Resurface" in a much later version.

That's the original in all its sixties glory.

Groovy.

Waterloo Sunset

2008-05-16T20:15:00.003+10:00

Click on the title above to hear my cover.

There are some songs that should never be covered.

So I'm going to do them.

Waterloo Sunset is a damn near perfect popsong. It is achingly sad but somehow uplifting at the same time. Mid 60s Kinks captured such a delightfully light take on pop music which is remarkable considering the grungy guitars before and heavy handed hits afterwards.

My version is meant to sound like a mildly psychotic musicbox. Even if you find my version on the nose, it's a great excuse to enjoy the original.

More sacrilege upon the classics soon...

New Slang

2008-05-03T17:48:00.004+10:00

As feared I have attacked a newish song.

What a remarkable band the Shins are. I mean they're just kids and they write an oblique sad song as good as this and sing it as if they were from New Zealand in the late 1980s. How is this possible?

If anything I've made my version more obviously sad on several levels. It is still a good song.

Sunshine Superman

2008-04-24T08:33:00.003+10:00

This is probably Donovan's finest moment.

Incidentally, I originally decided to start recording these things to get the hang of the improvements to BIAB and particularly to get over the learning curve with my little recorder. As someone who used to achieve flanging by using two reel to reels and putting my finger on the flange of the reel while rerecording the same track sequentially, it is a novelty to just be given the option of several flanging effects. You can hear it on this track, but I did resort to some cuzzoo noises to dirty things up a bit plus lots of guitar on top of the BIAB as well.

The plan was to write some songs that would be worth recording - hasn't happened. So I'll keep mucking around with the old songs. I should find a recent song worthy of desecration - I take requests!

Hoover Factory

2008-04-22T20:08:00.005+10:00

This is a terrific Elvis Costello song. His recording of it does not do it justice although this fragmentary demo on U tube is better.

Toris Amos does a live version that is probably too etherial for my taste that you can find on SeeqPod. (I did embed this initially but it loaded the whole song everytime the page opened and that is annoying - oh well - still learning)

The lyrics of this song are superb and I actually try to be serious on this (usually this just makes things sillier). I was playing with real drums and soloists on BIAB and add some ukelele myself. Have a listen.

The Rain, The Park and Other Things

2008-04-22T17:08:00.004+10:00

This song is deleriously loopy in the original from the sound effects at the beginning to the harp fuelled breaks where they catch their breath - it is a delight. The Cowsills share this heady atmosphere with the Mamas and the Papas and Spanky and our Gang but rarely was it put together so beautifully. On the other hand I suspect that anyone, who when asked how they are, says anything more than two "happys" is probably manic.

This is a song that I would love the Polyphonic Spree to tackle. Coming from a completely different tack, my version is much more aggressive and silly! It also shows I don't believe in pitch correction - alas I can't sing in tune either. Click on the title above if you dare.

Blinded by the Light

2008-04-20T16:46:00.007+10:00

This song to me will always be the single version by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. I still have the 45 rpm 7 inch copy with Starbird No.2 on the flip side. It had so much excitement and class pumped into a tiny package that the longer album version on the cassette of Roaring Silence I bought in 1977 never seemed quite right.

The musical joke of chopsticks in the instrumental isn't as clever as I thought it was then but it is still fun and Chris Thompson's vocals are superb. My children only know him from his small part in Jeff Wayne's "War of the Worlds" and he sure looked different from the 70s when that show toured here last year. I tried hard to regard MMEB as dinosaurs when New Wave hit but I could never really give up on them although I did seem to buy all their albums as cassettes from discount bins. Most of these are struggling to function in the 21st century and have been repaired once or twice.

Now Bruce Springsteen's original was unknown to me until much later and it is the MMEB version that I am covering in reality. The only other version I've heard is the weird latin version Bruce concocted recently.

I tried years ago to make a Band in a Box file of this song and it sounded ludicrous. I recently played with it again and hit upon a mindless thumping that seemed to suit. Through the magic of the Boss DR 600 my 12 string electric sounds like a wah wah pedal out of hell was strapped on and the result is pleasingly chaotic.

If I've figured out Box.net you should be able to hear the thing if you happen to stumble upon this blog.

Life is too serious

2008-04-20T14:25:00.000+10:00

Yes life is far too serious.

To that end and to the horror of my family I have resumed making music in my bedroom. This is an activity from my youth when it meant reel to reel tape and instruments like ukeleles, stylophones and cuzoos. In the late 70s and early 80s I was involved with largely mythical bands whose tapes were accurately reviewed as "redefining primitive and eccentric." We wrote our own stuff and were a dreadful preview of what would later be done properly by They Might Be Giants. The recordings exist and sound as bad as ever.

I also recognise myself as the last person on the planet to have a blog. The blogs I admire are serious, thought provoking and enlarge my perception of the world.

This one doesn't do that.

This blog is devoted to cover songs and in particular my flawed but fun attempts to do justice to my favourite songs. I am hamstrung by a voice that should have been drowned at birth and an attention span that determines that I work fast and sloppily. In the words of the great Nick Lowe, "bash it out" - although he would add "tart it up later."

I should note that my lifelong love of covers has been reawakened by the wonderful Brian Ibbot's "Coverville", which has become essential listening.

I'm might add that the versions I hope to make are not entirely serious. In fact, I have learnt to my ongoing astonishment that the more seriously I take an attempt the sillier it inevitably sounds and the more ambitious the song the more ludicrous the outcome. However, just as I have friends who enjoy to paint in the full knowledge that they will never be hung in the gallery, I will open the aural waterpaint tin and splash away.

As soon as I figure out box.net and all that I'll post a song along with commentary on why the original is so great.