What?
Oh. PSYCHE! Yeah, that totally didn't happen, the rumors to the contrary. But it sounded sooooooo good, I just had to see what it looked like in print. Actually, your KassaNostra was hard at work laying the groundwork for some very excellent forthcoming posts. Got lots to share with you guys, so let's get right into it.
In my last post before I closed down for the summer, I took a swipe at the Beatles and those who love their music.
(Hmmmm. . . the KassaNostra vs. the rest of the world. I like those odds!) But why make waves when you can make beautiful harmony? And so, what with numbers by the Fab Four permeating the slices, I thought about giving you guys some camp-related Beatles music to celebrate my grand re-opening. Beatles music being the greatest universal equalizer there is, it only stands to reason that we sing our fair share of it in Tolland. Think about it – go to a peace vigil, start singing Put My Name Down, and everyone else gives you some serious distance and the hairy eyeball. Anarchists? Separatist vegans? Father rapers? But break into All You Need Is Love, and everyone starts joining in like we was all on the same sing-down team. See? They really are more popular than Jesus.
Here's the thing: I could tell you that we sing Let It Be in camp, but would you really need me to follow-up with the actual tune? Wherever you are, reading this post right now, aren't there now at least 500 ways of immediately getting a copy of that song? Assuming that you somehow haven't already committed every cadence and tonal identifier of it to memory? You're thinking about it right now, aren't you? You're up to the part where Billy Preston comes in on the organ, right? Greatest universal equalizer. No joke.
Anyway, since what we do every time we sing Lennon/McCartney is perform a cover of the original, I thought it would be right and proper (and vastly more interesting) if I gave you some cover versions of the Beatles songs that have entered the Tolland canon over the years. So I made a list, pared it down to fifteen or so contenders, and then decided that not only did I not want to have to pick and choose between dynamite music, but that it would be way more cool if I gave you a Kinderland/Beatles tribute/extravaganza in three parts! Fifteen (maybe sixteen) tunes comin' atcha, all in the next three weeks.
But before we dive in, I should note that I'm using an extremely loose definition of what constitutes "Kinderland approved" in this case. Obviously, there are some songs that don't make for good singalong material, and so they're not widely performed in the Greater Tolland Area (though I'd kill to see Maddy tackle Tomorrow Never Knows). And while some of these are fairly obvious choices, I'll admit that some of them I'm a little sketchy on the whens and wheres. Feel free to register complaints in the comments section, for which my standard reply remains: start your own damn blog. The rest of you just rattle your jewelry.
First thing I got for ya'll is gonna make the purists howl. But the way I see it, this is way more than just a cover. Back in the day, DJ Jazzy Jeff was definitely Ringo to the johnpaulgeorge supernova that was his partner, Will Smith. I mean, you didn't even know he had a solo career, right? And yet years after the fact, he's still laying down beats (and frankly, proving just who had the superior musical chops in his old duo). His guest MC on this particular piece of sublimity is the indefatigable Biz Markie. That's right. . . it's an old school throwdown, and the Biz is most definitely up to the challenge. Which should come as no surprise – the Biz has that same manic energy that the Beatles did back when they were so cool they only wore black. If he showed up as a mad scientist in Help! or a train conductor in A Hard Day's Night, it wouldn't surprise you for a second.
DJ Jazzy Jeff feat. Biz Markie: $ Can't Buy Me Love
Speaking of Ringo's best-known malapropism, any Kinderland/Beatles tribute/extravaganza has got to include Gerry Tenney's homage to Liverpool's finest: Schvereh Togedike Nakht. During his stint as camp's music specialist, I remember Gerry explaining that in order to secure permission to record the song, he had to go through the reps of the guy who owned the rights to the Beatles' catalog at that time. My friends, let me go on record right here and now and declare that any song with a backstory that includes Gerry, the Beatles and Michael Jackson is an automatic fave of the KassaNostra. Performed with his then-band The Lost Tribe, with Gerry singing the lead himself (which I guess makes him the smart one). Definitely check out his blogsite to see which song gets the yiddisher treatment next.
Gerry Tenney & The Lost Tribe: Schvereh Togedike Nakht
One thing I find when listening to non-Beatles play Beatles songs is that it never pays to try and sound like the Beatles. Everybody in the world already knows what every Beatles song sounds like. There are Yanamamo tribesmen in the Amazon that mimic John's Scouser twang when they sing Eight Days a Week. It sounds painfully obvious, but the trick, I think, is to make the sound your own – to feel comfortable working in the material (this goes doubly when considering the iconic nature of the Beatles' catalog). I think that's what I like so much about David Porter's take on Help! Porter was Isaac Hayes' longtime writing partner at Stax Records before he tried his hand at a solo recording career in the early 70s. With Help!, he strips the song clean of the urgency that runs through the original. When John Lennon sings it, it's a young man crying out for support; when Porter sings it, it's with the self-assurance that comes with maturity. He's not asking for help, he's celebrating the fact that he already knows and trusts them that got his back.
David Porter: Help!
Next up. . . I say "Dionne Warwick," you say "Psychic Friends." It's a sad, sad thing that Warwick's gonna be remembered for everything but her best work. Screw yer Beatles, man – the single best moment in 60s music might just be the breakdown in Walk On By. Her talent notwithstanding, Warwick benefited from an early relationship with the songwriting team of Hal David and Burt Bacharach. That in turn created a lot of access to top arrangers and sessions men. Plus her label, Scepter Records, recognized her as their showcase artist and completely feted her. It's the factory approach to hitmaking, but hey. . . when it works, it surely does deliver. There's so much to like about her cover of We Can Work It Out, starting with the maudlin intro that quickly surges into an effortless groove. I always thought the Beatles got this one wrong. It reads like a statement or an affirmation, but they run through it so tepidly – if dude ever actually sang it to you like that, you'd be giggling inside of a minute. Fortunately, Warwick gets it for what it is, and completely blows the doors off of it. For me, this take tops both the original and the better-known Stevie Wonder version.
Dionne Warwick: We Can Work It Out
Finally. . . it's Otis Redding. And he's singing Day Tripper. Do you really need to know anything else? Man, this is so unbelievably good, I can't believe the Stax/Volt guys didn't release this as a single.
Here's the thing: I could tell you that we sing Let It Be in camp, but would you really need me to follow-up with the actual tune? Wherever you are, reading this post right now, aren't there now at least 500 ways of immediately getting a copy of that song? Assuming that you somehow haven't already committed every cadence and tonal identifier of it to memory? You're thinking about it right now, aren't you? You're up to the part where Billy Preston comes in on the organ, right? Greatest universal equalizer. No joke.
Anyway, since what we do every time we sing Lennon/McCartney is perform a cover of the original, I thought it would be right and proper (and vastly more interesting) if I gave you some cover versions of the Beatles songs that have entered the Tolland canon over the years. So I made a list, pared it down to fifteen or so contenders, and then decided that not only did I not want to have to pick and choose between dynamite music, but that it would be way more cool if I gave you a Kinderland/Beatles tribute/extravaganza in three parts! Fifteen (maybe sixteen) tunes comin' atcha, all in the next three weeks.
But before we dive in, I should note that I'm using an extremely loose definition of what constitutes "Kinderland approved" in this case. Obviously, there are some songs that don't make for good singalong material, and so they're not widely performed in the Greater Tolland Area (though I'd kill to see Maddy tackle Tomorrow Never Knows). And while some of these are fairly obvious choices, I'll admit that some of them I'm a little sketchy on the whens and wheres. Feel free to register complaints in the comments section, for which my standard reply remains: start your own damn blog. The rest of you just rattle your jewelry.
First thing I got for ya'll is gonna make the purists howl. But the way I see it, this is way more than just a cover. Back in the day, DJ Jazzy Jeff was definitely Ringo to the johnpaulgeorge supernova that was his partner, Will Smith. I mean, you didn't even know he had a solo career, right? And yet years after the fact, he's still laying down beats (and frankly, proving just who had the superior musical chops in his old duo). His guest MC on this particular piece of sublimity is the indefatigable Biz Markie. That's right. . . it's an old school throwdown, and the Biz is most definitely up to the challenge. Which should come as no surprise – the Biz has that same manic energy that the Beatles did back when they were so cool they only wore black. If he showed up as a mad scientist in Help! or a train conductor in A Hard Day's Night, it wouldn't surprise you for a second.DJ Jazzy Jeff feat. Biz Markie: $ Can't Buy Me Love
Speaking of Ringo's best-known malapropism, any Kinderland/Beatles tribute/extravaganza has got to include Gerry Tenney's homage to Liverpool's finest: Schvereh Togedike Nakht. During his stint as camp's music specialist, I remember Gerry explaining that in order to secure permission to record the song, he had to go through the reps of the guy who owned the rights to the Beatles' catalog at that time. My friends, let me go on record right here and now and declare that any song with a backstory that includes Gerry, the Beatles and Michael Jackson is an automatic fave of the KassaNostra. Performed with his then-band The Lost Tribe, with Gerry singing the lead himself (which I guess makes him the smart one). Definitely check out his blogsite to see which song gets the yiddisher treatment next.Gerry Tenney & The Lost Tribe: Schvereh Togedike Nakht
One thing I find when listening to non-Beatles play Beatles songs is that it never pays to try and sound like the Beatles. Everybody in the world already knows what every Beatles song sounds like. There are Yanamamo tribesmen in the Amazon that mimic John's Scouser twang when they sing Eight Days a Week. It sounds painfully obvious, but the trick, I think, is to make the sound your own – to feel comfortable working in the material (this goes doubly when considering the iconic nature of the Beatles' catalog). I think that's what I like so much about David Porter's take on Help! Porter was Isaac Hayes' longtime writing partner at Stax Records before he tried his hand at a solo recording career in the early 70s. With Help!, he strips the song clean of the urgency that runs through the original. When John Lennon sings it, it's a young man crying out for support; when Porter sings it, it's with the self-assurance that comes with maturity. He's not asking for help, he's celebrating the fact that he already knows and trusts them that got his back.David Porter: Help!
Next up. . . I say "Dionne Warwick," you say "Psychic Friends." It's a sad, sad thing that Warwick's gonna be remembered for everything but her best work. Screw yer Beatles, man – the single best moment in 60s music might just be the breakdown in Walk On By. Her talent notwithstanding, Warwick benefited from an early relationship with the songwriting team of Hal David and Burt Bacharach. That in turn created a lot of access to top arrangers and sessions men. Plus her label, Scepter Records, recognized her as their showcase artist and completely feted her. It's the factory approach to hitmaking, but hey. . . when it works, it surely does deliver. There's so much to like about her cover of We Can Work It Out, starting with the maudlin intro that quickly surges into an effortless groove. I always thought the Beatles got this one wrong. It reads like a statement or an affirmation, but they run through it so tepidly – if dude ever actually sang it to you like that, you'd be giggling inside of a minute. Fortunately, Warwick gets it for what it is, and completely blows the doors off of it. For me, this take tops both the original and the better-known Stevie Wonder version.Dionne Warwick: We Can Work It Out
Finally. . . it's Otis Redding. And he's singing Day Tripper. Do you really need to know anything else? Man, this is so unbelievably good, I can't believe the Stax/Volt guys didn't release this as a single.Otis Redding: Day Tripper
Thus endeth part 1 – part 2 to follow next week. Welcome home, boys and girls. Insert your own "long and winding road" comment here.
Peace & Vinyl,
The KassaNostra
Thus endeth part 1 – part 2 to follow next week. Welcome home, boys and girls. Insert your own "long and winding road" comment here.
Peace & Vinyl,
The KassaNostra
