Strange musical discoveries

Subject: Strange musical discoveries
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 10:13 AM

Friday day is music day, to misquote a long running BBC radio show. At work I tend to listen to more music on a Friday. Done it for a long time. Anyroads I often make surprise discoveries and this afternoon has given me 2.

I am sure some know already but the theme tune for the "Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" radio series, TV series and film is a track from the Eagles album "One of these nights", "Journey of the sorcerer". I would never have guessed. Douglas Adams himself picked it apparently.

Even more surprising, to me, is that Sandie Shaw did a cover of "Sympathy for the devil". It is rather good, in my opinion only of course as I am sure some will disagree.

Anyone want to add any other 'little known' facts or surprising covers?

Enjoy and play nice :-)

Dave

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Helen
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 10:45 AM

Hello Hooray. I first heard a beautiful version of this on a 1974 Meg Christian album called I Know You Know. Some years later, when my Hubby was playing an Alice Cooper album I was surprised to hear his 1973 heavy rock version of the song.

A bit of Googling shows that Judy Collins first recorded it in 1968 and it was written by Canadian Rolf Kempf.

Maybe as a bit of a tribute to Kempf, Meg Christian also had a track on her album Freest Fancy/Kemp's Jig. (Note: the 16th Century English tune, Kemp's Jig became a favourite tune of mine, after hearing it on both Meg C's album and the Gryphon album, released in 1973. I don't know which of those I heard first.)

Also, I first heard the Tim Buckley album Sefronia in 1974 and then was surprised to hear Tom Waits singing it on another of Hubby's albums. I thought Buckley had written it but no, it was Tom Waits. Just found that out!

Spoiler alert! This website might spoil the fun of your thread:

They didn’t write that? Part 1

They didn’t write that? Part 2

They didn’t write that? Part 3

Helen

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 10:55 AM

Quite a difference between those versions, Helen! And quite a difference between the singers :-) It brought to mind a chat show once on UK TV where both Alice Cooper and Gene Pitney were guests and the host got them to reverse rolls. They were both surprisingly good. I had a quick search but could not find it so maybe it is a figment of my imagination!

I had come across that site before but discounted it when it suggested that no one know that "Cum on feel the noize" was by Slade. Must be one of those transatlantic differences :-)

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 01:46 PM

First heard "Hector the Hero" played by the Celtic Rock Band, Wolfstone, and it it blew me away. It was quite a while later before I found out that it had been written by James Scott Skinner nearly a century before, or the very sad story behind "Hector the Hero". It has since become a session and concert favourite, tho' not given the heavy rock treatment as per Wolfstone! Now prefer it more as played by Jenna Reid and the Transatlantic sessions gang!
Hector the Hero - Wolfstone
Hector the Hero - Jenna Reid

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Helen
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 03:58 PM

Red Hot Chilli Pipers - Smoke On The Water and Thunderstruck

Red Hot Chilli Pipers - The Little Cascade

Compare that version with this one:

Alain Stivell's version - The Little Cascade played by balite07

But also, see if you can find the track by the Scottish harp duo, Sileas.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: JHW
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 04:14 PM

Yes knew Journey of the Sorcerer from hearing HHG and bought that Eagles album then others. (Though of course not a typical Eagles track)
On the last (I hope) HHG series they used something like the Journey but irritatingly altered here and there (to avoid royalties?)

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 04:30 PM

Red hot chilli pliers are brilliant.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 04:55 PM

Pliers=pipers!

Dumb spill chuckle

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Helen
Date: 04 Jan 19 - 05:56 PM

I only discovered the Red Hot Chilli Pipers about a week ago. It was a link on Mudcat somewhere.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST,Mark Bluemel
Date: 05 Jan 19 - 04:30 AM

DTG: Red Hot Chilli Pliers sounds like a torture implement, but then so do Highland pipes ??

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 05 Jan 19 - 05:22 AM

A LITTLE BLAND COMPARED TO THIS I.M.O. , and nowhere near as beautiful once you get used to it
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST,Terray
Date: 05 Jan 19 - 05:55 AM

That is some powerful stuff.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 Jan 19 - 10:48 AM

My son put me on to Hanggui some years back.

Enjoy.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 Jan 19 - 10:51 AM

Sorry - Hanggai. Misspelled it just above.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST,Rigby
Date: 05 Jan 19 - 10:55 AM

I posted this on another thread but no-one took any notice. I still think it's bizarre though -- a note for note cover of Paul Brady's version of Arthur McBride, but in Swedish, and with different lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PtvRJ0ET6A

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST
Date: 05 Jan 19 - 11:02 AM

Nice Skåne accent! I didn't expect that.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 08 Jan 19 - 04:51 PM

Well Hector the Hero marches on, on another thread, so here's another.
In my late teens, there was a pop song called "Groovy Kind of Love" by (great name!) The Mind-Benders.
Groovy Kind of love
Then I go and pull out my book of Clementi piano Sonatinas and find THAT'S where they got the tune from. (Rondo from Opus 36 no 5)
Clementi Piano Sonatina no 5 Fast forward to 6'50" for the Rondo, which is played a lot faster than the pop song, tho maybe not by me!

Having said that, there's a huge cross-over between "classical music" and "folk" with each drawing on the other's tunes: especially composers like Dvorak, Bartok, Haydn, Grieg, Copland.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST,Terray
Date: 08 Jan 19 - 05:42 PM

I had a minor revelation the other day, a song I've been singing and playing for about 40 years,"Walk on Boy", that I learned off a Doc Watson Vanguard album and is one of my favorite "John Henry" songs was actually co-written (with Wayne Walker) by the late country music star Mel Tillis. I heard Doc mention that tidbit on the "Doc and Dawg" album.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: CupOfTea
Date: 08 Jan 19 - 07:39 PM

A discovery to AVOID at ALL costs is the Trekieporn of either:
William Shatner emoting all over the place over "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
OR....
       OR....
Leonard Nimoy singing about Bilbo Baggins with mod dressed dancers gyrating along.


Of course, there is Pat Boone doing heavy metal...

Joanne, hiding out in Cleveland

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST,Kristoffer Ross
Date: 08 Jan 19 - 10:39 PM

Hi Rigby,
    Thank you for mentioning that Swedish Arthur MacBride version! I've been enjoying it since it was mentioned on my Irish Bouzouki forum a few months ago - There's a video version of it, too. Do you happen to know roughly how closely those lyrics follow the English?
Best,
~Kristoffer

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 04:32 AM

The Shatner and Nimoy offerings are decidedly strange so fit in with the thread title but I suggest that everyone has to see them.

Once :-)

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST,Rigby
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 04:35 AM

Hi Kristoffer,

I know no Swedish at all, but another poster said that the lyrics are completely different. Strange. I only have the iTunes version of the album which doesn't have any credits, it would be interesting to know whether they give Paul Brady a credit.

cheers
Sam

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 04:41 AM

I learned a version of 'Blow the man down' off an album by a Danish group called the Paddy Doyles!

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 05:55 AM

A couple of years ago I discovered a version of Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play" by former Fairport vocalist Judy Dyble:

See Emily Play - Judy Dyble

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: The Sandman
Date: 09 Jan 19 - 06:35 AM

Dusty Springfield singing my lagan love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBemjBqtUy4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBemjBqtUy4

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST,Kristoffer Ross
Date: 12 Jan 19 - 05:24 PM

Hey, Sam,
    Strange indeed. I also do not have a physical copy, but they do seem to give Paul Brady credit for the arrangement in their videos of it.

As far as the tale goes -
    In the lyrics someone helpfully typed up on Youtube Blue Clicky, the first verse is:

"Det var jag och min halvbror, Sven-Erik Lundin
vi tog bussen till Boden i midsommartid
I slips och kostym och med flaska brännvin
För vi skulle på dansen på kvällen
När så bussen den stanna i Svartbjörsbyn
Klev det på en ung flicka med nyskrubbad hy
Och tre militärer med ögon av bly
och knappar som glänste i kvällen"

    I see phrases such as "My half brother, Sven-Erik Lundin," (line 1) and "Three Soldiers" (line 7), so there's some similarity there to Arthur McBride, However, I also note "Spain," "Fascist," and "Communist" appear quite a bit in later verses.

    I ran bits of it through Google Translate, of some usefulness early on, but it says the final verse begins:

"And Sven-Erik took the snus box and dreamed to
So the scraping chess got stuck
and then we took one where to neck a herring"

Not sure what to make of that!
~Kristoffer

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 07:21 AM

OK, well having listened to both the Swedish song and the English one with the texts in front of me ... the texts are very obviously related but the stories are not the same. In the Swedish one, the setting is very obviously Scandi with plenty of references to typically Scandinavian concepts, reminiscent of the 20th century Swedsh troubadour songs. Basically the story is: the guy and his halfbrother were going out to the dance one night, so they took the bus into town. On the bus they met a girl and some soldiers. When the bus broke down they got out to piss, and the soldiers started talking to them. The soldiers were trying to persuade these two brothers that they should be soldiers (a lot of the language / reasons here are the same as in the Arthur song). Anyway, they got back on the bus, and the girl is like: how does it feel to have come back from fighting in the Spanish civil war with no-one to thank you for what you did? And also when you lost the war. And the soldiers answer: we didn't lose the war, we won. We were fighting for Franco. Now when they hear this the brothers have a fit, for they too thought that the soldiers were fighting against Franco. One of them says he is a communist, and he has a cousin who died in Spain fighting on the other side from these soldiers. How have I been sharing my booze with you? Give me my bottle back you piece of shit ... anyway, this all happened before the 2nd world war, and it finishes with them saying that they were both in prison for a while, and then when they got out all that had happened with Hitler and Stalin.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST,Kristoffer Ross
Date: 13 Jan 19 - 03:42 PM

Thank you, Guest!
Regards,
    ~Kristoffer

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: John P
Date: 14 Jan 19 - 11:46 AM

I've been playing a lot of Scandinavian music over the last twelve years. There are Swedish versions, at least melodically, of a few songs from the British Isles. My Lagan Love, The Cuckoo's Nest, and The Red Haired Boy spring to mind. The only one I can remember the Scandinavian version of Griffenfelt, which is a version of the Red Haired Boy.

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Jan 19 - 07:51 PM

Maybe not a strange musical discovery, but certainly a good one - learning music like a child learns to speak. Erik Hoffman posted this to San Francisco's Harmony List:

Victor Wooten, virtuoso bass player, gave a TED talk on Music as a language. It’s beautiful how he describes growing up in a musical family, and got to learn music by being included as a member from, as he describes it, beginning in the womb. Though many—most?—of us start later in life, the idea that learning an instrument as a voice where “goo-goo,” and, “gah-gah,” and, “mummy,” and, “da-da,” are expected at the beginning of the voyage is so validating. I’ve been describing it similarly by my theory of music: It’s organized noise. Thus learning the sounds of an instrument and combining sounds we like or combinations we hear bring us joy. Mr. Wooten has given me some new insights on this, which I look forward to using.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zvjW9arAZ0

So, Start Playing! Turn practice into play. Enjoy the sounds of your instruments as you develop the ability to articulate the music-speak in ways the please both your ears as well as those listening and playing with you.

Cheers,
~Erik (Hoffman)

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: GUEST,LynnH
Date: 20 Jan 19 - 03:39 AM

re the swedish Arthur McBride - knowing that Boden is THE garrison town in northern Sweden perhaps adds a bit of context here.

Lynn

Subject: RE: Strange musical discoveries
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 20 Jan 19 - 04:34 AM

For myself, finding the late king of the dead heads Jerry Garcia playing 5 string banjo, singing bluegrass and folk music and recording an album of chldrens songs for a charity cause, ' Not For Kids Only ' with his old mate David Grisman, wonderful stuff.

Dave H