A haunting, beautiful but neglected song

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 23 Mar 10 - 09:06 AM

I too could do without the methane gas leak, and I'd like to hear her do it with just the guitar.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 22 Mar 10 - 09:32 PM

beautiful song, Dave. thanks!

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: michaelr
Date: 22 Mar 10 - 08:27 PM

Actually, I sound much better now than I did then. Don't look as good, though...

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 22 Mar 10 - 07:32 PM

Didn't we all?

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Mr Fox
Date: 22 Mar 10 - 06:52 PM

It probably sounded a whole lot better in 1969.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 07:24 PM

Sounds great, thanks!

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 06:06 PM

OK, sorry about the mix-up. Yes, I think it would be great if I could get hold of the lyrics to post here (obviously they're not too clear on that old tape) but I'll also see if it's possible to get a better sound recording of the original song.
Sorry once again about the confusion. It's been a long day

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 05:43 PM

Great. You just said you were back in touch and would ask her for the lyrics so you could pass them on - I thought you meant just writing them down, not singing them. Maybe she could do both - I would be really interested to know how she sounds now.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 05:24 PM

Topsie,
I'm not quite sure what you mean.
That's exactly what I had in mind.
In fact I can't think of any other way of doing it.
Sorry if we're at cross-purposes here...

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 05:18 PM

Maybe you could ask her to sing it while you record it - or is that asking too much?

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 04:59 PM

Well, thanks to this old favourite of mine appearing out of the blue on Youtube, I'm back in touch with 'Jayjay', so I'll ask her if she can send me the lyrics so that I can pass them on. Many thanks for your interest, everyone.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 04:40 PM

I look forward to hearing a better recording of her, too, Dave. Also, any chance of posting the lyrics?

Thanks for telling us more about her.

kat

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 03:21 PM

It's called 'Down Where The Wild Things Are'.

Regarding the feedback thing - you may be right.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 03:09 PM

Actually, I didn't ask for feedback,

Uh, that IS what Mudcat does....

But could we at least have the name of the song we're all discussing, for those of us whose dialup connections preclude YouTube time?

~Susan

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 02:02 PM

Silas,

Please don't worry. As my old Mum used to say; 'it wouldn't do for everyone to like the same thing'.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 02:00 PM

Do you know what? I'm rather inclined to have a go at it. Not to try to 'prove anyone wrong' - if you don't like the lady's voice what would be the point of trying to change your mind? - but because I really believe that such a talent deserves recognition. In my opinion her voice IS beautiful and is not done any favours at all by this grotty old recording.
You'll have to take my word for it that,with proper sound and just her own 12-string guitar accompaniment, she can sound stunning.
The trouble is 'Jayjay' seldom does gigs, as she suffers from a bad back after a car accident a few years ago.
But I'll see what I can do about getting a decent recording.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Silas
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 02:00 PM

Hmmm.

Not one for me I'm afraid.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 01:44 PM

I'll look forward to it as well - I'd like to be proved wrong.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: michaelr
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 01:43 PM

A lovely voice indeed. What is the singer's name? She deserves to be recorded better.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 01:32 PM

Celtaddict,

Will do!

Ta.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Celtaddict
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 12:40 PM

If this is in your opinion a 'haunting, beautiful' song by a woman with a beautiful voice, I really look forward to hearing a new recording of it; please post one if you possibly get the chance!

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 12:18 PM

Sorry, but I found it tedious. I could hardly make out any words, but that may be because of the old tape. The animation was horrible enough to start with, and when the toadstools got measles it was quite ill-making.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 11:37 AM

Thanks Ron. Actually, I didn't ask for feedback, but it's interesting to hear what people think, nonetheless. I think the problems people have had with the recording is down to the poor sound quality which, as explained, is due to it being taken from an old cassette - a copy of a copy of a copy and so on, and what may be being perceived as poor production is actually down to that copying loss and resulting lack of quality.
I should, perhaps, point out that I had nothing to do with either the original recording or its resurrection on Youtube.
That's down to JayJay and Scarribri. I merely came across it on Youtube and thought it might be of interest here. As indicated above, I'd like to hear the song after re-recording on more modern equipment.
As for the animation, I'm not qualified to judge, but I thought it was rather nice.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 11:19 AM

They say the difference between TV and radio is that on radio the pictures are better.

I'd have to say this is a perfect illustration of that idea.    The video added nothing to the song--in fact I found it garish.

The song is, as you say, haunting--as is her voice.   If I came across this on the radio, I would definitely listen. But she was practically buried in overlaid sound, unfortunately. The guitar was fine. All the rest was overkill.   And I found the rock soundtrack element particularly disturbing of the mood. Admittedly I'm in general not a fan of folk-rock.   I like folk and I like rock, but I find the mixture mostly tedious.   I do recognize that it sells--therefore I'm in the minority. So be it.

It was her voice, alone, that rescued the song from being unlistenable. She would had a much better chance outside of whatever studio added all those layers.

That's my view--rather blunt, I know, but you did ask for feedback.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 10:48 AM

The problem is that this is the only recording available and it's taken from an old cassette. I think the reverb was added originally to try to produce an 'ethereal' effect. Having said that it was recorded many years ago (at Keele University I think) and recording techniques have moved on since then. I'd dearly like to re-record it without so much reverb.
Thanks for your comments, all.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 10:34 AM

As did I, Bob. I just thought she wasn't enunciating well. Otherwise it was an interesting piece as op says.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: BobKnight
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 08:43 AM

I found the lyrics well nigh incomprehensible due to the amount of reverb - a little reverb goes a long way. I'd like to hear it done with about 99% less, but the lady does seem to have a nice voice under all that.

Subject: RE: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: open mike
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 08:02 AM

that floating green fog detracts from the song...otherwise, an interesting piece.

Subject: A haunting, beautiful but neglected song
From: Dave Roberts
Date: 21 Mar 10 - 05:43 AM

I thought I'd share this with you all. It's by one of our old 'Poetry & Pints' regulars from years ago - a lady who is far more talented than she realises.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dcj0r8pcuz8