Before the Beatles -Teen Idols

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 2:22 pm

Well Paul we obviously differ in opinion on this one. It is difficult for me to imagine that BV has his full health given the timbre of his voice.

Having said that I thought that he put a lot of effort in reconstructing this song to suit his present situation (whatever those contributing factors may be). From that viewpoint he nailed it.

Having heard two recent songs of his now it is obvious to me that he has done the best he could with what vocal strength he is left to work with. The guitar work is nice and the chord changes well contemplated.

For an unplugged very different version to his big hit I thought he did well.

I wish I knew how old he is but I would say he is in his sixties perhaps early seventies. I only hope I have half his gumption at that age.

Aside from that where I may agree with you is that this work is probably a little reminder that he is not quite what he used to be. But in my books he deserves some charity and respect for his past glory. I might add that even though his was not my favorite style of music, I certainly appreciated the fact that he did something that I did not.

He became a household name. I guess because of that the bar is constantly held higher.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:04 pm

lawdy miss clawdy!!!! the TAKE GOOD CARE OF MY BABY - THE NEW MILLENNIUM VERSION is the biggest piece of rancid marshmellow goo I've heard since the last time I got stuck in an high-rise elevator. Bobby Vee should be fined for that one.

IMHO, of course.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:26 pm

My words were written because I am a big BV fan based upon past material and performance, and I felt duped. It was painful to listen to.

I really hate to sound callous about this; I wasn't aware he had any health problems. But by recording now in this style, he loses more than he gains. If anything were I him, with my voice and delivery perhaps being compromised by factors beyond my control, I would make a conscious decision to locate material more in keeping with my narrower capabilities and also to separate myself from my older, more energetic stuff, if only to avoid the obvious comparisons.

It's just a marketing issue...

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:28 pm

I was at the swap meet yesterday and saw a mint copy of his Greatest Hits album for $5.00. Shoulda bought it for old times' sake.

"The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" still carries a lot of nostalgic weight with me.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:34 pm

Well after Paul's and Kent's glowing reviews you know I had to listen to it, haha! and I actually liked it besides the fact that it was drenched in reverb. There also was no canned drummer nor synthesizers to dehumanize the track. It also showed me that perhaps he has not lost his voice after all, his voice was louder in the mix and he sounded good to me. Bobby Vee was never a heavy weight anyway we'll leave that to Dion and Gene Vincent, he's a pop singer and goo goes with the territory, but I didn't think this rendition was particularly gooey anyway.
Is he British Roy? I actually don't know that much about him except that he made some pleasant recordings I've liked and listened to over the years on the radio. My favorite was always "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes".

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:35 pm

Paul and Kent you guys are cruel. Ok you win I'm outnumbered. Its a piece of ****. BV please go to the retirement home so I don't have to disagree with my friends.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:42 pm

No I'm on your side with this one Brian, I thought it was good too.

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 3:58 pm

Thanks Bob,

I was just looking in the yellow pages to see if the local shrinks made house calls. I thought I was losing it. LOL

No seriously! Given who the artist is and showing respect for his obviously diminished capabilities its worth a listen. Not his best work but its NOT ELEVATOR MUSIC either.

IMVHO

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 4:06 pm

>>> I didn't think this rendition was particularly gooey anyway.

Bob, buddy... if THAT wasn't gooey, then what in the world is?

It was so gooey that I had to chualug some Jack Daniels just to help the digestion process.

shamustwin · Post by **shamustwin** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 6:35 pm

I just came from the Donovan thread to here. Donovan was (is) peace and love. There's a lot of mean spiritedness here. There may be better ways to discuss someone's work!
Go buy my CD! It's terrible! Have a great time!

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 8:11 pm

Listening to "Beyond You" as I write this post.

Shamus Twins are doing alright. Yeh Great stuff Jerry. Thanks for sharing your music.

winston · Post by **winston** » Mon Aug 22, 2005 8:17 pm

"Turning Blue" is great. Wow! Close my eyes and I am back in the 60's

Jerry keep up the good work. That is too cool,

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 5:54 am

I haven't heard the BV material in question...I think I'll pass. Just a thought, though: compared to the Sports Industry, the Music Industry is sadly out of touch with reality in this regard. Imagine being treated to the pitiful spectacle of O.J. trying to run in an NFL game now...or Muhammad Ali back in the ring...No, for all of the shortcomings of Sports, I have to applaud their understanding of the concept of 'retired'...

royclough · Post by **royclough** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:29 am

In response to what seem to have been some fairly vitriolic posts in relation to the BV tracks I posted, though I do not expect everyone to like them that is what rational opinion is about.

I would state this: .I prefer BV as he is today rather than the majority of the modern day music that I listen to on occasion

He is in good health as far as I know and is 63, in answer to Bob’s query; he is as American as Pumpkin Pie.

Dane’s analogy surprises me, so when do you expect performers to call it a day, when the hits have dried up, if so McCartney, The Stones and many more ex -Merseybeat luminaries should have called it a day years ago, indeed Sinatra should have called it a day about 1960.if not sooner.

At the end of the day I like it and as Brian, in my view, correctly pointed out to some degree if he is as bad as some imply then how come 42 years after his lat hit in UK and 38 years after his last hit in states he is still able to fill theatres and have a date sheet as full as he wants it to be.

One word basically Talent!

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:52 am

Okay, I'll back off on Bobby, since I still haven't heard the track...but our society does suffer a bit from not knowing when to give it up. Remember that retired actor we had in the White House for a while? I think Sinatra should have called it a day in 1960...sometime before Kitty Genovese, anyway.

I spent some time in 1990 at the home of Wayan Tembres, one of the best drummers and composers in Bali. He was in his late 60's at the time. While at his house, I was privileged to meet his father, who was 92, and had been the rebab player in the village gamelan for most of the twentieth century. The rebab is a two-stringed violin played vertically while seated on the ground...it's very difficult to play in tune. This guy, who's eyes were blue from cataracts, brought out his rebab to play for us. You could tell by the strength in his hands and the expressive intensity of his face that he had indeed been the number one cat in that village for decades. You could also tell that somewhere along the line he had become deaf as a post; gamelan is as loud as rock-n-roll for the players.
Tembres explained that the whole group had had to sit down with the old dude ten years earlier and tell him that he couldn't play with them any more, and how difficult it was for all of them...

Difficult but unavoidable. Here, we can avoid all kinds of difficult realities...

One word basically Money!