|
Post by jk on May 14, 2020 11:58:59 GMT
These can be the originals or the Boys' often improved versions--or both. This is The Rivingtons' in my view superior original of "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow", as heard in the stunning movie Never Look Away (see link): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_Look_Away
|
|
|
Post by jk on May 14, 2020 19:46:06 GMT
I posted this elsewhere a decade or so ago. This is a slightly revised version. All comments welcome. I've been checking out the words to "I'm So Young" and there's a puzzle in the line following after "Pretty soon now / I'll go to sea". (The internet is singularly unhelpful on this score.) In the version by The Students it sounds to me like "Then mother's baby / Will have seen the last of me". What's that supposed to mean? Will the singer have grown up after being in the marines? It's an odd way of putting it. It is doo-wop of course... In both BB versions (the one on Today! and the flute'n'drum alternative version) Brian seems to be singing "Then mother's baby / Has seen the last of me". Just as odd. Am I hearing it right? Any other opinions on this? As for the instrumentation, the flute's a bit weird in the alternative version, like someone just wandered in from another studio to practise. But the big drum fills are a stroke of genius, as was the decision to leave them off the final version. Actually, they come from The Ronettes' version (look it up). The final verse seems to have been the subject of serious dispute on at least one doo-wop site [now for members only]. The girls (Rosie and Ronnie) sing "sleep" instead of "sea". Check if you don't believe me. No navy for them. Ronnie even sings "cry myself to sleep". In the Tren-Dells' glorious doo-wop rendition, the lead voice sings (if I'm not mistaken) "Then Mom and Daddy, Will have seen the last of me". The plot thickens... According to that doo-wop site, someone asked the composer, William "Prez" Tyus, about it. "I think he said it's been argued about for so long, he wants to keep it an open issue." As for the intro: Rosie & The Originals do a more extended instrumental version of The Students' intro. The Tren-Dells add vocals from the beginning but their "I have a girlfriend" section has the chords we know from the BB version (I-IV-V). The Ronettes, like the BBs, leave out the preamble and begins with those three chords. Brian's octave drop in the voices (which seems to have taken the Boys an age to get right) was clearly influenced by (and in fact begins with) the upward "smear" in The Ronettes' version. All other versions can be found at YouTube.
|
|
|
Post by B.E. on May 14, 2020 20:30:30 GMT
That's a very interesting post, JK. I was not aware of the mystery. I think I agree with you on what Brian sings and what was meant by it. Very odd. I'm far from certain, though. Perhaps sometime over the next 100 listens or so a light bulb will go off! All this time, I'd hear Brian sing that line and it felt right, like I knew what he meant, and I never bothered to try to decipher the words. Normally that bothers me. Not here, apparently.
|
|
|
Post by B.E. on May 14, 2020 21:16:47 GMT
Points to Rosie for clearly singing "Then MY baby will have seen the last of me".
My only other thought at this time is, alternatively, maybe "mother's baby" is meant to refer to his girlfriend. For some reason he's decided to single out her mother, as opposed to their parents collectively, for forbidding their marriage. I'm not really sure they are singing "mother" at all, but it doesn't really sound like a sloppy overdub of "my" - it sounds like a different word. Again, thanks Rosie!
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on May 14, 2020 21:47:37 GMT
I always assumed that the line, "Pretty soon now, I'll go to sea, then mama's baby has seen the last of me" meant that the guy was simply ending the relationship and going into the service, ending up who knows where. You could infer that the guy is being fatalistic and thinks he might/will be killed, never to return. But in both scenarios, I think he is singing about joining the Navy or the Marines or something - and it's a long-term commitment, thus terminating the relationship. "Mama's baby" might be implying that the girl is very young AND the guy is older, ready to graduate from high school, and that the relationship was short-term anyway, and didn't have a real chance due to the age and circumstances.
Now, the line, "Pretty soon now, I'll go to sleep" is a little creepy. Is she talking about some kind of overdose or suicide? Ooh...
As far as the two different Beach Boys' versions, I guess I prefer the Today! original version though I like the alternate version, too. It's close.
|
|
bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
|
Post by bellbottoms on May 16, 2020 12:54:33 GMT
One of my all time favourites...
|
|
|
Post by jk on May 22, 2020 9:12:20 GMT
Does anyone else have this strange phenomenon of seeing embedded videos changing places? I just had that--I saw "I'm So Young" embedded in bellbottoms' post instead of "Devoted To You" and constructed an entire post around it! Oh well... While I'm here, here's another great song Brian took to another level, The Mystics' "Hushabye": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mystics
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on May 22, 2020 12:16:56 GMT
Does anyone else have this strange phenomenon of seeing embedded videos changing places? I just had that--I saw "I'm So Young" embedded in bellbottoms' post instead of "Devoted To You" and constructed an entire post around it! Oh well... While I'm here, here's another great song Brian took to another level, The Mystics' "Hushabye": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_MysticsOne of my very favorite pre-PS Beach Boys recordings.
As for the phantom swapping of embedded videos ... are you by chance sampling Amsterdam's finest?
|
|
|
Post by jk on May 23, 2020 22:06:34 GMT
As for the phantom swapping of embedded videos ... are you by chance sampling Amsterdam's finest? Haha--not any more, although I was never heavily into dope. It may be that Safari is playing up. I often switch to Google Chrome at such moments--maybe I should switch permanently...
|
|
|
Post by jk on May 28, 2020 12:10:10 GMT
|
|
bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
|
Post by bellbottoms on May 29, 2020 12:58:51 GMT
|
|
|
Post by jk on Jun 5, 2020 19:48:41 GMT
Chuck did "Rock And Roll Music" best but he's just been on, so instead let's play the truly magnificent cover version by The Beatles. Just loving those piano triplets in the final chorus!
|
|
|
Post by kds on Jun 8, 2020 12:17:13 GMT
Here's The Drifters with one of the all time great summer songs. The Beach Boys covered this is 1992 on SIP. Surely, a summertime essential in the hands of The Beach Boys would be great, right? Right? (Nope).
|
|
bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
|
Post by bellbottoms on Jun 8, 2020 13:28:21 GMT
|
|
|
Post by kds on Jun 9, 2020 14:27:44 GMT
Another summertime standard that The Beach Boys attempted in 1992.
|
|