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Post by kds on Oct 11, 2022 14:02:50 GMT
The BBs had a lot of great covers for sure. I'm going with "I Can Hear Music" for my personal top pick. Carl's singing and the overall airy feeling of the acoustic guitars mixed with the BBs' backing vox make this one a winner in my book. For full-throttle BB group doowop vocals, I like "Come Go With Me," "I'm So Young," and "Why Do Fools Fall in Love." My hubby thinks that their covers of "I Was Made to Love Her" (one of my other faves) and "California Dreamin'" are better than the originals. I actually agree on I Was Made to Love Her. I really love The Beach Boys version of California Dreamin', but I have to give the nod to the Mamas and the Papas there.
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Post by lonelysummer on Oct 12, 2022 3:29:10 GMT
I love Carl singing I Was Made to Love Her, but it's impossible to top Stevie's version - I don't mean the vocals, but the overall production. It's my favorite record of his. California Dreamin' is a toss up for me. I think the original captures the mood the best, but boy, it is hard to top Carl and Al singing that song. I Can Hear Music is #1 on my list. And two oddball favorites from the Rarities album - With a Little Help From My Friends, and The Letter.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 12, 2022 13:03:12 GMT
And two oddball favorites from the Rarities album - With a Little Help From My Friends, and The Letter. For me, those both fit into the category of "if only..." I like both songs, and like what we have, but in both cases think they could have been better. On "The Letter," the live arrangement doesn't have much propulsion to it. I think a studio arrangement/performance by Brian could have worked wonders. And "WALHFMF," that lead vocal has such strange emphasis, or crescendo, on the certain words that it's hard to get over: "what would you thiiiIINK if I saaaAANG out of tuUUUNE, would you staaAAAND up and waALK out on me."
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Post by jk on Oct 17, 2022 13:28:28 GMT
Well, methinks it's time for the reverse side of the coin, namely:
What is your favourite cover of a Beach Boys song by an unrelated act?
I need to think about this one myself...
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Post by kds on Oct 17, 2022 13:52:50 GMT
Off the top of head, I'll go with David Lee Roth's cover of California Girls. Granted, Dave doesn't really do much different other than shouting a few Dave-isms during the chorus, but I honestly can't think of many other BB covers that have really moved me too much.
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Post by jk on Oct 17, 2022 15:40:24 GMT
Well I'm torn between Antoine Diligent's utterly gorgeous take on "All I Wanna Do"…
…and David Thomas and Two Pale Boys' quite extraordinary version of "Surf’s Up":
I think sheer originality might win over sheer beauty this time...
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 17, 2022 16:09:59 GMT
My true choice is one I've talked about often through the years, Paul Simon's "Surfer Girl."
But I'd have to give some honorable mention choices, a couple that aren't as good but for which I've got a soft spot, both found on the same Caroline Now! tribute:
Stevie Jackson (of Belle & Sebastian) doing "Good Time"
Alex Chilton (of the Box Tops and Big Star, and a friend of the guys in the late 60s/early 70) doing "I Wanna Pick You Up"
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Emdeeh
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 520
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Post by Emdeeh on Oct 17, 2022 16:28:08 GMT
I rarely seek out other folks' covers of BB songs, but I am also partial to Diamond Dave's version of "California Girls." Honorable mention goes to the fans who mashed up "Rubber Ducky" and "Surfer Girl" -- that was clever.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 17, 2022 16:39:55 GMT
I rarely seek out other folks' covers of BB songs... I always find it interesting to see who is covering what, but I almost never particularly like the covers themselves, much less rate them as equal or superior to the originals.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 18, 2022 0:32:59 GMT
Here's two:
Nikki Sudden & The Mermaids. I like this medley. Very creative. Haunting and silly at the same time!
Shonen Knife. First, I love the song, but I really like what they did with the arrangement. It's interesting to hear from a female perspective.
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Post by carllove on Oct 18, 2022 13:08:38 GMT
I love this. I think it’s better than the original. I actually heard this version before the Beach Boy’s version, so it’s probably why I kind of like the song on Love You. I know Kapitan already posted this - but this is a different video with pics of Alex.
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Post by carllove on Oct 18, 2022 13:21:34 GMT
This is actually pretty good as well. The Backstreet Boys sing “When I Grow Up to Be a Man”.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 18, 2022 13:29:00 GMT
I'm surprised by how well they actually sang, considering that kind of bubblegum/boy band pop is so often 99% choreography, image and production.
But I have to say, some of the mannerisms (vocal and body language) are just so funny and annoying to me. The first guy to sing lead, second from the right, with his gravely little voice and then the breathy exhale after "turned me on as a kid," or the constant little hand signals that seem to have been mistaken for an essential part of singing sometime in the 90s and never gone away...
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Post by jk on Oct 18, 2022 13:37:13 GMT
This is actually pretty good as well. The Backstreet Boys sing “When I Grow Up to Be a Man”. Oh yes, this is good! My daughter was a huge fan as a kid, so I got to hear and see a lot of their stuff. Most impressive! Our crowning BSBs moment was performing "Stop Playing Games With My Heart" at a school fair, she on violin and me accompanying her on piano. Regrettably no one was listening -- there was no applause, at all events.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 18, 2022 13:40:28 GMT
I love this. I think it’s better than the original. I actually heard this version before the Beach Boy’s version, so it’s probably why I kind of like the song on Love You. I know Kapitan already posted this - but this is a different video with pics of Alex. Knowing Alex Chilton hung around with the guys around 1970ish--you can guess which faction it was he hung out with...--I always thought that had the group broken up then, there could have been quite an interesting band involving the Wilsons and Chilton. Granted, that many self-destructive people in one band isn't a great idea. But the talent would have been something.
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