Frank Zappa - "Stairway To Heaven"

Today's post looks at the equally celebrated and maligned Led Zeppelin song "Stairway to Heaven".

Well, one interpretation of it at least.

I say "equally celebrated and maligned" because it is the most played, listened to, discussed, talked about and covered 8 minutes of the entire Led Zeppelin catalog. For anyone getting started with the band's music, this is usually the entry point. The band themselves have cited this as a milestone in their career.

It has also been played more times on American radio than any other song. This may go a long way to explaining why it is so maligned. In the year 2000, Triple J estimated, in the absence of official numbers, that the song had been played over 3 million times. Let's assume in 2014 that the song has been played 4 million times, as a conservative estimate. If you were to play it end-to-end constantly (that is, as soon as it finishes it starts again) it would last for 60 years, 10 months and 19 days. In the film Wayne's World, the music shop had banned the playing of the song by customers trying out guitars - largely because staff would be sick of people attempting it and routinely stuffing it the intro.

In short, familiarity breeds contempt. It may as well be tattooed on our collective psyches.

We're not looking at the original today, but rather an obscure cover, And to be fair, you're looking into very murky waters when investigating "Stairway..." covers. There's country versions, cod-reggae versions, versions by the Russian Red Army Choir. Australian TV presenter Andrew Denton took the idea to a ridiculous extreme in 1990 with musical guests on his program "The Money Or The Gun" having to take on the song and do it in their own style. He released a CD with 22 versions and a home video with 25 versions of the song from the show. One just happened to be by Rolf Harris, but let's not go there...

Still, the version of the song I have unearthed is one of the standouts, in my view. Frank Zappa played it as one of the centrepieces of his last ever concert tour in 1988, and first released in 1991 on the double album "The Best Band You've Never Heard In Your Life". This version has elements of Frank's trademark humour and oddness in it, to be sure. in between vocal lines he throws in strange synth-noise interjections, as well as short, sharp and frantic guitar solo blasts.

The band plays the entire thing with various reggae grooves throughout. He starts off with a slow roots reggae feel, speeding it up slightly and ending with a fast ska/rock-steady feel at the end.

This version is not notable for Frank's contribution, although his soloing is amazing. His skills as an arranger are the star here. How he manages to get a twelve piece ensemble to play such a tightly crafted arrangement is a true testament to the calibre of musicians in the band. And the way he treats the iconic guitar solo in the latter half of the piece is a revelation - a completely novel way of recontextualising within the piece.

As an arrangement, it is a thrill-a-minute ride around a piece we all know by heart. I genuinely think it's worth multiple listens. The clip below is a dodgy audience shot film from a performance in Vienna that has been re-dubbed with the version taken from the aforementioned live album.

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Enjoy!

Remake/Remodel #8: Do Re Mi's "Man Overboard"

It's common for an artist to take one of their own songs and re-arrange it radically, as the muse strikes. Bob Dylan seems to change the arrangement of his songs for each and every tour (I know of at least three different arrangements of "Maggie's Farm" on record by Bob - but more on that later). A lot of people may not know just how radically today's song changed...and why it did.

Do Re Mi were a Melbourne-based band who mined s similar cold, angular, robotic funk groove to Hunters and Collectors in their early days. They shared a stage with the Hunters regularly and were part of the same post-punk underground scene. They released two independent EPs in 1981-1982 before being signed by Virgin records in 1985, making them the first Australian band signed to Richard Branson's iconic record label.

Tucked away on their second EP "The Waiting Room", in the middle of side 2 (it hasn't ever been issued on CD) was a fast-paced punk-ish song called "Man Overboard". The lyrics buzz by at such a rate that it is difficult to comprehend them. Although the first verse is sung by vocalist Deborah Conway a capella, the rest of the song is done and dusted in just over 2 minutes.

The original 1982 EP version:



Most people who grew up in Australia in the 1980s know the more popular version issued in 1985, as the first single from the band's debut album "Domestic Harmony". It goes without saying that it is markedly different, and this time around the lyric is made crystal clear so there is no ambiguity whatsoever.

The famous 1985 version:



The interesting thing about this song is how the slow version came about. I had the good fortune to meet Do Re Mi vocalist Deborah Conway a couple of years ago at a small gig promoting her then current LP "Half Woman Half Man" and I asked her how the change in the two versions came about. She explained that in 1982, radio DJs played vinyl exclusively on air. "The Waiting Room", being a 12-inch vinyl EP and of a far shorter running time than an album, was pressed at 45 RPM. However, most people know 12-inch vinyl to be played at 33 RPM (unless of course it's a 12 single, but that's another story) and DJs often played the record at the wrong speed. The band often heard their song "Man Overboard" and other tracks from the EP played at a considerably slower speed on radio and realised that there may be something interesting in some of the songs if they played them a bit slower...

...and so, with a slower tempo, a sultry reworked groove and plenty of room for some well placed pauses-for-effect in the lyrics, the version we all know and love was born. Deborah Conway summons up a powerfully raw, woman-scourned fury that strikes fear into the hearts of men everywhere. It is truly spine-tingling, and yet you can't help but shake your butt along whenever you hear it. It's rare that relationship dirty laundry-in-song sounds so danceable.

The other interesting thing about this song is how the lyrics escaped the censors. How many Australian top 5 hit singles can you name that manage to feature the words "anal humour", "penis envy" and "self-abuse" in the lyrics and are still getting played on commercial radio to this day? Besides "Man Overboard" I doubt there would be many. (Oh, and Alanis Morrisette expletive-ridden "You Outta Know" doesn't count.)

Do Re Mi lasted for one more album in 1987 "The Happiest Place In Town" before splitting up. Deborah went onto have a prosperous solo career kicking off with a top 20 LP "String Of Pearls" and now tours with her musical (and life) partner Willy Zygier. She still remembers the Do Re Mi era fondly, and I was stoked that she signed my vinyl copies of "Domestic Harmony" and "The Waiting Room" at that gig...

Drop us a line in the comments below.

Until next time. Cheers!

Remake/Remodel #7: C is For Cookie

What do you do, when you cover a song that is so indelibly stamped into the brains of about 3 generations of people, to make your version idiosyncratically yours?

Mess it up completely.

Seriously. If you're going to cover anything from Sesame Street, you know you're going to offend people if you don't do it justice. So when a thrash-punk band gets hold of it, you know it'll only end up one way - completely opposite to the way it is supposed to sound.

We all know and love the original. Everyone loves Cookie Monster. Gen X-ers and their parents heard this song for years and now GenY kids know it. It needs no introduction.

So when Boston hardcore punks released their cover, it was always going to be gloriously stupid. Short, fast and loud is the order of the day. But even though it clocks in at under 2 minutes, their version, in my view, is about 40 seconds too long. The joke gets old quickly. Yeah ok, it's funny the first couple of run throughs, but by the end you get a bit over it.

VERDICT: There's a certain amount of merit in recasting a song in such an outrageous way, and Slapshot do indeed deserve credit for that. It's a fun version. They just labour the point. The original is still unimpeachable. You can't help but smile your way through both versions.

Original:



Slapshot:

Remake/Remodel #6: Charlie Hunter Trio does Nirvana

In what appears to be a perfect fit for a segment titled "Remake/Remodel", today we look at Nirvana's "Come As You Are".

Much has been written of Nirvana's sound, how they intended to sound like the Pixies, emulating the soft quiet of their verses mixed with shrieking loudness in the choruses of their songs. It has even been mooted that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has a guitar riff that is a knockoff of "More Than A Feeling" by Boston. That is a statement that is not without credibility.

But Kurt Cobain had a habit of recycling and regurgitating. The riff to "Smells..." does have the same rhythm pattern as "More Than A Feeling", but the chords are different. It was different enough to avoid trouble, but "Come As You Are" was not so lucky.

The riff for this song was the subject of a lawsuit from British alternative band Killing Joke, who claimed that the riff to "Come as you Are" was a slowed down version of the riff in their song "Eighties". To my ears, Killing Joke appear to have a winning case.



It has also been speculated that this was one of the reasons that Kurt was so depressed before he died. He loved Killing Joke and didn't intend to rip them off. But we'll never know for sure. What we do know is that Killing Joke dropped the lawsuit in the wake of Kurt's death.

Musically it is a slow burner of a track, with the dark, heavily processed run of notes in the verse, with the heavy guitars making an appearance in the bridge section "Oh I swear that I don't have a gun...", giving a bit of light among the shade.

In the wake of Kurt's passing in 1994, there were a huge wave of tributes and covers. One of the more interesting ones, in my view, was a cover of "Come As You Are" by the Charlie Hunter Trio. Charlie Hunter is a jazz guitarist and this track was my first introduction to his work.

Charlie Hunter is amazing from the point of view that he plays a hybrid guitar with 3 bass strings and 5 guitar strings, enabling him to play lead guitar and bass lines all at once. It is truly remarkable what he does. In the intro to his version, he plays "Come As You Are" in the bass line, and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in the guitar line - all at once. I don't know how he does it, but it blows my mind.

VERDICT: I don't really have a favourite of the two. The original is great as it is. Charlie Hunter does a version that takes the bare bones of the original and takes it to a new place entirely. It does amazing things that I never though could be possible and is makes my head spin every time I hear it.

What do you think? Drop us a line in the comments below.

Remake/Remodel #5: ONJ's Physical

Now, how can anyone forget THAT video? Sooo 80s.

The absolute nadir of 80s pop. In hindsight we can look back and think "what the hell...???" but back then this thing was bigger than Texas. I wonder how many people were inspired to take out gym memberships because of this clip?

And don't let all the vibrating arse cheeks, leotards and legwarmers fool you: this is not a song about exercise. Well it is, kinda...if you count that sort of thing as exercise, which I guess you could. You know what I'm on about, surely.

Funnily enough, it's not often you hear a cover version of it. Much less by a band that takes its cues from a band like Pavement. However, Dollar Bar, indie rockers from Brisbane Australia have taken this synth-ey 80s come-on, seemingly stripped the glamour out of it and made it sound dangerous, dirty and, well, to some ears anyway, downright creepy! It's quite hard to describe Dale's vocal delivery on the Dollar Bar track, whether he's playing the desperate and socially inept nerd looking for an elusive bit of action, or whether he's dispiritedly and nonchalantly making a play without really expecting any positive result.

There's something strangely warm and attractive about our Livvy's delivery in the original, but it also kind of reeks of tacky, overpriced nightclubs where the beautiful people hang out (read: NOT ME!!!). Dollar Bar sounds like they're trying to pick up at a LAN-party hosted by Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory.

In my view, there's something oddly compelling about Dollar Bar's version that sets it above ONJ's version, but largely because I'm kinda over the cheesiness of the original...and I've personally heard it too many times in my lifetime to be truly objective. I approve of the redone treatment.

Take a listen to both below. Which do you prefer?

The original:


Dollar Bar's cover, from their Bandcamp page:

Remake/Remodel #4 - Paul Dempsey's Shotgun Karaoke

Those who have heard Melbourne band Something For Kate know what a talented guitarist and songwriter frontman Paul Dempsey is.

Not that we need any more evidence of his greatness around here, in his recent web series "Shotgun Karaoke", he has again proven to be a spellbindingly great musician, able to turn his hand and unique guitar talents to a number of different songs by many artists that are somewhat jarring. For example, how many musos do you know who can cover Iron Maiden, Sheryl Crow, Husker Du and Queen? And then do it well?

The fly-on-the-wall video series has been immensely popular, with songs being recorded in backstage areas, toilets, kitchens and more while on the band's recent tour. We've discussed the Iron Maiden cover here on the blog before. There are many other gems in the series, which has now concluded. These 18 songs are quite beautifully interpreted. Paul has just announced a followup solo tour based on this concept, playing many of these songs as well as songs form his solo album.

Here for your viewing pleasure is a YouTube playlist of the entire series, but a Spotify playlist of all the original versions of these great songs.

Enjoy!

Shotgun Karaoke


And the original versions can be found here:

Remake/Remodel #3: Status Quo and the Camper Van

Pictures of Matchstick Men - Status Quo and Camper Van Beethoven

Pictures of Matchstick Men was the first single, and first hit record, by Status Quo in 1968. Back then, they were a psychedelic band, trying to follow in the footsteps of Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd, I guess. Lead singer and former ice cream van driver Francis Rossi wrote the song, apparently while on the toilet of his London apartment (I'm not making that up).

"When I look up to the skies, I see your eyes, a funny kind of yellow..."?

Hmmm. But just what was the inspiration? Jaundice?

Either way, it was a hit in that heady time that was the late 1960s. Looking at the clip below, you'd be surprised that this even exists. From 1970 onwards, the band hit upon the denim 'n' boogie formula that would pay them massive dividends (and earn them scorn and ridicule) for the next four decades. Prior to that, they were very Carnaby-Street, Swinging Sixties, almost bubblegum pop at times. The band didn't play this song in their live sets much after 1970. Apparently they play it a bit more now, at least since their 40th anniversary celebrations in 2008.

The Quo version of the song has all the hallmarks of a psychedelic record of the era - obtuse lyrics, strange, almost off-key guitars, wah-wah guitars, flanging, phasing, paisley shirts...

It was a sizable hit in Australia and in the UK. However, the Quo have never been at all popular in the United States. This track was a reasonable hit in 1968 however, as such, this track has rarely been heard over there in it's original configuration, until...

...the arrival of Camper Van Beethoven, stage left.

College rockers who were peers and labelmates of other college rock scene stalwarts such as REM and Oingo Boingo, they gave this track a spit polish and shine, adding it to their first LP for Virgin records in 1989, "Key Lime Pie". It was a number one Billboard Modern Rock hit for the band.

The CVB version is almost note-for-note identical to the original. The main difference is that, where Quo's version sounds thin and dinky, it is largely because of the then-state-of-the-art, now-primitive, recording gear it was captured on. The Camper version sparkles and shines. The trippy flanged/tremolo guitar of the original is replaced with a violin, and the guitars are revved up significantly.

Here's the original Status Quo version, live on BBC's Top Of The Pops:



And Camper Van Beethoven's version:



Verdict? Both versions are great. They both keep the integrity of the song intact, but the additional polish of the Camper Van Beethoven version has the edge for my taste.

Which one do you prefer? Drop us a line in the comments below.

Remake/Remodel #2: Counting Crows do Joni MItchell

Some covers are done as affectionate tributes. Some are a genuine effort to elevate a merely competent original into something extraordinary.  Some are done with the purest of intentions, but fall short of the mark.

In 2003, Counting Crows released their version of a once-pleasant, environmentally conscious Joni Mitchell song called "Big Yellow Taxi".

Despite its serious message, "Big Yellow Taxi" is one of Joni's brightest songs, with a stunning clear guitar tone and with a sunny feel to it. You can't help but smile when listening to it.

The Counting Crows version, from the outset, is all kinds of wrong.  Adam Duritz, with his Van-Morrison-on-Venice-Beach styled laconic drawl is plain awful, delivering a lifeless vocal performance that doesn't suit the song. Vanessa Carlton's guest appearance on the backing vocals are also all wrong - the chord she harmonises with her overdubbed vocal layers is far darker than the original and sticks another nail in the coffin of an already bad remake.

Add to that the producers pushing the auto-pilot button on every studio gadget available to them, and you have one stinker of a record. Apparently this was only the secret track on the band's "Hard Candy" LP. Hiding it at the end of an album is too good for a recording that should have been drowned at birth.

My verdict: Yuk. Search out the original.

Remake/Remodel #1: Manfred Mann does Springsteen

This is the first of a new ongoing series of posts about covers - remakes, or remodels of songs first written and/or performed by other artists.

First off the bat is South-African born keyboard player Manfred Mann.

Manfred Mann started making a name for himself in the London Jazz scene in the early 1960s, but he formed a pop group and was swept up in the whole British Invasion of the 1960s.

That was all good except, as a jazz performer, he was more used to improvising, or spontaneously creating his music, not actually consciously composing it. The Beatles changed the game and wrote their own hits. Other groups were soon expected to do the same.

Manfred's band did a lot of covers. They were probably most famous for doing Bob Dylan covers, and over the last 50 years of music recordings, he's recorded stacks of Dylan songs. Indeed, Mr Dylan himself has said (in the 1960s sometime) that of all the bands that have recorded his songs, he likes Manfred Mann's the best.

The original pop band went through two incarnations before folding in late 1968. He then formed an avant garde jazz rock band called Manfred Mann Chapter Three for two low selling LPs of original material, before reincarnating once again in a more streamlined Jazz/Progressive Rock quartet called Manfred Mann's Earth Band in 1971. Earth Band is arguably Manfred's most successful incarnation and musically the most satisfying, in my view. They again recorded many Dylan tunes, scattered throughout their voluminous discography.

However, in 1976 they raised the ire of Springsteen fans when they had a hit with "Blinded By The Light". Bruce Springsteen had had a major hit the year before with "Born To Run", but there were a number of fans who were there from the get-go, with some treasuring the first Springsteen album with almost God-like renown. Those who love the "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." album hated Earth Band's cover with a passion.

It would probably disturb them to know that the Earth Band actually recorded three of the nine tracks on Bruce's debut. Only "Blinded By The Light" was a hit, and it was a radical recasting of the original to the point where the two versions hardly resemble each other.

The other tracks they attempted were "Spirits in the Night", which they did twice with two different vocalists (the first version with Mick Rogers singing was better) and "For You". The two versions of "Spirits" are identical except for the vocal track and they are very similar to the original. However, it was more rhythmically regimented and lacked the boozy swing of the original.

"For You", on the other hand, slows down the tempo and tightens the arrangement significantly, making more powerful and forceful than the original. Bruce's version, to my ears, sounds like a band playing too fast for its own abilities and that they are falling over themselves trying to keep up. Earth Band's version focuses on the power of the lyric and backs it up with a crunching rhythm that is goose-bump-inducing.

See for yourself and tell me which one you prefer. Here below is the original of "For You" by Bruce Springsteen, and the Earth Band remake.

For me, as much as I liked the original, the remake is my favourite.