Mar 15, 2013

And Now For Something Completely Different




Timeless.  The essence of Soul.  The accompaniment is worth a careful listen-to, too.

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9 comments:

  1. Lovely song, but for me Alfie Boe HERE is how I'd like it sung to me!

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    1. Now that's really a superb rendering, Penelope. I like the full orchestra backing. The location is the City Halls, in the Candleriggs in Glasgow.

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    2. Isn't it just? And his breath control in the quietest parts is outstanding - the mark of excellence in any singer. Barbara Streisand is another with similar ability... :)

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    3. A Streisdand story. Asked in interview how she held her notes so long she replied "Because I want to hold them so long."

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  2. I searched for a different version, curious. The song writer didn't like any other versions than his cut of it in 1957 (I think that was the date) Most versions are much slower than what he intended it to be. I searched iTunes and didn't like any other version than the one by Flack ... not Elvis, Peter Paul & Mary (their blend was interesting), nor Diana Ross. I YouTubed Alfie Boe and he does a nice job... but I like the soul Robert Flack gives to it.

    Thanks, very interesting!

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    1. 1957 is right. The song goes back further than most folk might think. The songwriter Ewan McColl wrote it for his wife, folk-singer Peggy Seeger. YouTube lists her singing it to hewr own guitar accompaniment - but the recording isn't a patch on the version linked here.

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  3. Time was, I could do the same thing as Streisand...There were two of us in our chorus who always outlasted the rest in a 'who can hold a note longest' exercise. Those were the days. :)

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    1. So when the rest of the chorus had gone home, there you were, the two of you, alone on the stage, slowly turning blue in the face, neither of you prepared to give up . . ?

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  4. Doc, it wasn't a competition- just a fact, that in warm up exercises for the voice, we both had more 'puff', which lasted longer than the others! LOL
    On stage, the arm waver lady chooses when her chorus stops singing. :)

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