BWPS - Look and Child original melodies?

[buddhahat]

I read on this site that when listening to the original tapes of CIFOTM, Darian heard some headphone bleed of the original melody and used this for the BWPS version. I'm sure I read somewhere that this was true for Look/Song for Children, rather than CIFOTM but must be mistaken.

Anyway, what's the general opinion on these two songs on BWPS - original 66 melodies or new? If anything, the Song for children melody sounds really authentic to me. I'd never heard Look when I saw the Royal Festival Hall concert and it just blew my mind. CIFOTM did too but the melody sounds less convincing to me. Sorry if this is tired territory but I haven't seen this discussed much on the board and any insight would be much appreciated.

[Jason]

All of 1966-67 vintage.

[buddhahat]

So the 'easy my child' bit (melody not lyrics) and the clarinet line in SFC are definitely from 66/67? Has anyone other than Darian confirmed this - not that I doubt it but just out of curiosity?

[Jason]

I may have to listen to BWPS again, but I'm pretty sure that all the music and embellishments are 1966-67 vintage.

[buddhahat]

Thanks. It's be great if they were original. I can't help thinking that if Brian could remember the missing parts to Worms then surely he and VDP could recall the melodies to these pieces. I think what made me doubt though was that there was so much talk of the revelation of discovering the Worms bits but nothing about Child or SFC. This suggested to me that they were new melodies but perhaps if Darian heard the missing bits from the headphone bleed etc. then this is not such a big revelation as Brian just saying 'Oh Yeah - I remember. It goes like this ...' and they wouldn't make such a big deal out of it.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

If they are original, then I find those melodies to be some of the weakest Brian had written at that time.  They're much shorter and limited to very few notes.  More intervallic than melodic.  Just my opinion.

[Chris Brown]

I totally agree Josh...the harmonies sound more vintage sometimes than the melody itself on those tunes.

[buddhahat]

If they are original, then I find those melodies to be some of the weakest Brian had written at that time.  They're much shorter and limited to very few notes.  More intervallic than melodic.  Just my opinion.

I don't know, the SFC melody (I think it's done on a clarinet?) sounds similar to some Pet Sounds stuff to me. It also reminds me of Holidays in it's tempo and breeziness and just seems to feel contemporary to the kind of stuff he was doing at that point. The Child one sounds new though - the chords on the verses are breathtaking yet to me the melody sounds too simple and doesn't marry as well. That's why it surprised me to read that Darian had got the Child melody from a 66/67 recording.

[Old Rake]

The headphone bleed was for vocal harmonies on the CHORUS of Child.

If I had to bet, I'd bet the Child melody/harmonies are '67 vintage, and I disagree that they are "weak." I'd say they are, in fact, "strong." "Look," on the other hand, I agree is simple and intervalic but I find it quite striking. I'd say that's a combination of vintage and new, but heavy on the new.

[andy]

I'm with Josh on this one.  The melodies are just kind-of there on those songs. They sound a lot more like VDP melodies than Brian...a LOT more.

[king of anglia]

I'm sure the only original melody is the clarinet line in Look. I do not imagine for one second that the CITFOTM verse melody is original. What bleed through did Darian hear on the CITFOTM chorus? We already have 2 versions of that which, when put together, make a full chorus. I can't hear much else on the BWPS version that's different except the high female vocal line which is singing a 9th rather than minor 3rd.
The chorus in Look? Nah. Just a copy/variation of the Child chorus. It works well because it pops up in 3 consectutive songs.

[buddhahat]

What bleed through did Darian hear on the CITFOTM chorus? We already have 2 versions of that which, when put together, make a full chorus.

I completely agree - surely it's the Child verse melody that Darian heard but it sounds new to me. I'm sure I read that he heard a bleed for Look, not Child, which would make more sense to me. I may be mistaken - perhaps it was in the Priore book? The melody of SFC is the thing I'm most curious about on BWPS so I'd love to hear more confirmation about this.

[king of anglia]

Strange. Can't have been "Look" as there's no Carl mic track to speak of to hear any bleed through.
Only explanation I can think of is that Darian hasn't heard the 2nd version of CITFOTM chorus with alternate vocals (acetate only?) and has only heard them on a bleed thru of the 1st version.
Not at all convinced that the verse vox are original.