The Smiley Smile Message Board

I don't think anyone has posted on this yet, so I had to because it's been bugging me ever since I read it. I was googling news on Dennis the other day and found this article
http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2010/09/16/time_off/entertainment_news/doc4c9114b5d5cb5846635549.txt
I thought it was going to be something pleasant about an artist who liked the song so much they recorded it. I was wrong. I've never heard of Lori Lieberman before but I think she couldn't have been more wrong (or rude) in her statement! Maybe I'm in the minority in this but I've always LOVED the song and have always thought of it as one of the (many) great songs Dennis wrote for the BBs. I assume she's referring to the Carl version since she said it was a BB song. So I looked up her "re-do" and IMHO her version/voice couldn't touch Carl or Dennis'. Ugh, just thought I'd vent to the only people who could ever understand my frustration, lol

Here's the snippet of her version I found if anyones interested (not sure why it's credited to Brian & Al though)
http://swisscharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Lori+Lieberman&titel=Only+With+You&cat=s

Arrogant little s h i t.

Woman's a stone genius.

'Cause it takes genius to take a gorgeous, simple, heartfelt love song like "Only With You" and turn it into the worst kind of cliched country excrement.

What an incredibly disrespectful thing to say...

But then again, who cares... He only claim to fame is that she recorded a song 40 years ago that then became a hit for someone else.

BTW, in case you were wondering why Mrs. Lieberman's own version of Killing Me Softly was never a hit... That’s because it’s so bad, it’s so bad. But, Roberta Flack was able to re-orchestrate it and re-do it, and actually it’s turned out really nicely. ;)

What a load bollocks from this non-enity, that snippet of her version was godawful and just what is with her voice?

I just sent an e-mail to the Dufus who wrote the article and told him that not only was the song written in 1972, it was written by Dennis and Mike, not Brian and Al. Then I told him that this ignorant slut totally butchered a beautiful well-written song.

I've never heard of her, myself. 40 years of writing and recording and she's still only a one-hit wonder. Even then, somebody else made her song a #1.

 

Tell ya the truth, I think she belongs in this thread: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,9384.0.html  with her equally nutty brother/cousin/Father/whatever.
getting back to her beginnings, who would ever really believe that "I wrote a poem that the songwriters based the song on" and she never asked for a credit?  ( Killing Me Softly) see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Me_Softly_with_His_Song   ( she doesnt claim the poem here)
 I once knew a guy that went around and told everbody that he wrote all of Neil Diamond's songs; Said Neil paid him for them and put his own name on them claiming the credit.( but he never could come up with the copy of the check, ya know?) He sure loved to sing them tho...
 That guy, and Lori Lieberman are equally nutty in my book.
SURE, you did...   uh, , hey, I'll see ya later, OK?  I think these "friends" of Napoleon XIV want to talk to you now....

It is amazing that this thread appeared today...

While attempting to drown out airplane noise, this afternoon, I pulled out the Zune and scrolled around to listen to some of this and some of that.  "Only With You" with Dennis on lead, (from POB) was one I had on, and never heard it on mp3 with headphones. 

This lady composer greatly underestimates many people are very familiar with the entire catalog of the Boys.  Insulting is an understatement. 

A teacher I once worked with had a million sayings, no doubt from her Irish mother..."Self praise is NO recommendation." She "fixed" - "Only with You?"  Really?  She needs to get over herself and get her ego in check.   She "fixed" this bad song?

She might listen to Jim Guercio's interview on 1974 - On the Road with the Beach Boys video, done by Billy Hinsche, and see what Dennis' contemporaries in the business thought of his compositional skills and the ease with which he wrote music, after the Boys were a well-established band in the 1970's.   Or the DVD "Forever."

In an attempt to be a little balanced, (yes, I am trying) it may be that it comes from ignorance on her part, and a lack of exposure to the more obscure material, which lots of us just "dig into" because it is "their work."  And she may fall into that category that includes those who only listen to the hits and not the themed material.   She may be more to be pitied than censured...

"So bad" - that is harsh!  It might be well for those learned ones, who know better to "vent your spleens" in the comment section...

It might cause the paper to do a little digging for the divergent (and correct) point of view!  ;)   

 

Hey man, chill out. There are more worthy things to get riled up about, y'know? I'm sure you know many people with terrible taste in music.

Let us thank God that we only get to hear a 30 second preview.

You are both correct- but I don't know if calling her a trollop is the way to go,

If no one "corrects"  this inaccuracy, it is not good, especially with a Dennis movie in the works and the work done to release POB, Bambu, 1974 and Forever.   If she had been gracious, she would have interpreted it in her own way and left out the diss.  Sometimes people ignore criticism, but the readers who have no basis of comparison, believe her opinion. 

It is not worth getting in an uproar but a few cogent responses will get some action and maybe even an apology. 

 Just dreadfull. Lady, if you honestly think that your version is better than it's little wonder that you've never had a hit in 40 years.

Hate to bump an old thread, but I didn't have my chance to see this and comment before. But yeah, good God - so true, what you've said here. Who the f*** says such a thing in an interview? I've no problems with confidence in your work, but saying a song was "so bad, so bad" and that you "fixed" it is about the biggest fucking joke I've ever heard when it comes to this stuff.

It might be the ever slightest bit forgiveable if her version didn't suck. I say that from a completely impartial place and not as a Dennis fan - it sucks.