Blondie on Wild Honey

[Mikie]

October 8, 2000. All three were together that day.

[Ron]

The swag and confidence he has when he steps out to do that solo is the sh*t.  He's still got a Rock & Roll heart, I don't care how old he is.  I guess you never lose it if you've got it. 

[Emdeeh]

Big thumbs up for this one! Blondie rocks!

I've always loved Carl singing WH. Matt Jardine does a fine version of it too, closer to Carl's than Blondie's, and he sings it without any strain in his voice. I've never seen Cowsill's version.

[Pretty Funky]

Big thumbs up for this one! Blondie rocks!

I've always loved Carl singing WH. Matt Jardine does a fine version of it too, closer to Carl's than Blondie's, and he sings it without any strain in his voice. I've never seen Cowsill's version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs8DTQhSNt0

[Debbie Keil-Leavitt]

Big thumbs up for this one! Blondie rocks!

I've always loved Carl singing WH. Matt Jardine does a fine version of it too, closer to Carl's than Blondie's, and he sings it without any strain in his voice. I've never seen Cowsill's version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs8DTQhSNt0

Well Blondie is just amazing on this and I love it beyond belief!   Can't wait for the PBS Soundstage special and Brian's tour.

Thanks for this link to Cowsill's "Wild Honey" as well.  Even though I haven't been to Mike's shows, I now get it about Cowsill - that was truly impressive, even with the crappy YouTube sound.  He is as good as he's been described.

Of course, I've loved Blondie's voice since I first heard it in 1969, so...

[Emdeeh]

Thanks for the link to the Cowsill version. That's a righteously hard-rocking take on the song. I've seen M&B's show a couple times since they started playing WH live, but it wasn't done at either show I attended.

If Scott Totten happens to be reading this, "Wild Honey" is my favorite song of all time, so I hope I get a chance to hear y'all play it.

And I'm looking forward to seeing Blondie sing WH at the Fabulous Fox this summer!

[ontor pertawst]

yes, Cowsill is excellent! A shame they didn't exchange him for Foskett at gunpoint over a lonely Berlin bridge one night. Or how about for Nelson Bragg? He could smile uneasily next to Stamos.

[Mikie]

Of course, I've loved Blondie's voice since I first heard it in 1969, so...

1969?  Really?  Before he was a Beach Boy? 

[Aum Bop Diddit]

Blondie does look like he received a transfusion with Keith Richards' blood.  But this is cool, high end video and audio of a great performance.  I will say that relative to my recall of his stealing the show with this song at the Jeff Beck shows, it does feel a tad tame.  But that's quibbling!

[wantsomecorn]

Blondie does look like he received a transfusion with Keith Richards' blood. 

*urge to make heroin joke rising*

[Mikie]

Blondie does look like he received a transfusion with Keith Richards' blood. 

Yeah, Aum, the hard stuff has taken a toll on Blondie. Surprised he can still belt out a good rocker after hitting the sauce for so long.

[TonyW]

Big thumbs up for this one! Blondie rocks!

I've always loved Carl singing WH. Matt Jardine does a fine version of it too, closer to Carl's than Blondie's, and he sings it without any strain in his voice. I've never seen Cowsill's version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs8DTQhSNt0

Not authentic enough ... Mike's not playing the woowoo machine.

[Loaf]

Of course, I've loved Blondie's voice since I first heard it in 1969, so...

1969?  Really?  Before he was a Beach Boy? 

Carl produced The Flame before Blondie and Ricky joined the band, and when did The Flame's album come out, about 1970? Carl must've brought some demos or tracks to Brother Records beforehand to get them signed to the label. 1969 seems reasonable considering thsi timeline, no?

[Aum Bop Diddit]

Blondie does look like he received a transfusion with Keith Richards' blood.  

Yeah, Aum, the hard stuff has taken a toll on Blondie. Surprised he can still belt out a good rocker after hitting the sauce for so long.

Yep, Mikie, as Levon Helm said, "I ain't in it for my health!"  As I mentioned, Blondie stole the show at the Jeff Beck gigs.  He knew how to take the spotlight and really took his songs to "church."

[Rocky Raccoon]

I think Blondie's voice has gotten better with age.  A little different, much deeper than it was in his Beach Boys days but still very strong.  It's cool that he's sort of reclaiming his status as a former Beach Boy as David Marks also has in recent years after being ignored by the band's history for so long.

[Mikie]

Blondie does look like he received a transfusion with Keith Richards' blood.  

Yeah, Aum, the hard stuff has taken a toll on Blondie. Surprised he can still belt out a good rocker after hitting the sauce for so long.

Yep, Mikie, as Levon Helm said, "I ain't in it for my health!"  As I mentioned, Blondie stole the show at the Jeff Beck gigs.  He knew how to take the spotlight and really took his songs to "church."

Right arm, man. I missed the Beck gigs but saw the clip on YouTube of Blondie singing Wild Honey at the Greek in L.A. Looking forward to seeing him in Saratoga with Brian in June. Meanwhile, this will have to hold me over:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfDKow9kcpU

[Mikie]

Of course, I've loved Blondie's voice since I first heard it in 1969, so...

1969?  Really?  Before he was a Beach Boy? 

Carl produced The Flame before Blondie and Ricky joined the band, and when did The Flame's album come out, about 1970? Carl must've brought some demos or tracks to Brother Records beforehand to get them signed to the label. 1969 seems reasonable considering thsi timeline, no?

Well, Loaf, according to the timeline:

Blondie joined “The Flames” in 1967 and he was on their 1968 single, "For Your Precious Love." While the Beach Boys were on tour in the UK around the middle of 1969, Al heard the Flames in Blaise's (London) and told Carl about them. Carl invited them to the U.S. to record in L.A., and later that summer they flew to California, where Carl rented them a beautiful house overlooking Sunset Boulevard. Work permits were slow to materialize, however, which allowed them not only to immerse themselves in LA's hedonistic atmosphere, but also to move away from the cover versions that had defined them thus far, and start honing their own material under Wilson's encouraging supervision. Sessions with Desper at the controls finally began in October 1969, and without the constraints of a tight studio schedule they were given free rein to perfect their arrangements. Recording of the LP, which was produced by Carl, was completed in July, 1970, and they embarked on a small promo tour to support its October 1970 release. Meanwhile, The Flames had broken up and Blondie & Ricky changed their group name to "The Flame". Another album was recorded soon after that, this time with more strings and horns in the mix. After the first single by The Flame was released in October, 1970, Carl had "The Flame" open shows for The Beach Boys the following month. Then Blondie (and Ricky) joined permanently as Beach Boys in 1972.

So. Maaaaybe one could hear demos or recording session tapes in late 1969, but.......

Can you say "QUAD"?  An album by "The Flame" with a poster and insert that explained how to position your four speakers to hear the album?

[Ron]

I think Blondie's voice has gotten better with age. 

Definitely... a lot of the country guys do that too, the older some of these guys get the heavier, thicker, and weary their voices get.  If they can still hit the notes in key, it adds a lot and makes their voice much better.  Blondie's got that going on, he's still hitting the notes but now his tone is much better. 

It's similar to playing guitar, technique is very important (hitting the right notes) but the tone is also very important (texture of the notes).