New: You Still Believe in Me (Yes, BBs Cover)

[the captain]

What to do with an hour or two before the Vikings game? Record a Beach Boys song, that's what. This isn't intended as any kind of grand statement, so forgive its (numerous) flaws. It's a single piano in a single take, then a single lead vocal in a single take, until it's doubled at the "I wanna cry" falsetto. Then the other vocals come in. I didn't listen to the original, so I know the parts aren't correct. Just approximations. Anyway, it was fun. I actually quite like the verses lead vocal. Enjoy! http://www.sendspace.com/file/1uluwt

[the captain]

Try this version instead. Same basic track, but removed all vocals from the end, going instead with a quick arrangement of acoustic guitar, xylophone, two ukuleles, and egg shaker. Sounds more like kids. http://www.sendspace.com/file/c0rv76

[Rocker]

I must admit, I really like the ending with them different instruments. Sounds kinda like a "Friends"-version of YSBIM. I like it. The vocal sounds a little hard though (don't know how to describe it properly)

Will this be on our Tribute-project or was it someone else who wanted to do YSBIM ?

[the captain]

I must admit, I really like the ending with them different instruments. Sounds kinda like a "Friends"-version of YSBIM. I like it. The vocal sounds a little hard though (don't know how to describe it properly)

Thanks. I totally know what you mean about the vocal, though I admit I like it that way, at least in this case. Frankly, my voice is a little ragged as I've caught a cold (it's snowing in Minneapolis!), and it is just a quick take--the second one, in fact. But I see what you mean.

Will this be on our Tribute-project or was it someone else who wanted to do YSBIM ?

I don't know--I hadn't really thought about that project at all. This was just for the heck of it yesterday morning, and touched up a little today with the new ending for fun. If whoever is compiling things wants whatever of mine, fine, they're welcome to it. But it's no big deal to me either way.

[the captain]

Hey, RangeRoverA1, sorry I hadn't noticed your post / request earlier. This link will get you a batch of my Beach Boys covers, recorded at various times from about 2001-2011, give or take. There are maybe a dozen or 15 of them, including those you mentioned specifically.

I've also included "Marianne, Are You Listening?" Not the cheeriest song, but hey, you asked!

Hope you find something to enjoy among these.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/7rwmak

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Diggin' this! Great work as usual Luther!

[the captain]

Diggin' this! Great work as usual Luther!

Thanks a lot. They were mostly spur-of-the-moment things. Usually when I record covers, it's because I feel like I've been slacking musically and just want to do something. (Like Lou Reed says [mostly when quoting Warhol], just work.) But some of them were really a lot of fun and turned out OK, I think. 

[the captain]

Hey, RangeRoverA1, sorry I hadn't noticed your post / request earlier. This link will get you a batch of my Beach Boys covers, recorded at various times from about 2001-2011, give or take. There are maybe a dozen or 15 of them, including those you mentioned specifically.

I've also included "Marianne, Are You Listening?" Not the cheeriest song, but hey, you asked!

Hope you find something to enjoy among these.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/7rwmak

Lemme give you an accolade saying that your BBs covers are very skillful, I like what you did with the originals, such as making them slightly up-tempo or changing their keys. My favorites are:

Let Us Go On This Way (all the vocals are great, plus the synths are cool!)
I'll Bet He's Nice (beautiful acoustic v-n! This is maybe the best vocal work of yours in The BBs covers. Marvelous!)
Aren't You Glad (the fact that you did this rare gem - one of my favorite BBs songs - is incredible on its own!)
I'd Love Just Once to See You (this is great! I like that you started the song with the harmonies, bass & harpsichord, & only then - the leads go. Generally, I like the addition of the background vocals + handclaps. In short, very rollicking rendition!)
Meant For You (cool baroque-sounding key changes & harmonizing! You really embellished an already beautiful shortie by creating such sound)
The Night Was So Young (BBs v-n is one of the few least favorite songs but I enjoyed your rendition, it's even better. The type of melody somehow very fits your voice. Especially the chorus is unforgettable)
Till I Die (Just wow! It has only lead vocals & grand piano, yet it works perfectly without all the harmonizing & other instruments! Haunting beauty!)
Where Has Love Been (I'm not much a fan of Imagination album but the cover (as well as the song itself) is good & ear-catching. The intro with repetitive "Dream agaaaain" harmonies is a nice idea! But the best bit is definitely the ending with Love & Mercy reference, also some banjo & harmonica (or reed organ-?) playing going on, so it makes it sound nothing like a BW original)
You Still Believe In Me (I loved it at 1st listen immediately! Amazing work done! Fave moments are bass "Aaah" backed with drone piano chords, the combination of ukulele & music box (not sure if I'm right, feel free to correct me) &, of course, the singing)

Now about your own song. As you said, it's not the cheeriest one but I jolly liked it all the same. I dig its dark & kinda psychedelic mood (piano arrangement specifically), the delicate drumming & guitar strumming, among the other things. Not mentioning the final words sung calmly.

All in all, impressive cover job! Thanks, Luther! Now my musical library got richer for other 16 songs. Btw, who played all the instruments? I ask it because all the songs are credited as "The Beau Mondes", i.e. the name for the band, not for one human. What did you play? Anyway, thanks again for sharing your wonderful work with us. And good-time New Year to you!

Wow, thanks RRA1, those are very nice words. btw, the end of "Where Has Love Been" actually is a combination of L&M and "You've Touched Me," from GIOMH. And yeah, that's banjo and a couple synth organ sounds, and I think the reedy sound is a real melodica--I was borrowing one around the time, so it has a few appearances!--plus claps, bass, guitars, etc.

All of this last batch of songs--the BB covers + Marianne--were just me on everything. That's the main reason a lot of them are pretty spare: I'm not much of a keyboardist (more a chord-plunker) or drummer, and big arrangements without at least good drums don't make sense to me. As for the other originals I've sent in the past, they are me on almost all vocals (sharing a few parts here and there with friends), on all guitars, on almost all bass, on maybe 75% of piano or other keyboard instruments, and maybe on 30% of drums or percussion. Basic rule of thumb, if the piano is beyond block chord plunking or the drumming is good, it's not me. Otherwise, me.

[the captain]

I have many faults, but humility isn't one of them: i'm a pretty conceited son of a bitch, honestly. Just being realistic. But thanks.

As for covering other '60s bands, I can't recall having ever done any other than Velvet Underground's "Candy Says." I don't really do a lot of covers in general, and just do BBs/BW mostly because I like his chord progressions and harmonies. They open up a lot of arrangement possibilities (and I don't typically bother doing covers that I don't see a way to play around with). As far as I can recall, you probably have every cover I have recorded aside from Candy Says, David Herman Dune's Brand New Bike and Your Priorities, Elliott Smith's Folk Song in C, and Queen's Dear Friends.

[the captain]

Here are the non-Beach Boys covers I've done that I can find, including Candy Says. Again, pretty much all covers were just done to kill time, not with a lot of great attention or time spent. So they are sloppier than my own songs, most of the time. They range from 2001 (Candy Says) to 2010 (Never Forget You).

http://www.sendspace.com/file/pjs7jk

Included are:

- How I Feel About You (Andre Herman Dune)
- Brand New Bike, Your Priorities (David Herman Dune)
- Everyday (Buddy Holly)
- Devil Town (Daniel Johnston)
- Never Forget You (Noisettes)
- Dear Friends, Nevermore (Queen)
- Whatever (Folk Song in C), Elliott Smith
- Candy Says (Velvet Underground)

[the captain]

You're very kind. I don't think I'd go so far as to say any of those covers necessarily tops the originals--and definitely not Buddy Holly or Queen (both of whom I worship to some extent). But thank you and I'm glad you liked them.

To answer your questions:

1) I have no process for selecting what songs to cover. It tends to be that I haven't been writing and recording recently, then either that I've had an idea (such as Noisettes' Never Forget You being done in a kind of 12/8) or just do a tune I know and like (a lot of the BBs stuff). Usually nothing more to it than that, really. Occasionally it has been to try to make someone else like a song they didn't like initially by presenting it in a different light, such as Brand New Bike. (btw, you can find a version of that on youtube--it's someone's look back at 2010 or something and has a different title, but a search for Brand New Bike Herman Dune will get you there.)

2) No, banjo isn't a particular favorite instrument. I tend to use it when I'm doing homey recordings without a full band just because it adds another dimension to tunes lacking the full sound of a drummer and (good) keyboard player. So those will have banjo, uke, aux percussion, etc.

Thanks again for the nice comments.

[the captain]

Now, I have a request. Do you have some compilation of your favorite/best in your opinion originally written songs? If so, can you share the link to them? Thanks in advance.

You mean just the names? (I think you've downloaded everything by now!) I can figure something out. And if we're talking favorites songs (as opposed to recordings) I can add in a few tunes from an old band that I didn't ever get great recordings of, but have rehearsal, gig, or demo stuff.

EDIT: Sorry RangeRoverA1, I was thinking you had the bigass downloads of everything, but maybe that's not the case. Let me know and I'll get you whatever you're after, whether just my particular favorites/tracklist or the tunes themselves.

[the captain]

OK, RangeRoverA1 (or anyone), here is a compilation I put together this afternoon. It is 26 of my songs--but never fear, I write short songs and the whole collection is still just under an hour. For fun I threw in a few old ones, including a rehearsal recording of a song I love but that never otherwise got recorded, some old-band versions of ones I've since redone, or just weird old ones I happen to like.

I've made them into some semblance of a playlist order: sort by the "Disc Number" field.

Link to a sendspace download of zip file: http://www.sendspace.com/file/kiiu8o

[the captain]

Thanks again for listening and the kind words, RangeRoverA1. A few responses to your questions and comments are below. I should add it's really fun having this dialogue, it makes me feel FAR more important than I am. I'm imaging you're Rolling Stone or Mojo or Pitchfork or something... 

“…and even now (Smile!)” – extremely catchy! The synths add some tremendous color to it. But what I liked the most is the use of motif from some famous majestic composition I can’t recall the name of. 

Thank you. The song has undergone numerous renditions, with this one highlighted by that synth, a part added by the keyboardist of that band and a great friend and musician. The quote is from Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring.

“The Circle One, Yes/No, Grade School Letter” – this one’s a real work of art. I love the song’s bluesy kind of mood, yet I hear sth. from jazz ; the marimbas remind me of MJQ “Baden Baden”. The guitar solo is fab! Btw, is it a slap bass? Sounds like it to me. All in all, very beautiful song!

No, that isn't slap bass, just an occasionally aggressively finger-picked electric bass. Glad you like this, it is also one of my favorites. Sadly, it has never been well recorded. This is a live take from a rehearsal (hence some bad notes...), and a few show-recordings exist. But nothing good, in my opinion. Unfortunately. Someday...

Few questions: 1) What is Ellen Kay? Is it the older band than The Beau Mondes? Also, is it named after some bandmates? Who is the singer on their recordings? The voice reminds a little of yours but I can be wrong.

It was a band for a few years in the mid-00s (before the Beau Mondes idea) named as a bit of wordplay by the first letter of my name and the first letter of the other guy whose idea the band was (his name began with a K). So L & K. Confusing the issue, that guy wasn't really in the band, but was behind the idea of it and handled booking and such. The singer is an old acquaintance of mine. The band was formed around his voice, with the songs by me and the keyboardist. We fell into good luck with a brilliant drummer and really good and unusual bassist (who also writes good songs). Most of the songs were mine and the keyboardist's (with only mine represented in this batch). It was all built--at least in my interpretation--to be a wholly silly and fun band doing (my) songs that are typically depressed, lacking substance entirely, or morally bankrupt. I liked that idea.

2) Am I right that you like to experiment with chords, change them within one song? It's very noticeable, I'd say.

Yes. I'm usually not very interested in writing songs along a I-IV-V framework unless there is something else to make that structure interesting. I gravitate toward chords and progressions with jazz theory going on (as a matter of extensions and such), or strange song structures (so not verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, but maybe four verses and a second section to close, etc.). Mostly I enjoy playing little games, be they lyrical, structural, or musical.

3) What is your most favorite of these 26 songs/the song you have good memories recording of? Anyhow, thanks again for your music.

That's tough because as uncool as it may be to say so, I really like almost anything I get to the point of recording. Not that I think they're great songs or anything, but I write what I enjoy, right? (I mean, I don't think, 'this is a terrible idea and i hate it...maybe I'll record it!' and I don't take it seriously enough to be too critical afterward.) I'll split your question there into two: those I think are the best, and those I have the best memories of recording.

Best Songs: Valentine's Day, Go Back to the House, I Didn't Think So, My Old Girlfriend, Circle One, Josiah, Determined. (Interestingly, mostly ones you don't pick out as favorites.)

Best Memories:
- Determined, where the percussion was dreamed up by him on the spot by the drummer who appears on most of these songs (that have drums), and consists of him slapping his thighs, hitting a heating duct in the ceiling, and clanging silverware together, all in the space of about 10 minutes.
- Louisiana, because while the singer and I tended to argue constantly, singing sure was fun. (We did the harmonies together in the same room. Singing harmonies live is one of my favorite things on the planet.)
- Valentine's Day, because the pedal steel was done remotely as a favor by a guy whose music I love. I got the audio file back, plugged it in, and grinned ear to ear.
- Waste, because the drums (by Adam Marsland, who also did Trent and Church of those here). He nailed with virtually no input from my ignorant ass the heavy, almost inside-out, herky jerky thought of the song. He also kicks "Trent's" ass, and I love when it opens out on the refrain of Church. I'm sure he wishes I put his drumming in better context, because he's awesome, but I'm a very lazy engineer, performer, producer, mixer... Oh well!
- Insular, because it was the first time we used any cool equipment to record. The grand piano is from a U of MN auditorium, access to which we gained because of the keyboardist's status there at the time as grad student / teacher. Even if it doesn't come across as sounding impressive, it was just amazing to mic up such a great instrument. And the claps were done in my living room by me and the K of L&K on no notice whatsoever to him. "Hey, welcome, come on in. We're recording. Clap with me." He f***ed up a lot. To be fair, out of the blue, when you're not a musician, it's probably hard to follow a drunken me shouting instructions.

So there you have it, far more detail than anyone has ever needed or wanted to know about this body of music!