Portrayal or Betrayal? City of New Orleans

A few weeks ago I recorded a cover of the Arlo Guthrie classic “City of New Orleans” (see track 5). The challenge I gave myself was to look up the chords and lyrics on chordie and without actually listening to the song first, just record it how I think it might sound.

So I did it and then I checked out You Tube to find out how close I was, then I found out I wasn’t the only one who did a cover of this one, so here the other musicians with their tributes. Who’s your favorite?
Arlo

Portrayal or Betrayal? Sonny & Cher vs. Cher & Beavis & Butthead

 

So I decided to get Cher back this week, since there were some nice comments last week and ol’ Will Ferrell is tied up “Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie”. I’m not really what you’d call a “Cherologist”, but I do know that she is one of the few artists to take a song from decades earlier and re-release it in a whole new way.

The 1965 version with Sonny captures the typical 60′s vibe with the simple lyrics that were most definitely written while sitting around with an old acoustic guitar with the feeling of love in full bloom. It’s the usual pop setting with the adoring fans around the gracious artists with the musicians tucked away from camera view. The awkward and carefree expressions radiated by the two “love birds” really make you feel a connection that today’s more polished videos don’t always offer.

Now the next video, on the other hand is right in your face, featuring the cartoon duo that revolutionized slackerdom. That’s right, the infamous Beavis and Butthead helped Cher take this peaceful, laid back track to the next level. In this technological masterpeice, they actually got a human to be part of a cartoon’s virtual life experience and kind of turn the tables on reality when they summon their dream girl and go on a real trippy, guitar-driven journey where anything goes, including a far out motorcycle sequence!

I always knew that I was ment to write this post, and now I can finally look at myself in the mirror and call myself the premiere  ”slacker blogger”. If not only because I spent more time finding the videos than typing.

Who do you like?

Portrayal or Betrayal? Cher vs. Will Ferrell

OK, so you might be wondering what’s up with all of these Will Ferrell clips. Truth is I’d probably post them daily if I could, he just makes a song look so sentimental with the raw emotional gratitude for the fact that he has the opportunity to be heard. I know that he may never get a chart topper, but it’s OK because it’s about the music not the fame.

The song in question tonight is called “Believe”. Now I know that Cher songs are probably a little bit “whack” for most people. I guess that it’s fair to say that she has one of those voices that you either love or hate. For me I can listen to most music without prejudice (of course there’s an initial judgement as in anything, but I do my best to focus on what I like about whatever song I might be listening to). As for the lyrics, it seems a little bitter sweet with the “tough love” approach by a woman who’s seen her share of heart break. I can’t help but picture Sonny & Cher up on their little stage in their hippy ensemble singing the carefree, ‘who needs money & status when you got someone to share your life with’ anthem “I Got You Babe”. Chances are it’s probably about some other dude who turned out not to be her cup of tea.

The challenger is an ultra-short duet from “Land of the Lost” by Will Ferrell and Danny McBride through an Autotune-like device.

Who do you like?

Portrayal or Betrayal? Blue Oyster Cult vs. Will Ferrell

Here’s a comparison of two YouTube videos for “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. The first is by Blue Öyster Cult with excerpts from Stephen King’s The Stand. It’s one of the trippiest songs that get played on the radio with mellow, dark vocals, a furious guitar solo and a smashing outro, laced with some great cowbell playing. The video itself looks a little bit rotten and the end of it is somewhat foolish, but it was the best video I could find with the studio version.

The challenger is an SNL skit from the Will Ferrell era. The main focus of the video is Christopher Walken’s effort to bring out more cowbell in the recording studio.

Who’s better?