It's So Easy Now and I'm Thankful

[apatriot]

When it comes to music, I don't think the young set realizes how lucky they are to have the internet and youtube to track down music.  Years ago, it was difficult unless you were persistent to track down music, especially something you were not familair with.  Just one example.  I heard this first tune on the clarinet on the radio one day.  I knew the title of the song, but the radio never announced who the artist was performing.  I taped the song off the radio (so you know I was laying in wait for it to play and it usually played in the morning for some reason).  It was months before I actually found out who the artist was, and then I still was stuck with my taped recording because record stores just didn't carry this stuff.  Today, thanks to the internet, you can pretty much get what you want if you can identify something about it.

I recently searched to see what other ppl perform the song.  Most of the stuff I found was horrible, but I did find TWO that I thought was very good, but on different instruments.  It's always amazing to me how a tune can take on a different feel by just changing an instrument.

So here's my original with the clarinet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJaxZQw5vM

Here's on the Keyboard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiL-TK_DJA4&feature=related

Here's on the Harmonica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdpbkDfLrDk

Any comments? and which do you like best?

[scungili]

It is nice to be able to get the info & the actual music so easily these days, but in a certain sense it takes some of the fun out of the hunt.  It takes alot of aggravation out of the hunt though.  At times I wonder if this ease is broadening a listeners taste or making it easier to shave things down to a "hit single" mentality of things they know they like.  One thing that irks me personally though is that CDs made a small dent in the value of records, but the internet & mp3s have brought vinyl prices down quite a bit.  Sure, Goldmine might value a certain record at "x" but there's fewer buyers out there willing to pay that because they're happy with a digital copy ... oh well.

I definitely prefer the Chris Barber (clarinet) version.  The harmonica woulda been cool with a more Ennio Morricone treatment and the keyboard one just makes me shake my head.

Check out how the voice of a different instrument affects this song.  Just wait a second & the song starts up automatically.

[Hogzilla]

I used to work in a record shop about 20 years ago and we had these gigantic cross referencing books to track down music for people. Of course the customers always came in with the vaguest of information. After 5-10 minutes of interrogation we usually figured it out. It's a breeze now. And I agree, I like it that way too.

[tgoddess]

Beverly Records was always like that, Hogz.  Damn, I went in one time, looking for some obscure 45 and knew only ONE line from the song.  The people who worked there were music savants.

Within 5 minutes, they'd not only identified the song/artist for me, but found it in there bins of tens of thousands of records. 

Some of my most fun times, were just spending hours in that place, rifling through the albums of every possible type.  I don't even know if they're still there.  They were located around 115th and Western.

[scungili]

Some of my most fun times, were just spending hours in that place, rifling through the albums of every possible type.  I don't even know if they're still there.  They were located around 115th and Western.

Yup ... they're still around ...

http://www.youtube.com/v/N6Ka7Vn_s-g&hl=en&fs=1

[Bear]

Very cool place...There is also a joint in Westmont, Remember When Records.

[Hogzilla]

We had Bill's Records and Forever Young Records in my old hood. Both the exact same vibe. I think every town has one or two like that.

Bill sat on a chair in the middle of the store, chain smoked and barked orders to the staff. He was a 50 something queen from the old Dallas disco scene. You'd go up to the guy, tell him what you were looking for, he'd bark to one of the kids working in the shop, minutes later you'd have your CD/Record whatever. NOTHING was marked. SO, if you were a long time player in the game, where male, you would flirt with Bill for a bit and get a deep discount on whatever you were purchasing. I was never that good at the game and didn't want to see where things would go if I flirted, so I never got that "deep" discount. 

[watcher]

Val's Halla is THE place.
Nothing is too obscure or offbeat for her to pluck out of thin air.

Old School Records in Forest Park is good too, but doesn't have the encyclopedic
mind of Val.

[apatriot]

Everyone here that posted ... I agree that the romance we had with record shops has gone the way of many good things that were a part of our youth and our love for music.  I know all the record stores you speak of and more, but Coconuts was the last one to leave around here and although I didn't get to know the ppl on a first name level, they were the same ppl ... the dark fuzzy haired dude, the manager (I think), and my big connection there the strawberry/blonde kid.  He demostrated patience when I would try to sing a song (a song I KNEW, but the title/artist just faded from my memory for the moment) .... example (as he listened as I got into it):

My LOVER (bump bump) ... MyHI  LOVER (bump bump) ohoh WHERE (bump bump) areare YOU? 

As he watched me you could see his computer like mind ... analyzing ... then he would say over here ... we walked together, he picked up a CASSETTE ... handed one of the Oldie compilations ... and there it was ... the Diamonds doing Little Darlin.  Ahhhh, relief.  The struggle was over.  He didn't laugh at me, he knew the job he had to do (find my tune) and did it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRffQSTXt34

Scrungili:  "At times I wonder if this ease is broadening a listeners taste or making it easier to shave things down to a "hit single" mentality of things they know they like."

Well, as far as the internet, I can say that I have tracked down a lot of music I was ALREADY familiar with, but that didn't last long.  Once I had all that I could remember, I moved on to finding NEW music, and it has been the NEW unfamiliar to me that keeps filling my library.  It's finding artists you are not familiar with, listening to what they have, and gleeming what you really like from that.

Whether its the artist or a tune that gets you started, you ultimately end up listening to stuff you never heard before .. and that's a good thing.

Scrungili ... I take it that you didn't like the keyboard version.  I gather that is a woman.  I listened to a few other of her tracks and was not impressed with any of those, perhaps it was just the tune Petite Fleur that carried her for the performance for me.  Regardless, in an exercise to see who else was performing Petite Fleur on youtube ... other than the original hit by Chris Barber or Acker Bilk ... those where the only two that came close to being any good.

Regarding one hits ... anytime I bought an album or cd I would listen to the whole thing.  I figure if I liked one song and bought it ... there might be more on there I like too, and many times that would be the case.  Has the internet changed that?  no, cause when you seek out new music you have no ONE hit in mind ... you are just looking and listening, with all bias removed.

[mustang54]

  My favorite record stores back in the day were Littles on Lake Street in Oak Park, and a place called Greyhound Records on 22nd and Keeler for Motown and R&B 45's.  And who could ever forget the record department at E.J.Korvettes. Remember When in Westmont is a good store. I also enjoyed going to record shows. The vinyl show in Hillside still gets great crowds.

[apatriot]

Mustang, just an fyi, but I worked in record department at E.J.Korvettes just after I graduated High School.  It was extensive.  Tony Bennett came to do a signing there ... it was nice.

[watcher]

Bullwinkle's Poetry Humanities Music Corner

http://www.archive.org/index.php
Public Domain recordings, images and texts. From scratchy 78s of John Phillip Souza to fiery sermons/speeches
thought lost. Old time radio shows, Folk, Ethnic, Jazz, Avant Garde, Americana... you name it.  Interface a little or a lot. A great student resource for school mulit-media projects. A great way for parents to impress kids with their technological acumen.
Warning: Access to this much free stuff can cause FULL hard drives.

http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/al/performers/all.html

Vast majority are free for the taking. LIVE concerts from RnR's legendary performers $10.

Very gentle learning curves involved in both sites.

[scungili]

apatriot - I agree that the romance we had with record shops has gone the way of many good things

Ah the romance ... nice call.  Sometimes I'd head to the record store with something in mind & had limited time, so it was in-n-out.  But other times it was an outing.  You had "x" amount in your pocket & all the time in the world to browse & talk music w/ the shop owner or workers.  They'd play stuff for ya, turn you on to similar artists, recommend fanzines ... that was a fun afternoon.

There was a guy named Mike who owned a lil' shop on Cicero - just south of Irving that sometimes I'd just go in & hang out and BS with him.  He'd even pull stuff to the side (used stuff he bought off people), knowing I'd be in, because he figured, "Oh he has got to hear this" before it went into the "new arrival" bin.  His shop moved further west on Irving - closer to Austin - but I haven't been in that neck of the woods for years.  His shop wasn't very big, and I didn't buy a whole bunch from him, but he was really cool & fun to talk to.  I believe he played vibraphone.

apatriot - I take it that you didn't like the keyboard version.

Yeah, that keyboard version is on the level of muzak to me.  Youtube is such a fun & helpful tool, but it only features what people upload (with or without artist permission).  The melody of Petite Fleur is beautiful & somewhat haunting - I'd like to hear a spanish guitar version of it.

apatriot - anytime I bought an album or cd I would listen to the whole thing.

I agree, it's part of the excitement to hear "what else" that artist has created.  I  just wonder about it because the majority of my life I've known more people who don't take the time to listen to an entire album.  They like songs they hear on the radio, in a video, in a movie, etc. and they like that song - not necessarily that artist.  Friends & Acquaintances would ask me to tape them some stuff and they'd ask for specific songs.  I'd ask if they wanted the whole album or not & their response was, "eh, if there's room on the tape that's ok but you can just put this other song I like & this other song I like etc."  I'd sneak a few in there anyhow, and most times they dug it.  But it was almost like they had to be forced to listen to it.

These days, my peer group is the opposite - they feed me stuff I've never heard of & I reciprocate.  But they have always been the type to listen to an entire album and look for artists they weren't familiar with.

[apatriot]

Wow Scrung, I can relate to what you are saying.

Scrung:  "I'd ask if they wanted the whole album or not & their response was, "eh, if there's room on the tape that's ok but you can just put this other song I like & this other song I like etc."  I'd sneak a few in there anyhow, and most times they dug it.  But it was almost like they had to be forced to listen to it."

Right.  It's like if someone heard the Beatles for the first time, and they heard "I Want To Hold Your Hand".  They ask if you have it and could you put it on CD.  You say sure I got it, but they have tons of other songs too, you want some more?  and they say ... nah, I just want that one. LOL  wait a minute

You talk about movie soundtracks and lately it seems everyone is doing songs by a bunch of artists for their soundtrack.  Seemed to me this got popular around the time of Goodfellas.  They did it in, Bronx Tale, did it in Casino and then everyone was doing it.  That said, I got turned on to a few composers from soundtracks such as Giorgio Moroder with Cat People, Scarface, and Midnight Express ... Eric Sierra with The Professional.  I recently copied a soundtrack CD from The Virgin Queen and gave it to a friend.  They were riding around with it playing in the car ... and one day the car broke down and they took it to the mechanic.  When they went to pick up the car the mechanic said ... hey that's some good shit ... what is it?  LOL ... you never know who will be listening to the tapes / CDs that you make.  When I saw the 1983 Canne Best Foreign Film Antartica, I found Vangelis.  Been listening to him ever since.

Here's some samples of stuff I mentioned above, if your interested.

Cat People - Moroder
Song doesn't get to finish but couldn't resist this scene - two lovers that can NEVER be together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47AR54Bp6oY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SkpTRrAliA


Virgin Queen samples Medieval Babes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbE5fOBligI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKyNqc-cFbg&feature=related


Scarface - Tony's Theme - Moroder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOSctvrUf24


Midnight Express - Moroder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkeDj2FVK4U&feature=related


Noon - The Professional - Eric Sierra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVFiYsciTGU&feature=related

Antarctica - Vangelis

powerful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_5ad-Fvcyg

soft
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5p58bVlNaE

determined
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLa3H19cPw4


Video of Final scene in the movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77r5LfQ-zoc

[scungili]

Vangelis ...  I can't say I dig everything, but there is one album that holds a very special place in my heart.  As a kid, my uncles were important in shaping my curiosity & appreciation of music.  One was a musician, the other a big-time audiophile.  He sat me down (audiophile) one afternoon & played The Friends of Mr. Cairo album.  The title track was definitely my favorite, can't remember a whole lot about the rest of the tracks but I think there was a tune called School that I liked alot too.  I just love the scene it paints in your mind.

Soundtrack "scores" can be really cool.  I'm familiar w/ the Cat people disc (more so for the Bowie) but there have been times I've listened to the composer's works specifically, sometimes replaying the movie scenes in my head while listening.  It's kinda funny how dated that stuff sounds - you know that was the 80's when you hear it.  I don't mean that negatively, it just makes me snicker.

[TannerBoyle]

When it comes to music, I don't think the young set realizes how lucky they are to have the internet and youtube to track down music.  Years ago, it was difficult unless you were persistent to track down music, especially something you were not familair with.  Just one example.  I heard this first tune on the clarinet on the radio one day.  I knew the title of the song, but the radio never announced who the artist was performing.  I taped the song off the radio (so you know I was laying in wait for it to play and it usually played in the morning for some reason).  It was months before I actually found out who the artist was, and then I still was stuck with my taped recording because record stores just didn't carry this stuff.  Today, thanks to the internet, you can pretty much get what you want if you can identify something about it.

I recently searched to see what other ppl perform the song.  Most of the stuff I found was horrible, but I did find TWO that I thought was very good, but on different instruments.  It's always amazing to me how a tune can take on a different feel by just changing an instrument.

So here's my original with the clarinet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJaxZQw5vM

Here's on the Keyboard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiL-TK_DJA4&feature=related

Here's on the Harmonica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdpbkDfLrDk

Any comments? and which do you like best?

No shit, apat.

When I first moved to Florida, I took almost a whole year off and lived off my pension and savings.

And, one of the first things I started doing for a hobby was tracking down tunes and movies.

I basically combined Rhapsody, Youtube, Limewire, Sirius satellite radio and my Google search to track down songs I literally hadn't heard in years.  In some cases 20 years or more.