“For the Spirit of man cannot be satisfied but with truth, or at least verisimility; and a Poem is to contain, if not ta etyma [i.e. truths] yet etymoisin omoia [things similar to truths], as one of the Greek Poets has expres'd it.”
~~John Dryden, “An Essay of Dramatic Poesy”
I was having fun playing with the microphone and sound recorder on my PC and thought what a great opportunity to record some songs in .mp3 format. Since these are offered free I hope you will pardon my deficiencies as a performer. In future I will be adding more new songs or update those previously posted.
Note. Unless noted otherwise the .mp3 song files are named so as to play in numbered sequence. Also they are zipped for more easy download.
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"Maybe" by Thom Pace [MP3 version #4]
Comments: This is simply an ace of a song, not least of which in that it sings for animals as well as people, and I'm really quite impressed by it for that reason. As well, as long as you don't mess it up too bad, it still sounds good regardless of whose singing it.
"One Stage Before" by Al Stewart [MP3 version #3]
Comments: This song amazes me because it seems it has almost limitless ways of interpreting and singing it.
"The Last Farewell" by Roger Whittaker [MP3 version #3]
Comments: A good old song, but which has an intriguing possibilities in its rhythm which makes it something greater.
"Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan [MP3 version #3]
Comments: Same as the above, only more so, with vocals also allowing for wider range of possibility than might seem obvious.
"End of the Night" by The Doors
Comments: Where do "spook" vocals come from? Probably certain types of monastic music actually. Well, this kind of song gives a new way of interpreting them.
"Your Wildest Dreams" by Justin Heyward, the Moody Blues [MP3 version #2]
Comments:This may actually be my favorite song of all time, certainly it's one of them. Again I think one can go much further in building on this song in terms of interpretation, and which my own recording just barely begins to realize.
"Over the Hills and Far Away" from "The Beggar's Opera" by John Gay
Comments: Like "Tambourine Man", so deceptively simple yet so perfect.
"White Room"
by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown, Cream
Comments: Similar to what I said about "Wildest Dreams."
"A Place in the Sun" by Bryan Wells and Ron Miller (with versions done by Glen Campbell, The Rascals, Stevie Wonder) [MP3 version #5]
Comments: A very great, indeed perfect song, yet which is much harder and more challenging to sing right -- that is, intelligently so as to bring forth the great riches it has to offer buried beneath the misleadingly simple surface -- than you might think.
"Goodbye Again"
by John Denver [MP3 version #3]
Comments: Here's a song I found easy to sing, and yet it allows you many different ways of singing it, and yet without great strain either. In addition its simple message -- again if felt and that feeling competently communicated -- has a both immediate and universal appeal.
"Carry On Till Tomorrow" by Pete Ham and Tom Evans, Badfinger [MP3 version #3]
Comments: Absolutely beautiful, and, as with any of the songs on this list, get the original recording by the actual band as they do a much better job than I can.
"Daily Nightly" by Michael Nesmith, The Monkees [MP3 version #2]
Comments: Again not so easy to sing right. Mickey Dolenz does an excellent job and puts me to shame, plus he has that nice bass and moog back up which make this song perfect of its kind.
"Five Years" by David Bowie
Comments: I had to copy Bowie in singing this. I didn't know how else to sing it, yet a very ingenious song and which I imagine nonetheless could still be done up differently (by someone more clever than myself.)
"Poison Ivy" by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with the Coasters [MP3 version #2](updated for a small file correction 8/31/06)
Comments: Man just try singing this song (right.) Then go listen closely to Carl Gardner and it will completely blow your mind what he is able to do with it. I initially wanted to do "Down in Mexico" as something I could more easily handle singing-wise, but couldn't locate the chords for it.
* Seattle Suite "The Blue of the Night"/"The Green Leaves of Summer"/"1983... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)"
Here's my Gun Jones Amateur Hour tribute to Seattle singers and songwriters. "Frosty the Snowman" you know well enough. "Louie, Louie," to be honest, never did all that much for me, and finally (and believe me) you don't want to hear me sing "Crazy on You" on acoustic (or for that matter electric) guitar.
"The Blue of the Night" by Bing Crosby, Fred E. Ahlert, Roy Turk. [MP3 version #3] Bing Crosby was actually a native of Spokane, but close enough.
"The Green Leaves of Summer" by Dimitri Tiomkiri, Paul Francis Webster, sung by the Brothers Four (from the Seattle area)
[MP3 version #2] (updated for a small file correction 8/31/06)
"1983... (A Merman I Should Turn To Be)" by Jimi Hendrix
"The Sloop John B." by The Beach Boys
"Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel [MP3 version #3]
"Truckin'" by the Grateful Dead
"Something" by George Harrison, the Beatles
"Test 7"
Comments: You have to figure that the numbers of ways of song composition there are vary wth the composer; their living circumstances; and in what aspect of music are they most gifted. On top of this one can compose by means of chords; having words and then trying to sing them to yourself; or picking out melodies (by means of the scales) on a musical instrument. "Test7" is a little melody I came up with by just picking out a melody on a scale. After listening to it, you can see from there it can be transferred to chords, and perhaps the rhythm modified somewhere along the way also.
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