Classic recordings that are out of tune

[bad_dude_69]

there's a band here in chicago that does live karaoke - they have a catalog of 100+ songs & they play them all perfectly. i saw some guy get up on stage and sing "sweet child of mine" with them. it was note for note. pretty rad.

[SKEETER]

Learning "Sweet Home Alabama " note for note would be a bitch, I am a pretty good guitarist and have picked most of it out, but man that is some complex and strangely played lead that I would have trouble remembering all of. There are very few songs I don't figure the exact lead to, for example we do Deep Purples "Hush" and I just kind of wail away at that, but on the other hand, I do all of the keyboard backround riffs on the guitar which provides the recognition factor. Most recently I figured out how to play the lead to "STEALIN" and figured out how to play the harmony lead parts by myself. Again, I am not seeing guys do that a lot, the last band I was in I played bass, and MAN the lead guitarist in that band could BS his way through anything pretty succesfully, but didn't know the right chords or lead runs to much of anything we played. It drove me nuts.......

[flatcat]

well, regarding that first Beatles record, John Lennon had a horrible head cold and was using something called Zubes - probably like Halls or Sucrets or something - all through the session. Which explains why his vocals sound so rough. You can really hear it on 'Anna', I think.

When I saw this thread, the first thing I thought of was the Mamas and the Papas. Not just California Dreaming - it's just as bad on 'I Saw Her Again' and on several other of their recordings. I used to wonder if it was maybe recording backing tracks and vocals on two different machines that weren't calibrated the same or something.

[SKEETER]

John Lennon and Harry Nillson once did an album called PUSSYCATS that is HORRIBLE! One of them had a cold, and tried to sing with hardly any voice, man, I am telling you, all time worst album, hands down.

[Stephen]

Hendrix at Woodstock, especially Purple Haze. Considering how hard he hit the whammy bar, though, it's kind of surprising he wasn't more out of tune.

He was. But I think he did what a lot of really good guitarists used to do, they used to compensate. When you do bends on a strat you have to compensate anyway because of the whammy bar springs. What amazes me is hearing him tune up between songs and he is way off and yet sounded okay while playing the previous tune. Then again the human ear can forgive a multitude of sins. Hey it's not out of tune. it's microtonal, like the blues, man...
Pax, Steve
In my universe everything is a passing tone.

[SKEETER]

I think a lot of guys without even thinking about it probably used to bend the strings back in within chords. Hendrix had huge hands for a little guy, I bet he just bent the strings in instinctively without even giving it thought, his mind probably perceived it and made his hands do it, unconciously.

[Stephen]

I think a lot of guys without even thinking about it probably used to bend the strings back in within chords. Hendrix had huge hands for a little guy, I bet he just bent the strings in instinctively without even giving it thought, his mind probably perceived it and made his hands do it, unconciously.

John McLaughlin used to play a scalloped fretboard. He said it was not that difficult to get used to. I think they might be somewhat similar in that regard. And one thing that I find hasn't changed in thirty four years... Hendrix is still the deal.
Pax, Steve

[Dr. Sausage]

The backup vocals are really off pitch on the Beatles cover of Anna Go to Him. But I still like it.

[JGriffin]

John McLaughlin used to play a scalloped fretboard. He said it was not that difficult to get used to.

Man, I remember when scalloped fretboards were all the rage with guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai carving up their guitars. I just saw a scalloped Ibanez JEM 777 in a guitar store the other day...

[Greenlander]

Pretty much the entire of Pet Sounds. If you listen to the vocals only section of the boxed set you'll hear it, I'm referring especially to Brian's leads.

Of course it doesn't matter at all. Not to me anyways.

[Rigsby]

I always thought part of the charm of early Pavement stuff was how Malkmus used his inadequacies as a singer creatively...If he couldn't hit the note, he'd sing around it in a way that let you know he knew he couldn't hit the note. Now that he's learned how to sing, he still writes great songs, but some of the charm is gone...

Agreed. Pavement got worse to my ears as they got more hifi and Malkmus became a 'better' vocalist. All that early Lou Reed-esque stuff was spot on for my money. So much character, really drew me in.

John McLaughlin used to play a scalloped fretboard. He said it was not that difficult to get used to.

Man, I remember when scalloped fretboards were all the rage with guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen and Steve Vai carving up their guitars. I just saw a scalloped Ibanez JEM 777 in a guitar store the other day...

What's a scalloped fretboard mean exactly?

[Devlars]

A modern day example that I just can't listen to, even though I love the band/ album/ everything, is The Verve 'No Knock On My Door' from A Northern Soul. Man alive Richard is so flat that it's unlistenable, but from the accounts of the atmosphere surrounding the recording of that album it's a surprise the rest of the performances weren't as shoddy.

[Fieryjack]

Great thread.....ROADHOUSE BLUES by The Doors takes the cake in my book. Either the harmonica or the guitar....need to hear it. But something is REALLY flat. The guitar might be sharp.

[StivBatorsWreckedMyCar]

Ughhh... I find the Doors impossible to listen to for reasons other than tonality or tuning. Robbie Kreiger (sp) has a truly annoying style and tends to sound OOT in the bad way.

A scalloped fretboard looks like... uhhh... Think of a row of dominos when they have fallen over. The ridges formed by the top part of the fallen dominos are your "frets". Give me a Key-tar anyday.

Not to speak ill of the dead, but anyone ever hear those live iso's on Linda McCartney when she was in Wings?

[Rigsby]

Ughhh... I find the Doors impossible to listen to for reasons other than tonality or tuning. Robbie Kreiger (sp) has a truly annoying style and tends to sound OOT in the bad way.

A scalloped fretboard looks like... uhhh... Think of a row of dominos when they have fallen over. The ridges formed by the top part of the fallen dominos are your "frets". Give me a Key-tar anyday.

Not to speak ill of the dead, but anyone ever hear those live iso's on Linda McCartney when she was in Wings?

Like this you mean?