Taking On The Beatles:

Inspector #20

Inspector #20

Ambassador of Tone
Fallen Star
Country flag
I was never a hardcore Beatles's Fan back in my youth, but I have gained a new appreciation for them over the past few years. 'Twist & Shout' and 'Revolution' have always been my two main favorites and I vowed long ago to record them. Last year, we recorded 'Revolution' and it was a lot of fun, so I have been waiting for the opportunity to record 'Twist & Shout' and add it to my collection. For some reason, bands have been resistant to adding these songs to a setlist and I have never figured out why.

Last night, after we finished the days work, the drummer and I laid down the basic drum tracks by drumming to a recording of the song and I followed up with the bass tracks. What I discovered was the recording was not in standard tuning. The recording was a little flat of standard, maybe A437, so I just dropped the bass down until it meshed with the recording. Let me tell you that Paul's bass arrangement is not for the faint of heart. It's a lot of work and hard to get it right. It took several takes to get this even halfway decent and Paul would probably slap the hell out of me for my feeble attempt at their 1962 classic.

The rest of the song was finished in my humble home studio, which now doubles as my wife's home office. My goal was to try and capture some of the energy of the original and not overproduce the song. I kept things very minimal, but still found a way add a couple of Easter eggs for the listener. Here's some fun trivia...See if you can find the nod to Randy Rhoads in this production and name the song - and the album - that the nod comes from...

I'm singing two doubled lead vocals, recorded back to back and the vocals are split into 4 tracks, panned right and left at varying percentages and the vocal phrases and timing are altered slightly on each track to give depth to the sound. I've been doing a lot of harmonies in the band so I was eager to try my hand at composing a group of harmonies for this song and - at the very least - give it a hint of that classic vibe the Beatle's always had in their early music.

All along the way, I am honing my skills and versatility for the day when I front my own group....

I'm interested to get your thoughts and opinions on my version of this song. Even though it's not perfect cut (and it wasn't meant to be) but I think it's as good a bar cover as I have ever heard. What do you think???? How does it sound - good or bad - on your device???

All the best...

- Rob

https://soundcloud.com/id%3Drobert-h-herndon%252Ftwist-and-shout-a-beatles-cover%3Btrack_id%3D860175928
 
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Where’s the screaming girls :pound-hand: . Just kidding, nice cover job. I heard some little ‘twirls’ in the solo part. I’ve played this a few times myself and never heard them in the Beatles version.
 
Ok,

I may not have shared this previously, and, TBTH, it's because I am really not happy with it. Recorded on February 8, 2019 as a side project with my drummer colleague and friend, I just didn't feel like this version was godd enough to share openly.

Here's the track I posted privately to my Soundcloud on February 9, 2019:
 
Don O said:
I heard some little ‘twirls’ in the solo part. I’ve played this a few times myself and never heard them in the Beatles version.
Click to expand...

Good ear!!!

Those trills are my signature "Easter Egg" that I try to include in every song we do...
 
I gotta tell you guys, words cannot really express my gratitude for your critiques of these demos. They are not without a purpose. Over the years, I have gone from not really wanting to sing, to wanting to sing more often and try my hand at songs from different genres. As a kid, I started doing vocal imitations of friends and teachers, then moved onto famous actors, like Charleton Heston, Clint Eastwood, Jimmy Durante, John Wayne, Peter Lorre and various cartoon characters. I later found this was a big help in doing backing vocals, because I could literally sing as if I were a different person. I can also sing backing vocals in a convincing female falsetto (most notable is when I am backing a female front on Pat Benetar's "Shadows Of The Night") and I moved past that and into the realm of voice characterizations, PSA's, telephone menu announcements, instructional videos and radio commercials.

Now, when it comes to singing, my first rule is that many songs that I like, simply do not like me. Most of the time, my ear tells me that my song choice wasn't a good one. For example, I love AC/DC but cannot sing Bon Scott or Brian Johnson in the original tuning. Knowing how to weave your way through songs and pick and choose is super important, because you don't want to be that guy who is struggling for the vocal carrot, and his voice is cracking a pitchy.

While I feel that I am somewhat versatile, I realize that am not a great singer. However, I have also endured a lot of criticism in bands that I believe is not warranted and because of that, I pulled way back. I even stopped singing backup in one musical project because I couldn't seem to please the bandleader. I just kind of went into my musical shell and just did whatever I could to help the project along. You cannot be thin-skinned in this line of work because some producers can be very harsh in their critiques, without offering any remedial advice.

A few years ago, I started working with a drummer who would become a friend and musical mentor. He has session drummed for over 30 years and is a talented composer and lyricist. He has consistently encouraged me to continue my singing and our work in private production has given me a lot of opportunities to sing.

So, my goal, with these demos, is to see what I sing well enough to add to a setlist once I start venturing out on my own musically....
 
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Fookin awesome job Robert. I loved it.This is one of my favorite Beatles songs. You put your own spin on it a bit but remained true to the original vibe. John would be proud.
 
@Don O

You found one of the easter eggs already...the trills. The second is the main guitar parts (originally Harrison's) which were played an octave apart to give the feel and tone of a trumpet...this was a nod to Herb Alpert's "The Lonely Bull" and the ending phrase (not part of the original arrangement) was a nod to SRV...humble as they might be in their execution anyways...
 
Robert Herndon said:
I gotta tell you guys, words cannot really express my gratitude for your critiques of these demos. They are not without a purpose. Over the years, I have gone from not really wanting to sing, to wanting to sing more often and try my hand at songs from different genres. As a kid, I started doing vocal imitations of friends and teachers, then moved onto famous actors, like Charleton Heston, Clint Eastwood, Jimmy Durante, John Wayne, Peter Lorre and various cartoon characters. I later found this was a big help in doing backing vocals, because I could literally sing as if I were a different person. I can also sing backing vocals in a convincing female falsetto (most notable is when I am backing a female front on Pat Benetar's "Shadows Of The Night") and I moved past that and into the realm of voice characterizations, PSA's, telephone menu announcements, instructional videos and radio commercials.

Now, when it comes to singing, my first rule is that many songs that I like, simply do not like me. Most of the time, my ear tells me that my song choice wasn't a good one. For example, I love AC/DC but cannot sing Bon Scott or Brian Johnson in the original tuning. Knowing how to weave your way through songs and pick and choose is super important, because you don't want to be that guy who is struggling for the vocal carrot, and his voice is cracking a pitchy.

While I feel that I am somewhat versatile, I realize that am not a great singer. However, I have also endured a lot of criticism in bands that I believe is not warranted and because of that, I pulled way back. I even stopped singing backup in one musical project because I couldn't seem to please the bandleader. I just kind of went into my musical shell and just did whatever I could to help the project along. You cannot be thin-skinned in this line of work because some producers can be very harsh in their critiques, without offering any remedial advice.

A few years ago, I started working with a drummer who would become a friend and musical mentor. He has session drummed for over 30 years and is a talented composer and lyricist. He has consistently encouraged me to continue my singing and our work in private production has given me a lot of opportunities to sing.

So, my goal, with these demos, is to see what I sing well enough to add to a setlist once I start venturing out on my own musically....
Click to expand...


Speaking of voice imitations. My Kathy brightened the beginning of my day with one of my favorites as a kid. Mel Blanc, No one could do more with the gift of vocals than Mel.

www.b98.tv

Little Boy Boo

Foghorn Leghorn, shivering at the thought of another cold winter in his dilapidated roost, decides to court the well-to-do Miss Prissy, but Prissy won't marry him unless he can prove he'll be a good father to her son, a bespectacled egghead genius who, by scientific means, bests Foghorn in every...
www.b98.tv www.b98.tv


 
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