Breaking Benjamin: Who Wants To Live Forever

Monday’s cover song comes from the 2005 various artists’ LP “Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen” and is Breaking Benjamin’s interpretation of the Queen song, “Who Wants to Live Forever.” We rented the movie “Highlander” and watched it the other night and this is my favorite cut from the movie soundtrack.

The song is played when Connor MacLeod is shown ageless as his wife Heather grows older in each scene and subsequently dies in his arms. It is an emotional section of the film that is accompanied by an equally powerful song. Although Freddie Mercury sings all of the lead vocals in the movie version, the single has an interplay between lead vocals by both Brian May and Mercury, which is just wonderful.

From Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, the alternative band Breaking Benjamin has released four albums in addition to performing this cut on the Queen tribute LP. When I was considered finding a cover of the Queen original, I debated on going with one of the better known covers. I’ll include them all here for comparison; however, these other covers closely follow the Queen arrangement. Breaking Benjamin's interpretation is more varied and has an increased tempo.

In addition, I like the chorus effect on the guitar – it sounds like one of the guitarists is using a Roland amp to achieve this sound. Typically, I only like a modicum of chorus – but I like the increased speed of the effect here giving it that Leslie rotating speaker sound on this version. In addition, the bass part is tastefully done as well.

The German band Dune recorded it 1996 and had a hit in their native land as well as in Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden. The following year, Sarah Brightman released her mid-charting version in the UK. Edyta Górniak tried her hand at a Polish language version and had a hit in that country in 2003 under the alternate title “Nieśmiertelni.”

Actually, I like Górniak's arrangement of these three the best. But alas, Breaking Benjamin won my choice as today's feature because 1. Dune’s version was nice, but a little weak – it could have been a bit more powerful; 2. Sarah Brightman’s ending was very unique; however, her interpretation was so operatic that I feel I should be dressed in black tie attire while listening to it; and 3. Edyta Górniak’s techno pop addition in the second verse was a nice touch, however, her release was frankly, well, uh . . . too Polish.

Dune: Who Wants to Live Forever

Sarah Brightman: Who Wants to Live Forever

Edyta Górniak: Nieśmiertelni

Queen’s Single Version

Angelo Kelly: Rejoice And Be Glad

Let me first apologize for not having an album post yesterday, but it has been such a hectic week that I just didn’t feel like writing. So I am back at it this morning with a brief analysis of a song for a Spiritual Sunday feature: “Rejoice and Be Glad” by Angelo Kelly.

Angelo is playing the Irish bouzouki on this tune and honestly I found his music by searching for Irish bouzouki music. If you may remember, I featured Angelo in December with his rocking, “Smile for the Picture.”

I am not sure what bouzouki tuning Angelo is using on this piece that comes directly from the Beatitudes; however, this will not be the only Sunday feature I have of his. Although he is largely unknown in the United States, he has huge followings in Europe and several of his numbers are Christian themed. Enjoy.

Fleetwood Mac: Black Magic Woman

Most people are familiar with the hit version of today’s Friday’s First tune by Santana, but the song was written by Peter Green and was released as a single for his band, Fleetwood Mac, in 1968. The song features Green on guitar and vocals, Jeremy Spencer on guitar, John McVie on bass, and Mick Fleetwood on drums. Issued originally as the band’s third single in Europe, it was released on the US compilation LP “English Rose” in 1969.

In addition to the misconception that this was originally a Santana song, most folk are unaware that Fleetwood Mac existed for eight years before Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band in 1975 and helped bring the band to its mainstream notoriety.

From Santana’s second album “Abraxas,” “Black Magic Woman” peaked on the US singles charts at #4 in 1970. To hear this song in its pristine entirety, you must listen to it in the context of the previous cut, “Singing Winds/Crying Beasts,” that opens the album and segues directly into “Black Magic Woman.” In addition, the LP version features “Black Magic Woman” as a medley with Hungarian jazz guitarist Gabor Szabó’s “Gypsy Queen.”

Gabor Szabó: Gypsy Queen

Gregg Rolie, who plays a Fender Rhodes electric piano and Hammond Organ on the Santana version, also handles the lead vocals. Rolie, and later Santana member Neil Schon, formed Journey in 1973.

Santana’s Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen

The Heavy: How You Like Me Now?

It’s TV Thursday and I realized that it has been real difficult for me to get my posts earlier on some days of the week and today was one of those days. Today’s song I heard in a Kia Sorento ad about three weeks ago – the hook, “How you like me now?” which is also the song’s title really caught my ear. The group is The Heavy, and while I liked commercial edit, I wasn’t sure I liked the entire song. The more I heard it - it became one of those songs that grew on me and I love it.

The Kia Sorento ad

The song has that late sixties funk that originated with the recordings of James Brown, “the Godfather of Soul.” Part of the reason it sounds so authentic is that the instrumental hook was sampled from a 1969 recording by Dyke (Christian) and the Blazers: “Let a Woman be a Woman and a Man be a Man.” Dyke and Blazers did the original version of “Funky Broadway,” which was later covered by Wilson Pickett. The song's structure is so simple it is brilliant as it centers on one chord: Dm. As the song continues, a Dm - F - G progression is added.

Dyke & the Blazers: Let a Woman be a Woman and a Man be a Man

From the village of Noid on the outskirts of Bath in Somerset, England, The Heavy is fronted by vocalist Kelvin Swaby who has been compared with a number of classic soul and funk vocalists. When The Heavy performed this song live on the Letterman show on January 19, 2010, Letterman asked them to do an encore performance. Apparently from what I read, this was the only time Letterman did this in the history of his shows. On this live performance, The Heavy augments the Dyke and the Blazers sample and uses an actual horn section consisting of a trumpet, tenor sax, and baritone sax. If you look closely at the video during the encore, Paul Shaffer’s band mates add additional horns with trumpet, trombone, and tenor sax.

The Heavy: Live on Letterman

Red Elvises: Winter Reggae

Add a little surf guitar, an electric contrabass balalaika, keyboards, percussion, a Slavic accent, a bit of comedy, and a lot of kitsch – the result – the Red Elvises. For those of us who had to practice duck and cover (like that would have protected us from the big one) back during the cold war, who would have thought a group from the former Soviet bloc would adopt the name of the “King” and have a cult following in the U.S.? Well Comrade, they do – and they are absolutely wonderful in their own populist way.

Since my area of the U.S. has seen a lot more snow than normal (120 inches this season so far), I thought that a song dreaming about the beach would be in order. What could be better than the Red Elvises singing “Winter Reggae?”

While I’ve never seen this band outside of YouTube, the lineup in this recording is my favorite. Oleg Baranov, who played “Big Red,” is now playing keyboards, accordion, and ukulele on the current leg of the band's 2010 tour. It just doesn’t seem the same without that huge red representation of Russian imperialism. I also miss touring keyboardist Elena Shemankova who is reportedly working on a solo career. Lead vocalist and guitarist Igor Yuzov remains and has rechristened the band as Igor and the Red Elvises. Hey, “Natasha's singing Reggae; hey, hey, hey; it makes me feel all right.”

Live Version in St. Petersburg

Lyrics

It's minus forty in December; it's cold and windy outside,
I dream of sunshine and the ocean, endless summer on my mind
I just wanna be the one, singing songs and having fun under the biggest yellow sun.

Natasha's singing reggae (hey, hey hey) and I don't sleep all night,
Natasha's singing reggae (hey, hey hey) it makes me feel all right.

Her father is jamming on a squeeze-box, to keep her mama satisfied,
Sometimes he sings like Volga boatmen, while getting drunk on winter nights.
And he just wants to be the one, singing songs and having fun under the biggest yellow sun.

Natasha's singing reggae (hey, hey hey) and I can't sleep all night,
Natasha's singing reggae (hey, hey hey) it makes me feel all right.

U2: The Ballad of Springhill

As Traditional Tuesday is upon us, I’ve decided that I’d use a Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl song about the 1958 mining tragedy in Springhill, Nova Scotia. Seventy-four men perished in this disaster; however, 100 were rescued from the number 2 mine. Some of the miners were not found until a week later. Officially titled “The Ballad of Springhill,” it is also called “The Springhill Mining Disaster.”

My first encounter with this particular song was by the Highwaymen. Composers Peggy Seeger and Ewan MacColl recorded an a cappella version and the first popular version was recorded by the Dubliners.

U2’s version was recorded on March 16, 1987 at tribute to Luke Kelly, who sang this song with the Dubliners.

Crystal Bowersox: Hand In My Pocket

Having been ill over the weekend, I forgot that I hadn’t posted this week’s cover song. Last week, Ohio’s Crystal Bowersox performed Alanis Morissette’s “Hand in my Pocket” on American Idol.

While this is an abbreviated version of her performance because YouTube pulled the full length one, it is enough of a taste of this young woman who has talent. Despite what Simon said, I think she does this better than Alanis Morissette.

Alanis Morissette Live Acoustic Version from 1995