whiskey river

heatmiser

mr. green christmas
Hey,

I was playing grand theft auto the other night, driving around los santos in a stolen microbus when the country station came on and I heard this willie nelson tune I'd never heard before. I did a cover of it this weekend. It is flawed, but hopefully there are things that make up for that to some degree....what say you?

https://soundcloud.com/ape-teeth/whiskey-river-willie-nelson-cover


Hmmm...can't find the soundcloud icon tonight to imbed the player? Oh well, try the link please...thanks!
 
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Holy shit, dude. You're killing me. :D It ain't perfect and that's the way you should keep it.

Coincidently enough, I was driving though Luckenbach yesterday and was hoping to see Willie there....
 
It's really good.

You can bring out the organ a bit more coming into the bridge, like at 0.51 and 2.10. The vocal delivery: around 1.15, you do the same thing I fall into sometimes when I do country - the delivery slips into slight parody of country. It's cuz you're doing the tune in a boom chikka rhythm, I think. I love the way this one moves - I'd really like to hear you use this on one of your own.
 
A local Denver Legend by the name of Denver Joe and the Saddle Tramps opened with that song every Monday Night @ a small club out here for years and years, I believe our Moderator Jimmy69 worked with Denver Joe's Pedal Steel Player in the Studio.
 
Willie is one of my favorite country artists (I don't have many). Only issue I have with it, it is a little too country sounding.

Still nice job.
 
You had me at GTA! This is awesome - great job. I don't remember the original (but probably heard it on GTA myself). Thanks for sharing!
 
I don't know the original nor would I know Willie Nelson from Nelson Mandela, but I think this is pretty awesome. Nice thick sonic landscape and nothing seems out of balance to me. Sounds like a pro mix as far as I'm concerned. Good job dude. :)
 
What I like about the mix forum is being introduced to all sorts of styles. This floats my boat far more than most country-style music. I have to agree with Greg, it sounds pro, with just enough lack of polish to make it sound real and honest. Brill.
 
Holy shit, dude. You're killing me. :D It ain't perfect and that's the way you should keep it.

Coincidently enough, I was driving though Luckenbach yesterday and was hoping to see Willie there....

Awesome. Thanks chili!

I can't believe that dude is still gigging and smoking and doing his thang.

Edit: thanks for fixing my post! :)


Wow, it sounds like it was recorded 40 years ago. I mean that in a good way. :)

Don't change a thing!

Thanks jimmy! That is very reassuring as I like the thought of it sounding at least somewhat authentic. A nice compliment. :)

It's really good.

You can bring out the organ a bit more coming into the bridge, like at 0.51 and 2.10. The vocal delivery: around 1.15, you do the same thing I fall into sometimes when I do country - the delivery slips into slight parody of country. It's cuz you're doing the tune in a boom chikka rhythm, I think. I love the way this one moves - I'd really like to hear you use this on one of your own.

Damn. I just brought that organ part down a few dbs at the last minute too. It's a cheesy sound, but I thought it aided the transition and gave it a '70's sort of vibe.

Agreed on the vocal delivery. I wasn't trying to ham it up, but some of it sounds exaggerated in a way that I didn't intend.

The boom chicka beat was hard for me despite being so simple. I almost pulled it off too!

A local Denver Legend by the name of Denver Joe and the Saddle Tramps opened with that song every Monday Night @ a small club out here for years and years, I believe our Moderator Jimmy69 worked with Denver Joe's Pedal Steel Player in the Studio.

Cool. Small world.

I'd never heard this before but I looked up online after I finished this and it does seem to be heavily covered. It's probably very well known in certain circles?
 
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A local Denver Legend by the name of Denver Joe and the Saddle Tramps opened with that song every Monday Night @ a small club out here for years and years, I believe our Moderator Jimmy69 worked with Denver Joe's Pedal Steel Player in the Studio.

Yep, and I believe 'Uncle' Dick Meis (Denver Joe's pedal steel player) actually played in studio with Willie at one point.
 
Willie is one of my favorite country artists (I don't have many). Only issue I have with it, it is a little too country sounding.

Still nice job.

Ha! Too country...yeah, while not that faithful of a cover here, I was definitely trying to buy into the whole old schoolish country twang or whatever. I'm not generally a fan myself, but willie always seems cool. Thanks for checking it out!

You had me at GTA! This is awesome - great job. I don't remember the original (but probably heard it on GTA myself). Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! That is an awesome game. I suck at it though. I play online and always get wasted by randoms just when I'm in the middle of stealing a car or robbing a convenience store....sigh.

This tune gets regular play on the rebel radio station, or whatever that's called? Glad you like it!

I don't know the original nor would I know Willie Nelson from Nelson Mandela, but I think this is pretty awesome. Nice thick sonic landscape and nothing seems out of balance to me. Sounds like a pro mix as far as I'm concerned. Good job dude. :)

Oh, my bad. I double checked and this actually was written by Nelson Mandela. Good catch!

While I think it's probably a ways from pro sounding, I'm very encouraged you think it sounds good. I never really know what I've got sometimes until I ask.

I get a pass on the cardboard drum sound since it sounds authentic, right? :)

Thanks Greg!

What I like about the mix forum is being introduced to all sorts of styles. This floats my boat far more than most country-style music. I have to agree with Greg, it sounds pro, with just enough lack of polish to make it sound real and honest. Brill.

Cool. Thanks bubba!

Real and honest is good. I like that it comes across that way.

I'm not a country fan by any stretch myself, but I like a lot of the tones from the older stuff, and some of the lyrics and melodies are great. Modern country music sounds like vapid light pop/rock with a redneck accent to me.... :)
 
Oh, my bad. I double checked and this actually was written by Nelson Mandela. Good catch!

While I think it's probably a ways from pro sounding, I'm very encouraged you think it sounds good. I never really know what I've got sometimes until I ask.

I get a pass on the cardboard drum sound since it sounds authentic, right? :)

Thanks Greg!
I think it sounds "pro" enough that I honestly just melted into it and could listen without anything jumping out to me as bad or out of place. I didn't even notice any cardboard drums. It all sounded okay to me and fit together well.
 
This is really really great. I like real country like this. Not that embarrassing, re-cycled corny 80's pop with a twang crap that they call country now. This sounds authentic. Your voice is amazing. I don't know how you can go so low and still have some power.

I wouldn't change a thing about this. It's just right.
 
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Love the feel of the song. Very well performed.

I thought the lead vocal was a bit too far forward. It has a lot of presence - like a large 5K boost. Makes it a little hissy.

The bass has a low frequency somewhere that's a little out of control. it pops out every once in a while. I'd guess it's somewhere between 100 and 140hz.

Everything else sounds wonderful.
 
I think it sounds "pro" enough that I honestly just melted into it and could listen without anything jumping out to me as bad or out of place. I didn't even notice any cardboard drums. It all sounded okay to me and fit together well.

Very cool. I haven't played or recorded drums in a while, so that was a relief!

This is really really great. I like real country like this. Not that embarrassing, re-cycled corny 80's pop with a twang crap that they call country now. This sounds authentic. Your voice is amazing. I don't know how you can go so low and still have some power.

I wouldn't change a thing about this. It's just right.

Thank you. That's very nice of you to say. My voice is so low it's not well suited to most songs I write or want to cover, so it's nice when I find something that might be in my range.

Love the feel of the song. Very well performed.

I thought the lead vocal was a bit too far forward. It has a lot of presence - like a large 5K boost. Makes it a little hissy.

The bass has a low frequency somewhere that's a little out of control. it pops out every once in a while. I'd guess it's somewhere between 100 and 140hz.

Everything else sounds wonderful.

Thank you MMM. I think you're right on both points.

I think the vocal was tracked hot and breaks up more than I intended. I actually already made a cut in that area to the vocal track as I heard the same thing. When I went further, it started to sound dull. I didn't find the sweet spot (if there is one?). The T's and S's are a little annoying. I think I was going for an old timey lo fi sound or something?

Yeah, the bass is probably messed up. I had it all set throughout the whole project and then right before mixdown I had this moment where I thought I could improve it and I changed everything...comp, eq, level...I kind of wish I hadn't. Don't remember how it was set before. I already have cuts in the eq now where you mention, but again, I probably could go further. Thanks as always for the ideas!
 
VERY cool.
I agree with Dobro about the corn quotient.
Seriously, i really enjoyed it as is but it would be killer if you cut the corn and added straight vox in that section.
Your voice in the other bits doesn't sound like any other country dud & is unique, carries some real character and difference. In the corn section you sound like someone lightly taking the micky of country.
 
VERY cool.
I agree with Dobro about the corn quotient.
Seriously, i really enjoyed it as is but it would be killer if you cut the corn and added straight vox in that section.
Your voice in the other bits doesn't sound like any other country dud & is unique, carries some real character and difference. In the corn section you sound like someone lightly taking the micky of country.

Thanks ray. That was not intentional, I swear, but maybe I subconciously slid into parody mode during those sections. I can totally hear what you and dobro are talking about though and it's bugging me now! :). Maybe I'll take another pass at those sections and try a more straightforward delivery...thanks again!
 
This is too cool man.
I knew the song already, although what I know is a much faster live sounding version.

I can absolutely hear this coming on when I'm flicking through the stations in GTA, although I haven't played GTA since San Andreas.
Bookmarked, and thanks for sharing.
 
This is too cool man.
I knew the song already, although what I know is a much faster live sounding version.

I can absolutely hear this coming on when I'm flicking through the stations in GTA, although I haven't played GTA since San Andreas.
Bookmarked, and thanks for sharing.

Thanks Steen. Yeah, there's some great music on GTA V.

They play the studio version on there which is this same tempo, but a little more subtle and a little more country (with pedal steel and stuff). After I did this, I googled the song and heard that he does it live at like hyper speed in a funky blues rock kind of arrangement. Totally different. That faster version seems to be what most people/bands cover when they do this. Personally I prefer this tempo. It's kind of schizophrenic with the chorus being all laid back and almost funky while the verses are so traditional cowboy tune sounding. I liked that aspect of the tune. Thanks again.
 
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