Well . . . another Beatles cover . . . why not? "Hey Bulldog"

  • Thread starter Thread starter gecko zzed
  • Start date Start date
gecko zzed

gecko zzed

Grumpy Mod
I saw "It's all too much" below, and so I thought I'd chuck in a Beatle's cover.

A couple of old crocks and I make up the Defibrillators, and we like to mess around doing covers of lesser known tracks.

This is our version of "Hey Bulldog".

This is the first time I've posted on the MP3 clinic (though I've lodged a couple on the song writing forum), and the first time I've linked to MyBox, so I hope it all works ok.

http://www.box.net/shared/n3jxyli5uh
 
hehe you sound just like i imagined. grizzled and tough, but with a knowledgeable growl! and i like the synthesized beat. whoa you sounded a little like lennon when you go 'if youre lonely you can talk to me.' oh, guitars sound nice too now! hehe, wig wam. this is good! you sound like Rod Stewart a little now. like a dog howlin to the moon. does anyone hear you? oh, now a organ solo, too cool! thats a cool sounding organ! and those strings are nice. and nice ending!

a little surprised you went with programmed drums, and is the main piano programmed too? nice and clean!
 
Hi Gecko,
I'm generally not a covers man myself and I prefer to hear original works, but I have to say that this is very well done and it sounds like I'm listening to a well-known band on the radio.

My only small gripe would be that near the end, the synth starts to sound like a synth, whereas up to then you wouldn't necessarily have guessed that it was. Other than that it all works perfectly well. Great song choice too.

Dreamer :)
 
Sometimes its fun to listen to a cover when you don't know the original. (Yep, I don't go deep into the Beatles catalog--if it's not on the radio, I probably don't know it).

This is obviously Beatle-esque, but as far as I'm concerned, it's yours now! Very nice job. Great open feeling vibe, and the vocals are perfect. Is that you doing the singing? Nice voice, man.
 
What a very cool cover of this tune. You do a nice job of keeping that Beatle/inyourface/mystringsarerightinfrontofyou/what'sreverb feel going. Some very Ringo-esque fills too boot!

I really dig this tune. Sweetness.:cool:
 
I like it. I think the guitar solo can be brought up, but otherwise, good job.
 
Cool. One of my favourite Beatle tunes.

Very nice singing voice.

Some of the drums (I think the toms?) sound sort of disconnected to the rest of the song. Not that they're played wrong, they just stick out strangely in the mix.

I agree that some of the synth sounds at the end are a little out of place as well, but I like the string pads earlier on.

All around nice job.
 
Sounds great, Gecko!
really love the voice, keyboards sound nice too. Really beautifully layered.
Nice version! ;)

Joe :):)
 
There are only a handful of original tunes on the yellow submarine soundtrack and we managed to hit 2 of 'em within one day...:). Anyone got an "Only a Northern Song" cover?

Your voice is well suited for this tune - just the right degree of scratchiness. Love the keyboard solo, but the synth at the end threw me off a bit. Nice job!:D
 
Gecko,
Good choice for a cover - the riff & crankiness go together well.
Your voice has some of the world weariness of Lennon and suits the song really well.
The Defibs do a sterling job - the synths at the end don't cut it for the stab/solo purely because of the pad - many other samples would work I'm sure. The synth works really well elsewhere in the mix. The organ solo needs vol OR an edgier line - some Billy Preston theatrics maybe.
The git solo could use a little boost.
The EQ across the mix is pretty cool as is the stereo image.
well done.
 
heatmiser said:
There are only a handful of original tunes on the yellow submarine soundtrack and we managed to hit 2 of 'em within one day...:). Anyone got an "Only a Northern Song" cover?

Your voice is well suited for this tune - just the right degree of scratchiness. Love the keyboard solo, but the synth at the end threw me off a bit. Nice job!:D
Click to expand...

haha, if it wasn't so cold I could do Only a Northern Song (my garage is freezing right now though). It has no guitar, but I play drums, organ, and bass, and can....er....well, I suck at singing....give me a week and I could conjour something.
 
Likes:

Great bass tone and playing-- how was it done? It's not a Paul copy, but it's clearly close enough to be making reference to it.

Drums. The stereo image sounds awesome in my cans.

Vocals. "Jacknife" awesome. Tight doubled sound. Cool.

Piano.

Guitar Solo. +1 on a little boost.

Strings.

Dislikes:

Organ solo. Very good playing, the organ tone somehow didn't fit. Maybe if it doubled the guitar riff out of the chorus... it wouldn't have that effect. It reminded me of the keyboard player in The Band, who always seemed to me a little out there and not in tune with the accoustic-y tonal palette of the rest of the group.

A different, maybe even a more 60's transistor electric organ sound might fit better than the soulful hammond tone?

Synth @ the end. Can you throw those hits into a realistic string pad? Actally, it does add a cool Thomas Dolby feel to the recording, which might make reference to the sound of your band. In that case, it's cool.

You and Heat have me thinking that my Christmas break project should be some intensive study of recording covers of Beatles. Great work
 
Great job gecko zzed = I like the whole vibe of the song. I haven't heard this since they were a cartoon on TV...:)
 
Thank you all for your kind and insightful comments!

Just a couple of things to address various observations:

1 Drums are programmed. They're samples I plundered from a live kit used in another recording. I used Battery.

2 Bass is plugged straight into desk.

3 Piano, guitars and synth stabs are all real-time.

4 String pads are Roland SC88

The Defibrillators get together as a hobby (and for me, it's a break from 'serious' work) to mess around and experiment with covers. Sometimes we go for closeness to the original, other times we go as far as we can away from it. It's all for fun, but it's a good vehicle for development (of recording techniques).

I enjoy listening to and commenting on other people's recording efforts; it's always good to see what others are doing and to learn from them, but my broadband is cranky, and I don't always have success in downloading or playing, so I don't always get to hear as many as I would like.
 
very nice job ! i really like it !

keep up the good work !
 
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