Jim R

Was listening to some of their World Pacific stuff this morning (vinyl->CDR transfers), and I STILL think they deserve a Mosaic box...

I'd rather watch Kevin Pollak doing Shatner doing either one of these.

I believe there has... but I can't remember where or when.

Mystery Date Alfred Hitchcock Mo Cheeks

O. Penn The Doors Richard

Gene Tenace Claude Bolling Marco Polo

Robert D. Rowan Aaron Rowand Andres Torres

Joey Bishop Ted Knight

"It's got nothing to do with you being a Nazi spy... I already suspected that. I just don't understand why you had to bite my wrist!"

Bill Mazeroski Homer Jethro

I've never had the pleasure (no pun intended) of seeing Hendricks (or Ross), but I've seen him many times in perfomance videos, television, interviews, etc, and he has a tremendous spirit, positive energy, and wisdom that is (for me) as important and appealing as his music. Of course, it's really all one thing, especially when we're talking about a veteran like JH. I defintely think the term "aura" applies here. Enjoyment of singing and singers is always a very personal and subjective thing, and the qualities of Hendricks' singing are such that I can easily understand why some would not dig him. For some reason, despite that, I have always enjoyed listening to him. Part of it is his phrasing and sense of swing, as well as his sincerity and dedication. His poetry is the icing on the cake, and I've always been relatively passive about lyrics in general.

I think we'd have to have a list of pianists who are "often thought to be corny" (which is a subjective and problematic idea, if we're talking about serious jazz pianists). The next step from there (the "in your opinion are not" part) would make it all the more subjective and difficult. Maybe it's just me, but I'd say this topic was doomed from the get-go.

"Good lord" indeed. First you make assumptions that everybody thinks the way you do, then you make assumptions that everybody is being pedantic and pretending to not understand you? Like Larry said, we know what corny means. The suggestion that Bill Evans or Bill Charlap "should be corny" because they "pour forth emotions" is not only puzzling to me, but a little offensive.

Skyper Blogger Twitterer

I've lost track. A version posted earlier had a major third in the riff. The Yardbirds use a minor third. Otherwise, the riff is the same. As I explained, the more recent recording by McPhee used a major third. We're focused here on comparing the Yardbirds riff to (the original) Pryor riff, which used a minor third (same).

The other? Not sure I follow you. Pryor used a Bb. Hmm... the McPhee clip above uses what would be the equivalent of a B natural (an Ab note, since he's playing it in the key of E, instead of G). At any rate, when I first learned this riff back in the 70's, I learned it (and I don't remember what key I was using, but let's use G) as a rapid hammer on/off/on/off... for that note, as in: Bb/B/Bb/B... I think if you choose one note or the other, a Bb sounds better than a B natural, if that makes any sense. In other words, I don't care as much for McPhee's choice.

For me, Joao is the master. Phrasing ahead, phrasing behind... I don't even think about what he's doing, actually- I'm too busy trying to soak it in and hope some of it stays in me.

I meant to respond to Noj's post earlier, but I forgot. The translated subtitles are not exactly what we should be paying attention to. I think it's worth noting that "Aguas de Março" was the first song that Jobim attempted to write with english lyrics, and he was quite proud of what he did with them. I'm sure his fellow musicians enjoyed learning the english lyrics too- must have been a rewarding challenge. I enjoy those lyrics, and yet, like many of us english-speakers, I still prefer to listen to it (and just about every other Brazilian tune) sung in portuguese. Here's a nice article about the song: http://www.connectbrazil.com/news/me-watersofmarch-03052006.html

I guess that is pretty convincing evidence that Jim is right, and that the Snooky Pryor song is the source. The blues riff on this and other songs still has a very different feel than the Yardbirds' riff. The blues riff sets up a sort of call and response. The first five notes are the call and the next four are the response. Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I don't really hear it that way. I just hear it as a faster tempo on the same riff. Agreed (based on what I heard in the sample). The way I look at it, there are four ascending notes in the "response". On the Yardbirds recording in the opening post, the descending line of the "call" is: G - F - D - C - Bb. The four ascending "response" notes are: D - F - F# - G. The "G" that opens the call is one octave above the "G" that ends the response.

Thanks, TTK (I think you meant to say "Someone To Love", btw). I hate to be stubborn, but I was pretty sure about this one. I don't know why I didn't think to check a Yardbirds' discography. There's a comp called "The Ultimate Collection" which includes "Someone to Love". Heard the sample in iTunes... same riff. Now I'm curious about the original Snooky Pryor version for Vee Jay. I'm taking John's word for it that it lacked those four ascending notes, but I find it odd (especially since the sample I heard comes from a comp called "Heritage of the Blues, 1956"). I still would like to hear it for myself.

The San Diego Chicken Chick Hearn The Eggman

Well, I don't know if your Pryor recording is different from the one in iTunes, but the sample I'm hearing clearly includes those four ascending notes, as the Yardbirds tune does. It's clear and unmistakable. I doubt very highly that the Yardbirds took their idea from the Little Walter riff, and coincidentally added the same ascending four-note sequence that Pryor's riff contains. Until and unless we can sort out whether I'm hearing a different Pryor recording than you're hearing, I'll have to stand on my previous comments. It's basically the same riff. Maybe somebody else can help sort out the Pryor recordings. If I had the whole tune rather than a 30-second sample, I'd point you to the elapsed time of the riff and four note sequence.

John, "Hate To See You Go" doesn't share those last four ascending notes that the other riffs share, and in that regard is even less similar. The Yardbirds played Pyror's riff a bit faster, and in a different key (and thus I'll give you "different feeling"), but it's the same riff. If you're not hearing that, I don't know what else to tell you.