Sunshine of Your Love - Live vs Demo

Pollyanna

Platinum Member
Got hold of footage from a fundraiser we played at last year. First 30 secs shows the event with Moondance in the background, then it cuts to SOYL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIGPb7-Lfjs

Some of my forum buds will remember our demo of the song almost two years ago (doesn't feel that long!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbJzyzwg03Y

Not miles different IMO. The live's a bit faster (bassist sets tempo in this). The demo has cleaner takes and a better solo, but the live one has better energy and a more satisfying ending.
 
Hi,Pollyanna!
Hei!! That's a very nice Pearl drum-kits you're playing!!! I like the Park...very very nice!!! I like your drum playing very relax & loose!!! Cool!!!
 
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I loved the live version! Because its got attitude.

I loved your brushslap backbeat and your impeccable Jordan-esque groove, your dynamics on an obviously lo- volume setting. To get that arrangement to groove like that was something...
Liked everything about it, the keys, the singer did a fabulous job, bass, all of it was good.. the guitar solo kinda difted into some nether regions briefly but the hasty return made up for what could have been a nasty misadventure..

And that ending, whammo, classic.. perfect lol.

...
 
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...but the live one has better energy and a more satisfying ending.

You bet :) It's more "rocking" than the studio version, and your stroke (with your hair flying) on that snare at the end is certainely an acknowledgement of this more muscled up live version :))

Nice to have that video, was it given to you recently by a member of the audience?

I really liked the studio version, your brush work fits the song with the approach you've taken with the BM's to cover that song, it's another of my favourite of yours, but the live is somehow a better version IMO, we can hear your brushes better, which is not a bad thing, on the contrary, we can hear more of the subtle pattern you've created there, I like the sound of Michael's guitar better too, more greasy and more present and a nice solo indeed, it does it for me, and the fact that we actually see you performing on the drums is an added bonus and certainely reflects the vibe of this live piece of music played for a very good cause indeed :)

Well done Polly, rocking with brushes is not an easy task, you've done it really well :))
 
Well done Polly, rocking with brushes is not an easy task, you've done it really well :))
I couldn't agree more!

Mainly due to a kit positioning faux pa, just back from an especially loud gig, so my ears aren't yet completely recovered :(

This is the best I've hear your band thus far Pol. I thought your keys player & bass player really stepped up to the plate. Of course, Glenn is always freakin' superb, but even more so than usual in this performance. I was getting a grit & inner soul that brought the song lyrics to life & made them personal. Class, pure class.

Then there's you, the self effacing tub stroker with a deft touch. By a mile the best expression of your playing mantra I've had the honour to be invited into. Brushes with a touch of thump & a bucket of attitude! Fun in the execution too, & the easy way that's brought about by professionalism. Stunning in it's lack of pretention & bold delivery, metronome timing without sterility. Really, really really, I'm blown away by that :)

But with pleasure, sometimes comes pain. The guitar part, right through the performance, really grated on me. It wasn't so much the playing (although the solo did peer over the cliff a few times), it was the sound. Quite the most horrible, thin & characterless sound imaginable. It cheapened the deal immensely for me.

Luckily, the rest of the band put in such a superb performance, for most, that downside was eclipsed utterly.
 
I have to agree that your sense of time and ability to keep the feel in it at such slow speeds amazes me. You are much better than you let on.

Guitar solo was out of time a bit for a the first bar or 2 no? Tone seemed appropriate to me.
 
Thanks for the feedback, gennelmens! Always enlightening :)

@ Wonder1 - yep Peter, my RTs, but with vintage snare.

@ Aydee - we shoulda done that ending in the studio! The hammery of it always cracks up audiences.

@ MAD - Henri, this local guy was videoing the whole fundraising event and we knew he'd done it. After about 7 months our singer finally got hold of the footage from him. We're pretty slow haha

@ Keep it Simple - Andy, I couldn't agree more about Glenn in that clip, he's very good at understanding and feeling the lyrics. He's like a method actor.

I personally like the lead guitar tone, but I can see what you're saying. These days I enjoy the transparency of thin guitar tones - and I naturally like it best in the hands of players like BB King, Jeff Beck and Mark Knopfler. But they're maestros and it's a very unforgiving sound - the slightest blunder sticks out like dogs' yarbles. It has to be bang on to work. In our lad's case, confidence has a lot to do with it. Oh well, people have their little quirks.

As for rocking on brushes, at that volume it's a lot easier to give it a bit of breakfast with brushes :) and easier to hit consistent rimshots too.

@ Toolate - the trick is playing lots of quiet 8ths to keep things anchored.

Re: guitar timing, see earlier comment about confidence.
 
I love your drumming Polly and totally respect the brush work. The band is great and I love the keyboard kind of doing a suspended animation thing. Just building suspense on the studio version. And I really love your singer!!
 
Really nice work, Polly. I like both versions but I prefer the live one. Agreed with those praising your timekeeping and groove. You really do sell yourself short. I wouldn't know where to begin to play a tune like SOYL in a volume-sensitive setting but you've found the perfect way. The dynamics are just right, the groove pulses along and you guys nail all the accents and push them just right.

I'm a big fan of your vocalist. There's something way beyond just singing going on when he performs. It's really like watching a stage actor immerse himself in a part, like method acting or something. I guess you already said that, now that I glance back at your last post. But it's exactly true.

I like the guitar solo and tone. There is an unintentional comedy moment in the live clip at 2:29 where the depth perception is skewed by the telephoto lens and it looks like the vocalist is reaching over with his left hand to grab the guitarist and change which notes he plays.
 
If your singer reminded me of anyone it would be Marty Balin. That's whose name came to mind as I was listening to this totally addictive track. I'm repeating myself but great stuff, Polly.
 
Pollly!

Wow, what a great version of this tune. Glen sounds like Ethel Merman at times lol. What a menacing groove you guys put to that song. The tempo went beyond being right and morphed into the menacing category. I can't tell you how much I loved the feel, but I'll try. It was sooo right...When a song goes beyond the song and makes you feel something..that's what happened here. The backbeat on the 1 (you left out the backbeat 3? If so it worked) makes that song feel the way it's supposed to IMO. Surprised at the brush choice, totally unexpected, totally appropriate, totally worked. I like the guitar tone too, for that song. It has that "kazoo" flavor that EC uses on that track. Maybe a little more "kazoo-ey" than EC but I thought it fit, even if it did dominate a little. The solo was a bit too "Eastern Indian" for me but just in the front. Yea, I thought this was the best DW version of this tune to date. Again, the feel of that whole tune...you guys captured the real essence of that song. You looked great too Grea, you hot piece of ass!. Your band is showing that you guys are the type that improve over time. Not everyone does that. Loved your bands take on that tune.
 
You looked great too Grea, you hot piece of ass!.
Urmph, don't hold back on our account Larry, lol!

Yea, I thought this was the best DW version of this tune to date.
I agree, & I'm pretty sure who's sighted for the worst too ;) ;) ;)

I like the guitar tone too, for that song. It has that "kazoo" flavor that EC uses on that track. Maybe a little more "kazoo-ey" than EC but I thought it fit, even if it did dominate a little. The solo was a bit too "Eastern Indian" for me but just in the front.
Mostly agree. Pol, I didn't mean to speak disparagingly of your guitarist's efforts, or the choice of slender tone, it's the cheap distortion pedal aspect that grates with me. I have an inbuilt hatred of that sound after it's gross misuse in numerous 80's cabaret acts. I just think the same tone vibe can be created so much better without that digital pseudo valve overdrive effect. I love a transparent yet wholesome slender guitar tone as much as anyone else, It facilitates the greatest of expressive highlights. In hindsight, I shouldn't have mentioned it in my first post, because it detracted from my undiluted praise of every other performance aspect. I hope you can see my post in the round :)
 
You really do sell yourself short. I wouldn't know where to begin to play a tune like SOYL in a volume-sensitive setting but you've found the perfect way. The dynamics are just right, the groove pulses along and you guys nail all the accents and push them just right.

I couldn't agree more with you Larry, and so did Abe, Andy, Toolate, Phil and Larry, your brushes groove is spot on, both in the studio and live. :)

You said it's easy to give it a bit of breakfast with brushes at low volume, easy to hit consistent rimshots and the trick is playing lots of quiet 8ths to keep things anchored. :)

Yeah, Polly, I agree... when you know how to make it sound as good as you did, of course it's easy to provide a pattern that give such a pulse, such a musical approach, such a spirited performance to make you cover of Cream's one of the best there is on the entire forum! :)

But like Larry (8mile) said, I wouldn't know where to begin to play a tune like SOYL in a volume-sensitive setting myself, so thanks for the advice, and pehaps the other members who commented on your performance so far, share the same opinion, I don't know, I can only speak for myself :)

But you're better than you think you are Grea, and that's not a compliment, just a legitimate observation :)

And as larry said, you're a hot piece o... nah! I won't say it :) but you rock Polly, you rock :)
 
Thanks again, gents! Answering a few questions ...

Vocals - As a teen, while Glenn's peers were into rock, he was into the divas - Billie, Nina, Dusty, Betty Everett, Etta James etc. In his 20s he started doing drag shows - actually singing rather than lip synching the old diva classics. He did some pretty big gigs.

Then in 2007 we found ourselves in a garage band after a silly set of circumstances. We played the rock version of SOYL and he was like WOW! THIS IS AMAZING! Hilarious to hear someone getting so excited about a hoary old standard :)

So he applies the method acting approach that was the stock and trade of the old divas to whatever he sings now. That's where it comes from. I guess the further back your roots go, the closer you get to the core.

Does he sound like Marty Balin or Ethel Merman? Maybe a bit of each but there's probably a closer match out there.


The groove: As above, we played SOYL in the garage band. Then one time at practice our current guitarist broke into it SOYL as a laugh. Glenn went: "I love that song!. Let's do it!".

Hello? Hello? Earth to Glenn? We're a lounge band.

Sticks were always going to be too loud, so I used brushes. But I still wanted Ginger's jungle vibe so I turned off the snares and smacked the backbeat as a rimshot.

Then I thought I'd go for Gadd-style ghosties, since it's easier to do with brushes. If I get the opportunity to even roughly ape SG, I'll do it :) Why wouldn't you? He's perfect.

I didn't want a straight 4/4 backbeat, again, because the song needs the legacy of Ginger's African fixation. I'm also a fan of what I think of as "temple rhythms" ... almost-sinister ostinatos that you'd expect to hear accompanying human sacrifice and suchlike :)

Still, if I was dancing and prone to throwing my knickers at bands I'd want Andy's band's rock n roll approach. Horses for courses. Andy somehow manages to sound good in that song with a straight backbeat!


Keyboards - not our keyboardist's first instrument. He keeps trying to sound like a "legit" pianist and regularly overstretches and screws everything up (actually he does that on his guitar songs too).

He only simplifies when Glenn blows up after months of frustration, rehearsing songs three times as much as we should need to. Those two will never be best pals haha

But when Col puts his musician ego away he does some very good parts and I really enjoy the spooky atmosphere he gives to this one. It's exactly right.


Guitar - Andy, you're right. That his distortion sound isn't ideal, being one part of a multi function box. He seems pretty attached to that thing, though, I think because some of the clean tones it gets are tasty.

8-Mile, glad you mentioned Glenn's accidental hand dance during the solo - it made me laugh too.


My ass - was once suitably rounded and hot. Alas, it has headed south for some years now to cooler climates :(

I thought somebody would mention my funny, stiff, arm-based motions, especially after that thread about Jack White's Drummer. Sometimes I move like one of those clockwork toy soldiers when I play haha
 
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Polly, nice groove! and with brushes, that's some good stuff there. Really enjoyed your groups version of the song.
 
Polly, I meant that the guitarist was a little out I thought.

Love the variety of the gigs you get, by the way. Tons of history you have.
 
yes, both are close.

The studio version (obviously) has abetter mix of the band, the live is more energetic. Great job with the brushes!

I pulled my brushes out for the first time in forever the other day. This reminds me I really to, uh... brush up for lack of a better term, , on my brush work.
 
Sticks were always going to be too loud, so I used brushes. But I still wanted Ginger's jungle vibe so I turned off the snares and smacked the backbeat as a rimshot.

Then I thought I'd go for Gadd-style ghosties, since it's easier to do with brushes. If I get the opportunity to even roughly ape SG, I'll do it :) Why wouldn't you? He's perfect.

I didn't want a straight 4/4 backbeat, again, because the song needs the legacy of Ginger's African fixation. I'm also a fan of what I think of as "temple rhythms" ... almost-sinister ostinatos that you'd expect to hear accompanying human sacrifice and suchlike :)

Thanks for the explanation and the insight Polly, I'll get my dusty brushes out of my stickbag and I'll start some practicing. :)
 
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