Ballad of the month of June 2023: Jealous Guy

[LostCircuits]

I am honored again that Nigel asked me to host this month's BOTM.
By far my favorite John Lennon song for too many reasons to explain:

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpchRc3ct68


And then Bryan Ferry with Roxy Music took it to yet another level, adding a short but killer sax solo to the track:

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRzGzRqNj58


There are tons of cover versions available on Youtube, as well as backing tracks / empty orchestra tracks but Nigel went out of his way to create a killer backing track in the original Concert G key and further to transpose the song into the more sax-friendly key of Eb. The materials are, as always available on Dropbox.

Jealous Guy

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Now be so kind and play your heart out!

Michael

 

[thomsax]

Here is Johnny Ferreira playing a version of Lennons "Imagine". King Curtis is heard on two tracks on John Lennons album "Imagine". Think King Curtis and put in so much soul as possible to honor one of the greatest rock saxophonist ever.

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View: https://youtu.be/ffElTAKvIjg

Sorry, I'm mixed up "Imagine" with "Jealous Guy". Always think King Curtis you play rock & roll saxophone..

 

[thomsax]

Here is Johnny Ferreira playing a version of Lennons "Imagine". King Curtis is heard on two tracks on John Lennons album "Imagine". Think King Curtis and put in so much soul as possible to honor one of the greatest rock saxophonist ever.

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View: https://youtu.be/ffElTAKvIjg

Sorry, I'm mixed up "Imagine" with "Jealous Guy". Always think King Curtis you play rock & roll saxophone..

I tried to delete my post but I didn't manage.

@LostCircuits good choice of song/tune. I'm a Lennon fan. Hope that many players will post their their recordings.

 

[LostCircuits]

Here is Johnny Ferreira playing a version of Lennons "Imagine". King Curtis is heard on two tracks on John Lennons album "Imagine". Think King Curtis and put in so much soul as possible to honor one of the greatest rock saxophonist ever.

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View: https://youtu.be/ffElTAKvIjg

Sorry, I'm mixed up "Imagine" with "Jealous Guy". Always think King Curtis you play rock & roll saxophone..

No worries, it's still a great take by King Curtis! And you can just transpose the soul to Jealous Guy! And, if you are into Imagine, check out the Mindi Abair version (I don't want to distract from this BOTM with a link but you can easily find it on Youtube)

 

[JayeNM]

You know...and maybe I should be ashamed of this....I always thought this WAS a Roxy Music-written tune....so, thanks.

 

[LostCircuits]

You know...and maybe I should be ashamed of this....I always thought this WAS a Roxy Music-written tune....so, thanks.

No reason to be ashamed, what Bryan Ferry did with that song is nothing short of a masterpiece!
I am actually surprised Joe Cocker did not cover it (or maybe I am just not aware of it)

 

[Targa]

You know...and maybe I should be ashamed of this....I always thought this WAS a Roxy Music-written tune....so, thanks.

Yes, you should be ashamed!
(Well I am a Liverpudlian.)

 

[LostCircuits]

Here is a take from a few days ago, no truer tone than a TrueTone:

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View: https://youtu.be/CDX-h8bf9i8

 

[Colin the Bear]

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View: https://youtu.be/LfY4NLxl72g

 

[thomsax]

Here is a take from a few days ago, no truer tone than a TrueTone:

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View: https://youtu.be/CDX-h8bf9i8

Me like. You sounds good. Just curious. Two microphones!! I don't know so. much bout recording technique.

 

[LostCircuits]

Me like. You sounds good. Just curious. Two microphones!! I don't know so. much bout recording technique.

The Sterling ST51 is a great mic but skews everything to be very bright so I added the NU-X to bring in a bit more of the warmth and bell tones. There are two problems with the recording that I only realized after I uploaded the video:
- the two setups have slightly different latencies so I am getting a bit more of a hall effect than I like (and they are stereo channels on the same track so I can't separate them to adjust (I estimate it's only in the 10-15 msec range but still enough to be audible).
- I should have used a compressor to tame the low notes. I don't have monitors and everything sounded just fine using some older Sennheiser headphones but when I listen in the car, it honks. I added just a bit of compression and it really improved the sound quality (but I can't change the audio in the YouTube clip so I leave it for now).
What's "nice" about the 2 mic setup is that you get the spatial effect of the low notes panning left and the higher notes to the right, I know it is kinda artificial but I dig it.

Edit: p.s. on soprano I mostly use 2 microphones, one pointed at the bell (optional) and one at the G-tone holes (that one is the important one). Using just a bell mic gets you that nasty Kenny G tone.

 

[LostCircuits]

Haha, I knew it had to be out there: Joe Cocker! But I prefer the Roxy Music version. No Deric Dyer or Norbert Frimmel in that take

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUlTLhh_uh4


But here are a few sax renditions:

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuThpLmRsWw


I like this one by Ian Boyter:

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aQD_z-8Js8


Another one by the Smooth Orchestra:

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEGMOvNEJKs

 

[Jeanette]

I do love Joe Cocker, don't think I've heard that one.

Thanks for posting, agree I prefer Roxy music version

Jx

 

[U CAN CALL ME AL]

This is a very rushed version on tenor. I found recording the whistling more of a problem!

Jealous Guy​

 

[thomsax]

Play and think John Lennon.

I try play John Lennon's words and feelings with my sax. It's easy to play "Jealous Guy", "Imagine", "Woman", "Beautiful Boy", "Beautiful Boys", " Watching The Wheels" ..... I think Roxy Music and Joe Cockers versions are pretty meaningless. U can Call Me Al and LostCirciuts are good recordings.

 

[David Dorning]

You know...and maybe I should be ashamed of this....I always thought this WAS a Roxy Music-written tune....so, thanks.

Once had a conversation with my son who was sure Let's Work Together was a Roxy tune. I had to tell him about the Canned Heat version, to be fair from maybe a decade before he was born.

 

[LostCircuits]

This is a very rushed version on tenor. I found recording the whistling more of a problem!

Jealous Guy​

Rushed or not, it sounds good to me. I like your venturing off into the second voice instead of just sticking with the original melody, it creates a bit of tension, which is what this song needs / is all about.

 

[LostCircuits]

Once had a conversation with my son who was sure Let's Work Together was a Roxy tune. I had to tell him about the Canned Heat version, to be fair from maybe a decade before he was born.

It's not as bad as repeatedly hearing "professional" musicians announcing that Feeling Alright was written by Joe Cocker or, even more blasphemous, Georgia on my mind "written by Ray Charles". But nothing beats the idea that Over The Rainbow was written by Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole, most of the time announced as the guy nobody can pronounce ... For me that's an automatic 10 minus points.

 

[LostCircuits]

Play and think John Lennon.

I try play John Lennon's words and feelings with my sax. It's easy to play "Jealous Guy", "Imagine", "Woman", "Beautiful Boy", "Beautiful Boys", " Watching The Wheels" ..... I think Roxy Music and Joe Cockers versions are pretty meaningless. U can Call Me Al and LostCirciuts are good recordings.

I agree that Joe Cocker's take is a bit of a "me too" (without any recent connotations) but I love the Roxy Music version. There are additional reasons in this case that are for another campfire, though

 

[thomsax]

I agree that Joe Cocker's take is a bit of a "me too" (without any recent connotations) but I love the Roxy Music version. There are additional reasons in this case that are for another campfire, though

Roxy Music ..... me don't like. It's like a marshmallow; fluffy and chewy with little content ....

Back to topic.

I have some kind of "personal relationship" to some of Lennon's songs. I played along and after some time I just played them on my sax. Often played behind closed doors. If I can re-learn it, I post a recording. A backing track is useful for me.