I've been following them on YouTube for a while. They seem to rotate lead singers through.
You know, it's a small thing, and it's been long enough since I gave the original a close listening, but the way she sings, 'If it keeps on raining the levees going to break' it seems as if she's too formal, or she's not inflecting it right. I'd go with 'gonna break' or try to do something else with the syllable.
(Actually, pulled up the original, Plant does say 'going' but he inflects it differently so it doesn't sound so stiff.)
Put that's 2 words in the whole song. I hadn't heard this in years and it came on the car radio a few months back and I've been wanting a reverse echo for my harp since then.
They don't sound THAT bad (IMHO), but they have that kinda phony look, like some MBA thought it would be profitable to put together an all-female Zep cover band.
Last Edited by Frank101 on Jul 06, 2015 3:23 PM
I think it's a good example on how you can destroy a song with bad playing on a harmonica. She sings ok and the band is ok.
Last Edited by arnenym on Jul 06, 2015 11:47 AM
I think if you hadn't heard the Plant/Page/Bonham/Jones version, this would be less objectionable. I don't mind looking at pretty girls, but I'm a musician.
when zepplin released that song i was maybe 12 years old they were the biggest band around. if it was not for them i would of perhaps never been introduced to blues music. i am now well aware that every song they did, was written by someone else and that they tried to take credit. and while that does bother me at the same time they took this music and pushed it forward, the harmonica part had backward echo i would classify that as modern blues harmonica right there at the fore front almost 50 years before the web page modern blues harmonica was conceived. surely they could have copied the song note for note but what would that prove?..... and yes of course they got the words wrong.. they were english lads listening to a southern black dialect. i have the same issue trying to decipher their lyrics, as they have a completely different dialect from me.
charlie and ben are obviously doing a cover to the zeppelin version of this song what is interesting to note.... is that charlie may not of been aware of the zep version and very much familiar with the original song, where as ben is completely aware of the zep version but quite possibly unaware of the original song. which many of us were oblivious to the original song until somewhat recently.
the point i was making is that charlie completely omitted the signature tag line to the song. which is somewhat ok if you are at a jam but if the band tells you we will be playing that song next week in front of ten thousand people i would go and do my homework.
side note to time is tight.. i have a question for you re: a signature riff .... i play born under a bad sign in C# i use a low F# harmonica the second to last note is an E what is a good way around that note as it is not on the harp this is another issue at times trying to play a sig. riff the note may not be available thank you ...47.
Three draw half-step bend on an F# harp is E. But I wouldn't necessarily play the riff, at least not all the way through. To me, it's hipper to just drop it in in occasionally, like the horns here:
i like to switch positions at times, but there is something about a low F# harp that this song calls out for. hitting the 3 draw bend just does not sound right as the guitar hits the low e string that may be why this song is in C # to emphasize the low E note
i called this out at a jam in C# and the look of scorn and ridicule on the the bass players face was worth the price of admission. bit in fact C# is actually very easy to play on the guitar, i am surprised that this key is not used more often. i just wished i could get that low note on the harmonica
and yes i agree it it not necessary to play the riff each and every time it comes up...or even the complete riff, "thank you for reminding me of that" sometimes just part of the riff and not every time works wonders.
that may be a better solution it does require a 6 ob which is the easiest one to get consistently. however on my low F#.... it needs to have that reed adjusted.
goldbrick that was really cool.
Last Edited by 1847 on Jul 07, 2015 6:18 PM
On an F# harmonica playing in C#? No over blows necessary, just the 1 draw bend, the 3 draw bend and the 4 draw bend. Try it!
Last Edited by Dr.Hoy on Jul 07, 2015 6:32 PM
I'm sorry, I was wrong. On an F# harmonica playing in 2nd position, playing the notes of the "Born Under a Bad Sign" riff will require the 1 draw bend, 2 draw bend, 3 draw bend and the 4 draw bend. The 3 draw bend is E natural, the minor third.
But I wonder if we're talking about two different things here?
Just to be on-topic, I honestly don't think that all-girl band up there is all that good.
Last Edited by Dr.Hoy on Jul 07, 2015 7:16 PM
@1847 I'm not a huge Zeppelin fan, so not trying to stand up for them...but saying "every song they did was written by someone else" is a huge exaggeration. Sure they covered a few songs on most albums...but what of the Rolling Stones or the early Beatles? I think it was quite a common thing to do in the day. As to if they "tried to take credit" I can't say for sure because I have never heard anything of the type. However, I have the feeling you may be thinking that because you initially thought the songs were by them and then later learned you were mistaken. I'm sure you could have asked Plant or Page in the mid 70's about some of these particular songs and they would talk about how much they love/were inspired by these songs and felt the need to pay their homage to them....not say "those are our songs....willie dixon is a lying ****)
when jimmy page recorded that song, he used several guitars they were double and triple tracked
the girl in the video is using one guitar, a danolectro silvertone just like page used.
she is playing the rhythm and slide part, and doing a credible job. she also is using a tape echo, the same as he used
they have done their homework... i wanted to say no one can play drums like john bonham, but after what goldbrick posted i guess there are drummers out there in the same league as him.
i actually prefer the harmonica in that video, to what was played in the 2 nd video,although the sound quality was not as good so it is hard to tell what was being played there.
born under a bad sign if played in the first octave would start on the F# 1 blow
the first E note is an octave above the 2nd E note..... that is what is bugging the heck out of me if you start in the 2 nd octave and use the 6 ob you can end on the E an octave lower
dont feel so alone... this song has confounded me since the beginning of time.
but with time is tight's help here i think i have it finally figured out. i will play the riff in the 2 nd octave using the 6 ob as a passing tone and then hammer the flat 3rd in the 1st octave
and i will not feel the need to play the riff at every opportunity only as necessary.
Last Edited by 1847 on Jul 07, 2015 8:35 PM
Rusty, it's not that they were playing other guys music. Lots of bands do covers. Zep was pretty famous for ripping off large sections of songs and riffs from other bands and not giving them credit. They are actually involved in a lawsuit right now with the estate of Randy California, the guitar player from Spirit. They claim (and I think it's a pretty strong claim) that Zep ripped it off and turned it into Stairway to Heaven intro.
Of course, other big bands are just as bad. Metallica is kind of infamous for doing it (and then suing fans for illegally downloading their music.) Elvis supposedly strong armed the songwriters he worked with into giving him song writing credits and a much bigger share of the credit than he deserved. I'm not away of any similar allegations against the Beatles (although apparently they all had some anger management issues and histories of being terrible parents and having been abusive husbands.)
The Stones, of course, collected awards for Bitter Sweet Symphony instead of the Verve, because it was their string section that was brought forward in the track... despite the fact the the Verve actually asked for and paid for permission to do that, only to have Rolling Stones walk in and say, well, we didn't think you would make it such a hit so now we'll take it from here. ---------- Nate Facebook Thread Organizer (A list of all sorts of useful threads)
First Post- May 8, 2009
Last Edited by nacoran on Jul 07, 2015 9:51 PM
@nacoran oh, snap....i never knew. that is mighty rude of them. They still had a few good songs that they came up with themselves i bet...maybe one or two, haha
