Singing the Blues v Free As a Bird

[howarddobson]

Hello everyone

When Cliff and the Shads released Singing the Blues a few years ago, I couldn't help thinking how great it sounded compared to the Beatles' reunion single Free As a Bird.

I know the circumstances and possibilities were very different - but even so it seemed to me that the Shads were still able to work on something together and produce an excellent piece of music. They still had it - and could create something with a lot of energy and style.

I like Free As a Bird and Real Love but I don't think they were as good as they could be. Great compositions, some nice performances, but just not as good as the Shads on Reunited.

Thought it might be an interesting topic for people to throw a view into.

Howard

[iefje]

Hello everyone

I like Free As a Bird and Real Love but I don't think they were as good as they could be. Great compositions, some nice performances, but just not as good as the Shads on Reunited.

Thought it might be an interesting topic for people to throw a view into.

Howard

I agree with you to a degree. But of course John wasn't there to alter his contributions to the two last new Beatles studio recordings.
Slightly off-topic, but I still wonder what could have been, hadn't he been murdered by that guy who, after almost 36 years is still rightly in prison. I have heard in documentaries and interviews with Yoko, that John was keen on returning to England in late 1980 or rather early 1981 to go back to his family and to discuss ideas with Paul, George and Ringo for maybe a Beatles reunion.

[MartcasterJunior]

Almost impossible to compare them I would have thought, beyond personal preference.

The composition of Free As A Bird was at least 50% there already, with very little that could be done to alter the structure of the sections they had to work with. All they could do was write some additional bits to glue it all together and make it whole. Then you throw in the addition of Jeff Lynne as producer (brought in, on McCartney's own admission, to make sure the 3 remaining Beatles played nicely and kept their egos in check). No criticism of Jeff Lynne - he an amazing songwriter and producer - but it sounds just like a Jeff Lynne record; it's not "The Beatles". To me it's not an oustanding Beatles record but it's a nice bookend to a career and probably about as good as they would have done under any other circumstances, making music all together 25 years after they last did.

Cliff & The Shadows? Well...not quite the same. They were in a different position because they had the ability to write new material but instead chose to cover a 50-year-old song. That's not really a criticism - just showing how the 2 "reunion" songs we're looking at were conceived in different circumstances. With Hank being in Australia then obviously they're limited in terms of collaboration, so maybe that was the easiest solution. I think it's alright. It sounds OK. It doesn't give me the same feeling of nostalgia that Free As A Bird does but, arguably, there isn't as defined a "Cliff & The Shads sound" to try and recapture as there is with The Beatles. (Incidentally, does anyone fancy a go at defining "That Sound" for The Beatles? Actually, no, let's not open that Pandora's box...)

So, my personal feeling? They're both "alright". Perfectly acceptable ways to close the final chapters of their recording careers for fans of both groups but neither of them quite dazzle in the way that I'd like them to, although I'd argue that that's probably an unattainable target. To use an Only Fools & Horses analogy (and apologies to any readers who aren't familiar with that programme), neither of them are that episode where Del & Rodney find the million-pound watch in the garage, but neither are they any of the episodes which came after and ruined a perfectly satisfactory ending.

Matt

[Iain Purdon]

I agree that you can't compare them.
I don't wish to disparage a great C&S performance of Singing The Blues but it is a close cover of the Dave Edmunds version from 1980. Indeed one edition of BBC TOTP had Dave E doing it on the same show as the Shads Riders in the Sky.

[howarddobson]

Thank you !

I think Free As a Bird and Real Love are very emotional records. Finally a reunion after all the time apart. And a chance for three very different solo artists to be where they were at the time in the 90s whilst also sounding like the Beatles. Real Love is quite haunting actually - a lovely song.

Interestingly I read that John always wanted his voice to sound different. Well on Free As a Bird it certainly did as it was a tape recording. I think they should have seen that as a positive and instead of trying to make a record that sounded normal, go to the other extreme and be experiment and weird.

I think Cliff and the Shads demonstrated how they were always a great working band, able to create a great sound as a full band, something that is a very playable record. A safe choice but one that can't be faulted in the playing and production and togetherness.

[cockroach]

Hmmm...Singin' The Blues'..

I must admit, although it was a good rockin' song (and an old favourite of mine), well played and produced etc, I was a little disappointed that they didn't perhaps write something original (and perhaps special) for their last recording together..there's certainly enough songwriting talent between Hank, Bruce, BB and Cliff ...!

The fact that it was not only a cover, but almost a copy of Dave Edmunds arrangement etc of the song (i.e. a cover of a cover!) was also a little disappointing to me..

[drakula63]

I suppose it isn't unreasonable to compare the two, since 'Free as a Bird' was the first Beatles record since they split, as was 'Singing the Blues' for Cliff and the Shadows. But there the similarity ends.

I thought as soon as I heard it that I had heard it before - and that aforementioned edition of Top of the Pops would seem to suggest that Dave Edmunds' version was uppermost in their minds when they recorded it. Personally, I would have thought that 'Sea Cruise' or 'C'mon Everybody' would have made for better singles. I remember reading an interview with Jeff Lynn in which he says that he had to resist the incredible temptation to put himself on 'Free as a Bird' and, thus, become a Beatle. As it is, I know there were problems due to the fact that all they had to base it on was a demo on which the vocal and piano were inseparable.

I too had hoped that a new 'original' song could be recorded and released by Cliff and the Shads to celebrate their 50th... but it was not to be. Maybe for their 60th...???