The Weight

[Guest]

Ronws suggested I give this song a shot. I always loved this song but from a distance. I never owned a copy of it and I have only ever sung along with the chorus. I don't know the words nor the complete feel of it.

But as if I were on stage and someone asked for a request, I'm saying "I don't do this song, but for you, I'll give it a shot!"

I always felt it was just a touch too high for me in spots. Anyway, as I said, I don't really know the words or the nuances of the song so I sang it about 15 times before recording it to try and get a feel for it. I would have liked to have re-recorded it and tried to get it better but my voice was fried by the time I sang this version. I screwed up the words at the end...sorry. My voice was too shot to do it over. I said "Fanny" instead of Annie near the end and that made me kind of chuckle to myself which made me lose my place completely. Oh well

The last thing are the choruses. They harmonize on the line "and put the load right on me" and I don't know who is singing what so my timing is way off.

Here you go Ron. I don't have much time so I can't work on this song right now; I've got to many songs in the works as it is. My apologies for rushing this one out and not giving you a better take. Right now it's the best I've got

As usual, I added some of my own flavor to it....for all you purists

This was a little tough and I feel it is pretty rough. So feel free to critique and let me know. Can you tell I'm reading the lyrics as I go ?

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

[Guest]

Ok....Let's try this one more time.

And now it's rest time....for sure.

Version II:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jq9HIeVnUs

[ronws]

I like it when I'm right.

You were perfect for this song, and vice versa. The second version is a little more natural because I think, if you'll pardon the pun and the irony, you took some of the weight off. You sing the higher stuff just fine, especially when you relax and let the note float, like you did on the choruses. And your "wait a minute Chester" was better the second time around because you didn't force it.

You should keep this in your regular set list, if you can. You might not feel comfortable with it, yet. But keep doing it like you did, just a little lighter for your own sake, especially in the second video.

Dude, I could see you on stage doing this with Robbie Robertson singing back-up.

[Guest]

Screw all of ya's. If Ron liked it. I'm good with that!

Seriously....thanks bro.

Tommy

[Quincy]

You get familiar with this song and work out the vowels and what not and I think you could kill it! Do as Ron says and put it in your practice list.

[Nicogratouille]

You certainly have the right voice for this kind of stuff!

You get familiar with this song and work out the vowels and what not and I think you could kill it! Do as Ron says and put it in your practice list.

Quincy: Do you mean narrowing the vowels a little bit on the high notes to pull him more towards mix?

Nick

[Guest]

Quincy: Do you mean narrowing the vowels a little bit on the high notes to pull him more towards mix?

Nick

I'd be interested in hearing more about this also. Tips?

Are the vowels too harsh and sharp? Any particular words more than others?

I did notice, while I was singing, that something didn't sound right on the word "load" but I didn't know what to do with it. I was afraid of screwing up the line.

Thanks

Tommy

[Quincy]

I was talking more in general about anywhere the vowels weren't resonating freely, you can feel it, and you can play around with the shading or shaping your vocal tract, tongue, mouth opening, things like that and find more efficient easy resonance. It can be high or lower notes but just work out anything you feel you can shape a little better to feel more ease of production. I wasn't particularly paying close attention to specific places, but there were some more noticeable constrictions and less resonance on some of the higher parts.

Also as you get more familiar with the song and how you want to sing it, a lot of those vowels will start flowing better as you elongate them and keep them more connected. That's a big part of it too.

I'm still waiting to hear your more practiced version of Georgia... lot's of great potential there also. :cool:

[ronws]

I think what Quincy was trying to say or at least how I would interpret it was not that you did anything wrong. But that a way to make the song more locked in for you is to play with the vowels. Something I do as a warm-up, actually. Sing a phrase and try it with a different vowel, no matter how funny it sounds. Or sing a problematic note as one vowel and hold that note while you change vowels. Basically, play with the thing like it was putty.

[Guest]

Ok I'm back!! Back from where? Well what happened was this. Yesterday I grabbed a beer, poured it into a 16 oz glass and went downstairs to log into the forum. I was typing a response to Quincy when I moved my right hand and knocked the beer over and onto/into my modem. Beer was coming out of the bottom of the modem! I licked up what I could right away....it was expensive beer ya know. 10%ABV.

Seriously though, I cleaned up but my modem was shot. So no computer or phone and now I am at work, the only place I have computer access until I get home and hook up the new modem.

Anyway, what i was typing was this:

I was talking more in general about anywhere the vowels weren't resonating freely, you can feel it, and you can play around with the shading or shaping your vocal tract, tongue, mouth opening, things like that and find more efficient easy resonance. It can be high or lower notes but just work out anything you feel you can shape a little better to feel more ease of production. I wasn't particularly paying close attention to specific places, but there were some more noticeable constrictions and less resonance on some of the higher parts.

Also as you get more familiar with the song and how you want to sing it, a lot of those vowels will start flowing better as you elongate them and keep them more connected. That's a big part of it too.

I'm still waiting to hear your more practiced version of Georgia... lot's of great potential there also. :cool:

I understand what you are getting at. Some of the vowels at the higher notes felt a bit strained to me while I was singing.

RE: "Georgia on my Mind."

I've been working on it but haven't been satisfied completely yet. It's the chorus mostly that I can't settle on. Most of the problem lies in the fact that I can't get a decent backing track. Well, one to my liking range/key wise etc.

I'll get something done soon (I hope)

Tommy

[Quincy]

Tommy, I know you said you were not big into technology and messing with arcane stuff, but I've found the music service "Spotify" to be really good about finding songs and playing them when you want unlike Pandora. They also have a massive catalog of karaoke choices on the same song. You can actually record them with Audacity internally without going through your speakers. That's what requires a little more techno nerd skills. But you can play them over your speakers and sing along as well.

[Guest]

I'm typically just going to youtube and typing in (as in this case) "The Weight karaoke" and looking for a version of the song I'm looking for. Then I set up my little hand held camera next to the laptop and have at it! In some instances I have CD+G's that I play on my laptop recording the same way. I don't have a CDG player so I don't see the words. I just get the song minus vocals.

Thanks