Friday, May 16, 2014

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack: An Oddity

So, there we were, out on the verandah and this tune comes on.  "WTF?" thinks I, "that sure sounds like Rod Stewart but that ain't the lyrics we know and love."  Well, there's an explanation for that... but first, the tune:


I don't need to tell ya
That you look like a fella
But I'll kick your head in one of these days
The tune is billed as a demo version of "Maggie May" and yeah, a re-write was definitely in order here.  I searched... in vain... for the lyrics to this version and came up empty (the bits quoted above are from memory).  The instrumentation on this early version... aside from the inclusion of the extended mandolin solo... is essentially the same as the final version, and that's a good thing (Hello, Ronnie Wood!).  But the lyrics?  They're just bad, bad, bad.  I can't believe I've gone all this time without hearing the demo version but I suppose stranger things have happened.  OTOH, I can go just as long without hearing this again.  Once is just enough.

6 comments:

  1. Don't think I've ever heard any versions of it...LOL

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's an interesting look into the band, as they obviously have the music done before the lyrics. I think it is common the other way around. I actually listened to another of this on tube, and it had some lyrics on screen. I think the bass in that song was great. You just know that 4 takes later they had everything except the kitchen sink dubbed-in and prepped for AM airplay :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's no lack of lyrics to the version that was released, but the demo version? I couldn't find any. My favorite bits in the finally-released version was the mandolin solo at the end.

      Delete
  3. I don't think I can bring myself to listen; I love the early Rod Stewart work and "Maggie May" is a particular fave. I'm afraid if I listen to this - it will stay in my head and cancel out the true classic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I listened to the demo a couple o' times and it won't make you forget the final cut.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask.