RESULTS for BATTLE OF THE BANDS XVIII Tough Guys and Tunes

BATTLE OF THE BANDS XVIII OR Show Me Your Tunes, was really fun, at least for me. There was a whole lot of love/hate expressed for those tough guys who really can’t sing, but give it what they got anyway, and croon from the heart. If you come around here often, or follow my votes at the other BATTLE OF THE BANDS participants, you would know exactly how my vote would lean.

That last sentence reminds me of something I want to ask and talk about for a minute. Please bear, or should that be bare, with me. My questions is; why don’t you guys click the link I give you and go on over to Mr. McCarthy's site and vote there also? Once at his place, he provides a link to other sites also participating in these bi-monthly BATTLES, and you can vote all through the game. Some of you are incredibly loyal to BOTB, so I have to figure you enjoy it, therefore why not quadruple or quintuple your enjoyment (there are usually four or five participants) and vote all around. ANYWAY…I’M JUST WONDERING. 

Let me know in the comment box what ya think.

OK, back to PAINT YOUR WAGON, I promised some fun facts. It was over budget, overdue, and suffered many delays. Some of the delays were attributed to Mr. Marvin’s drinking and inability to, ah um…perform. It was stated that quite possibly it also added to his performance. Whoever knows if those are ‘urban myths’ used to hype the film, or real truths. Something that has been reported in several locations is that Marvin was originally cast to play Pike Bishop in ‘The Wild Bunch’ (a role later played by William Holden), but had a falling out with director Sam Peckinpah and pulled out in order to star in ‘Paint Your Wagon’. Whoa! That was quite a switch.

I’m sure a musical ‘oater’ starring two ‘tough guys’ like Eastwood and Marvin proved to be a disappointment to a whole lot of folks. Thanks to the ‘Beer Boys’ over at A Beer for the Shower I was treated to one real man’s extreme disappointment:

Many of you expressed your sentiments that although Lee Marvin really couldn’t sing he did express the feeling of the song better. I think Susan Kane summed it up nicely when she said: ‘Lee Marvin delivers the angst, passion, and rawness.

If you haven’t guessed by now, my vote goes to Lee Marvin. He is definitely one of my favorite ‘tough guys’. Sure he can’t ‘really sing’, but maybe that adds an element of reality to this silly, over the top depiction of the wild west, gold fever, mining towns. Maybe because he doesn’t have the range of a Robert Goulet it’s exactly like Susan says, and he delivers more feeling. I don’t know for sure. I do know that his delivery appeals to me, and it did to most of you.

The final tally, including my vote:

               

                 Lee Marvin         13 votes

                Robert Goulet       7 votes

 I had a record 18 votes on this BOTB (yes, I can add. One of you voted for both, so I counted it that way). Thank you all for your loyalty and support. Now, keep coming back here and voting, but also PLEASE visit the other participants and vote there also.

I do want to add that it is my opinion Robert Goulet has a great voice, and has done a great job on this tune, as well as many other Broadway hits, but I just don’t get the same feeling from his rendition here.

If you follow me regularly and listen to some of my exploits, you’ll also realize that; I was in fact, born under a wanderin’ star.

I’ll be Back on May 1^st with BATTLE OF THE BANDS XIX. I have a special surprise for you then.