Monday, February 9, 2015

Better Late than Never - BATTLE OF THE BANDS Results

As usual, I'm a few days late and more than a few dollars short. I do apologize for not getting my BOTB results post up at the appointed time (February 7th), but I had some business over the weekend that needed tending to.

I'm here now so let's get on with the final results and my vote.

I guess I could call this the BATTLE OF THE WEIRD NAMES. I mean, Dicky Doo and Ry Cooder. I'm not sure which would be a worse moniker to grow up with. 'Course you all know from the original post that Dicky Doo and the Don'ts was a purely 'made up' name. Then of course, so is the name of every other band out there. Amiright?

Several of you mentioned that the versions done by Ry and Linda Ronstadt sounded similar. If you thought that, it's because they were the same arrangement (as arranged by Ry Cooder), and it was in fact, very different from the original.

While the original by Dicky Doo and the Don'ts kind of had that late 50's early 60's doo wop sound going on, it also sounded, at least to me, like an old recording my Daddy used to play of 'The Yellow Rose of Texas'. More in the style of a H.S. Marching Band to my ears. But then that's just me. I bet after that remark, you can all pretty much guess that my vote does not go to DD&tD.

More than one person said they liked Ry Cooder's version better for the arrangements but he kind of fell short on the vocals. I can't really disagree with you there, especially when you are comparing his vocal performance to that of the talented Miss Ronstadt. Linda definitely does have the smoother, almost like velvet, at least to my ears, voice. Kind of makes it all more the shame, as to what's happened to her.

Anyway, I cast my vote for Ry Cooder. I really like his arrangement. I think he took that H.S. Marching Band sound and turned it into the 'broken heart' song the lyrics intended. I suppose my vote in part might be swayed by his overall musical career (I know, I know, that's not how this is supposed to go, but hey; you know me.) in the end my vote really didn't make much difference.

The final tally:

          Dicky Do and the Don'ts          5 votes
          Ry Cooder                              4 votes Including mine
          Lind Ronstadt                         8 votes

Miss Linda Ronstadt is clearly the winner.  I do wonder how this might have turned out, had I not gone with the three-way, but we'll never know for sure.

I'll be back on the 15th with my next BATTLE OF THE BANDS. I do hope you'll drop by for a visit. Until then; "Happy Trails to You'.



10 comments:

  1. Is the "Happy Trails" ending of your post a clue to your next BOTB entry? A lot of versions to use on that one, but I wouldn't advise using the one by Quicksilver Messenger Service though the rest of their Happy Trails album is pretty darn great.

    Anyway, I'm glad that Linda won. I did think the guitar in her version sounded a lot like Cooder's playing so I'm wondering if that's him on the Ronstadt recording. I guess I could look it up but then that might make me look ambitious or something.

    Happy Trails indeed.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Ha! No that's not really a clue.n My Next BOTB selection will be a Protest song and Anti-love song it has been called. It'll be on the day after Valentines Day, of course.

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  2. Oh no! I can't seem to vote for winner to save my tail. However, your three way was interesting and diverse. I'd never heard of Dicky or Ry before then. Take care.

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    1. Hey don't feel too bad, cause neither can I. Even at my own site.

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  3. Pretty close though, so seems all were enjoyed almost equally

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  4. Dickie Do... Linda Ronstadt... 3-way... AHEM, mind outta the gutter, CW!

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  5. Considering the old Doo-Wop style, Dicky Doo And The Don'ts did pretty well to score 5 votes and beat Ry Cooder.

    But I want to change my vote to Jimmy BufFIT.
    Didn't he record a version of this song, too?
    If not, I'll eat my Stetson... and all the scrambled eggs that never saw the backside of a chicken. And I'll drink all the .99-cent MargaRYEtas you can mix.

    ~ D-FensDogg
    'Loyal American Underground'

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  6. You're gonna love this. I missed the original post so I went back to listen to it. I started the Dicky Doo version and there was something strangely familiar about the music, but not the words. I kept trying to block out the lyrics and it came to me. Put a hard marching band beat behind that tune and you have my high school fight song. Opening line: "The Lancers will shine tonight". How crazy is that?

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  7. I was a Cooder-booster, too. But I still expected Linda to win, although I did BOTB posts enough to realize that my expectations are always off-kilter when it comes to the voting in these things.

    So I was expecting my expectations to be wrong but it turns out I was unexpectedly wrong about my expectations being wrong.

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