it's hard to improve on perfection. i don't think you did it this time. i would turn the vocal down a bit. but still you're not going to ever beat the original so what's the point?

Kurt Foster, post: 458904, member: 7836 wrote: it's hard to improve on perfection. i don't think you did it this time. i would turn the vocal down a bit. but still you're not going to ever beat the original so what's the point?

Hi Kurt, thanks for the feedback - backed off the vocals a bit. I'll never top the original, but striving to get as close as possible helps me up my game.

Paul Simon records are hard to beat. the only time i thought someone pulled it off was the Shawn Colvin / Alison Krauss / Jerry Douglas version of '">"The Boxer".

It's a bit low for you - sound of SILence - your power runs out on that low note. Kind of an angry version of a song perhaps a bit too well known to give fair comparison, but I do like the change of style.

I'm on ear-buds now, but I feel the vocal sounds a bit boxy. Were you in a small room full of foam ??
I love the energy of the second part. !
Keep them coming !

This sounds like something Danzig would sing....

The thing to know about this song is that it was originally recorded very simply and most of the accompaniment you hear was added after the fact (like over a year after it was released and failed) by Tom Wilson the producer for re-release. It's this version we all know and love and the one that turned this song into a hit. I think the secret to covering this song is to go back to the original original stripped down recording -- actually strip all the accompaniment away and find the song again from it's most basic roots and then go from there. Any other treatment is like adding more spice and stuff to a recipe that doesn't need it. I like the idea of a low baritone voice doing this song --- I think the beauty of it should come from the vocal delivery and timbre - and timing of the vocal notes -- let the music be really basic --- piano maybe - guitar maybe -- otherwise it's like putting extra makeup on a tart that's already been made up.

DogsoverLava, post: 458943, member: 48175 wrote: The thing to know about this song is that it was originally recorded very simply and most of the accompaniment you hear was added after the fact (like over a year after it was released and failed) by Tom Wilson the producer for re-release.

when i first heard Sounds of Silence on the radio, i rushed down to the neighborhood drug store and bought the 45. i was disappointed to hear i had a copy of the original without the overdubs.
you can actually hear in the second verse where the overdubs get slightly out of time with the original track. not sure who was playing on it but i bet that's Carol Kay on the bass with all the high to low Glissando's. that was her specialty ala "Mr. Tambourine Man".

Kurt Foster, post: 458944, member: 7836 wrote: when i first heard Sounds of Silence on the radio, i rushed down to the neighborhood drug store and bought the 45. i was disappointed to hear i had a copy of the original without the overdubs.
you can actually hear in the second verse where the overdubs get slightly out of time with the original track. not sure who was playing on it but i bet that's Carol Kay on the bass with all the high to low Glissando's. that was her specialty ala "Mr. Tambourine Man".

They say it was Bob Bushnell on Bass, with Bobby Gregg on Drums, and Al Gorgoni and Vinny Bell on guitars...

while you were posting i looked up Wilson. appears he was working in NY at the time. but it did say he wanted to get the same sound and feel of Tambourine Man.

Kurt Foster, post: 458946, member: 7836 wrote: while you were posting i looked up Wilson. appears he was working in NY at the time. but it did say he wanted to get the same sound and feel of Tambourine Man.

It's cool to be able to research and follow these guys back in time as they hopped from coast to coast. It was also said that Simon hated the overdubs.... until it made him money and forced the two of them to become a recording duo again. You could argue that he owes his career to Wilson's ear and decision to cowboy the overdubs and re-release the song.