Other Songs Converted to Bluegrass

[bobby bill]

Lotta votes for I've Just Seen a Face. I heartily concur except for one thing. It doesn't need conversion - it always was a bluegrass song.

[journeybear]

Lotta votes for I've Just Seen a Face. I heartily concur except for one thing. It doesn't need conversion - it always was a bluegrass song.

Yep - they just had the instrumentation wrong!

Once upon a time, back in the 70s, my college hired a bluegrass band that played a version of "From Me To You."

[MikeEdgerton]

Wow Mike! I'll bet that's cool. Got a sound file of that one?

BTW, "Don't ever let anyone outside the family know what you're thinking!"

I don't discuss family business with anyone outside the family. You've got a PM with a link.

[mandocrucian]

I think some of the very best bluegrass renditions of non-BG material have been done with the involvement of Jimmy Gaudreau. (Eddie Adcock has done some good stuff too and the two founded IInd Generation and that 1st album is one of the great "lost classics". And Adcock was already in the Gents when Gaudreau came in to replace John Duffey.) (I won't even bother to talk about straight C&W or western swing stuff done bluegrass, cause that's all "country music" in the first place.)

Gaudreau started out playing electric surf guitar and Duanne Eddy/Lonnie Mack instrumentals (south RI beach bar band Jimmy G & The Jaguars) before he got into acoustic music and mandolin. So he's always had a feel for non-BG material and understands it. His adaptions work without destroying the original song and turning it into some sort of intended, or unintended parody. ("We all live in a yaller submarine").

original II Generation lineup:
Old Man (Neil Young)
Up Around The Bend (Creedence)
Love Is Blue (Paul Mauriat)
Hide Your Love Away (Beatles)

Jimmy Gaudreau Mandolin Album:
Memphis (Chuck Berry, Lonnie Mack)
Last Date (Floyd Cramer)

Spectrum:
Red Rubber Ball (The Cyrkle, written by Paul Simon)
Gone At Last (Paul Simon)

Country Store:
Everyday (Buddy Holly)
Memphis
Friend of the Devil (Dead) (the first recorded BG band version of the song, back in 1974)

and of course, when Gaudreau had his first stint with the Country Gents, they recorded "Fox On The Run", a British pop song. I think it may have been JG who called attention to the song to the band. (I'd have to refer back to old interviews I did wih him)

Peter Rowan's another guy that's had his feet in both the bluegrass and the rock (Seatrain) worlds.

The thing about the really good adaptions is that everyone has now accepted those songs as "bluegrass material", forgetting that it was new at the time.

NH

[AlanN]

Another couple of Gaudreau-involved 'outside' numbers:

They Call The Wind Maria (Gents)
Guess It Doesn't Matter Anymore (Paul Anka, on 1st Spectrum record)

[earthsave]

We do Summertime, but I dont think we do it too bluegrassy, just use bluegrass instrumentation.

[ManjoMan]

And yet another Gaudreau influenced when he was with J.D. Crowe was
"As Tears Goes By" by the Rolling Stones.

[MikeEdgerton]

That would lead to another Stones song done on the best selling bluegrass album ever recorded. The song was Wild Horses.

[Philippe Bony]

You beat me on that one, Niles!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXf3QttUPlI

[barry k]

Big City........Merle Haggard
Hello Trouble......Buck Owens
Jolene.......Dolly Parton
Easy Chair........Bob Dillon
Take Five.......??? think its a Jazz tune
Im Willin.........The Band??
tons of others

[journeybear]

Easy Chair........Bob Dillon
Take Five.......??? think its a Jazz tune
Im Willin.........The Band??
tons of others

I'm nor clear on what you're doing here. Are these songs you do, or would like someone to do, bluegrass-style? Or have you heard them done this way?

Anyway, get the facts straight. It's "Willin'" by Little Feat, and "Ooo Wee Ride Me High" by Bob Dylan.

If anyone was adventurous enough to do a bluegrass version of "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck, in 5/4 time,
I would really like to know. That would be something, indeed.

Oh, and yes, I know, it's "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," and yes, I know, The Byrds had the big hit with it.
Just having a little fun ...

[MikeEdgerton]

... "Ooo Wee Ride Me High" by Bob Dylan....

Are you referring to the song "You ain't goin' nowhere?" and if Little Feat is the only source you can come up with for "Willin'" ya need to go back a bit.

[journeybear]

Are you referring to the song "You ain't goin' nowhere?" and if Little Feat is the only source you can come up with for "Willin'" ya need to go back a bit.

'Twas a joke - see bottom of post - and "Willin'" was written by Lowell George and appeared on Little Feat's first two albums. Unless it was done earlier when Lowell was still with Zappa, I'm stickin' with that.

[Dan Adams]

We do "Ball and Chain" by Social Distortion. It's got great lyrics that lend themselves to the tragedy, self destructive genre that bluegrass embraces. 'An empty bottle and a broken heart...' Dan

[journeybear]

We do "Ball and Chain" by Social Distortion. It's got great lyrics that lend themselves to the tragedy, self destructive genre that bluegrass embraces. 'An empty bottle and a broken heart...' Dan

That reminds me of all the fine work done along similar lines by Hayseed Dixie and The Gourds, which have been mentioned on other threads. Heartache is universal, crossing all cultural and genre distinctions.

[barry k]

Thanks for setting me right journeybear, shoulda known better to post !!! Wasnt trying to to muddy the thread, and it wont happen again. I had 2 brain strokes last August and sometimes my long term memory leaves me.

[MikeEdgerton]

Don't worry about it Barry, keep posting and keep building.

[journeybear]

Thanks for setting me right journeybear, shoulda known better to post !!!

That's all right, Barry, I just wasn't sure what you meant. Didn't mean to have a joke at your expense, though your post did strike me funny. I think a lot of people's memories are a bit fuzzy, and it may be our reliance on computers helps that, since nowadays we don't have to remember as much as we used to, we just need to know how to look it up. Well, and discern what's true from all we may find out. In my case I can't blame this all on computers, as my memory has been fuzzy for a lot longer. But we'll never know everything until we hear from everybody, so keep contributing.

Also, I didn't mention that your other suggestions were pretty good, and in fact a lot of Merle's and Buck's songs translate well to bluegrass - for instance, "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive," "Silver Wings," "The Streets Of Bakersfield," and "Act Naturally," as do a good many rockabilly songs from the same time period.

[Wesley]

The new Darrell Scott CD has an uptempo version of Joni Mitchell's "Urge for Going". It works - but I had my doubts before I heard it. Our group has been know to "grass up" Paul Simons "Me and Julio". I'm still working on them to arrange Robert Johnsons "Walking Blues" and "Crossroads". It could make a good medley.

[bobby bill]

If anyone was adventurous enough to do a bluegrass version of "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck, in 5/4 time,
I would really like to know. That would be something, indeed

I believe "Take Five" was written by Paul Desmond who played sax with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

[MikeEdgerton]

Actually Take Five on its own sounds interesting.

I just remembered an amazing performance at Woodstown, NJ a few years ago when Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen did Eight Miles High. They had a bass player with them as well. It was intense.

[AlanN]

The Japanese band Bluegrass 45 recorded this tune, way back. They were ahead of their time, in many ways.

[ralph johansson]

and of course, when Gaudreau had his first stint with the Country Gents, they recorded "Fox On The Run", a British pop song. I think it may have been JG who called attention to the song to the band. (I'd have to refer back to old interviews I did wih him)

Peter Rowan's another guy that's had his feet in both the bluegrass and the rock (Seatrain) worlds.

The thing about the really good adaptions is that everyone has now accepted those songs as "bluegrass material", forgetting that it was new at the time.

NH

fox on the run was introduced into bg by emerson-waldron; they also did proud mary and if i were a carpenter. emerson succeeded adcock in the country gentlemen.


....


i wonder, what exactly is "non bg material"? e.g., tunes llike silver bell, snow deer, down yonder, and red wing done by many bg groups are pop songs from the early 20th century.
monroe recorded milenburg joy, commonly associated with jelly roll morton. etc. earl scruggs recorded dixieland tunes like farewell blues and bugle call rag.

i like to play "bg material" in non-bg ways (at least that's what the purists would say i'm doing).
that's more interesting.

[ralph johansson]

I believe "Take Five" was written by Paul Desmond who played sax with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

you're absolutely right.

[journeybear]

Our group has been know to "grass up" Paul Simons "Me and Julio". I'm still working on them to arrange Robert Johnson's "Walking Blues" and "Crossroads". It could make a good medley.

Great idea! If you can, find a recording of The Paul Butterfield Band's version of "Walking Blues" - it has a persistent emphasis on the downbeat, and all you would have to do is switch that to the backbeat and you would have bluegrass. Maybe speed it up just a tad, too ...

Love the melody line when it goes to the IV chord too.

I believe "Take Five" was written by Paul Desmond who played sax with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

Yup. Sho' nuff. But Barry's list was of songs and performers, not writers. Now, can anyone give an example of a bluegrass song in a time signature other than 4/4 or 3/4 or 2/4? "Take Five" could work, and it would certainly make people perk up. The Allman Brother's "Whipping Post" could do, but it doesn't really count - the riff is in 11/4 but the song is in 3/4. That would be something, though ...