"Daddy's Song"
(Speed Corrected) (2:53)
Original Version On Aerial Ballet (1968)
Written & Performed By Harry Nilsson
A fan-made curio. Since Aerial Ballet is brimming with upbeat pop, it's easy to forget that "Daddy's Song," the LP's original opening track, was sped up a couple of keys - losing 13 seconds in the process. Funny, since the entire song got bumped from subsequent vinyl pressings of Aerial Ballet. Reasoning? To avoid competing with The Monkees' freshly minted version from Head. Frank Zappa's response to The Monkees' elaborate "video" dance treatment ("the song was pretty white") is one of the film's highlights. Harry's "Daddy's Song" eventually got reinstated up front for the CD age Aerial Ballets. This (Speed Corrected) file, however, is just an excuse to hear it again and display another Monkees parody cover. Truth be told, we actually prefer this real-time, more natural sounding version of "Daddy's Song." HERE.
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8 comments:
Way cool. So does this mean that the rest of Aerial Ballet is sped up?
I'll make the case that the '68 version is not sped up. The '71 version on APB was slowed down 'some' and totally new vocals we're recorded. Keep in mind Harry's voice was evolving between those periods, reflecting a now more 'mature' voice. Both we're recorded in real time. Obviously some studio trickery might be happening on either version. Another example of Harry's evolving vocal maturity is to compare the '68 Tipton produced out-take of Gotta Get Up and the Schmilsson version. You'll notice the same vocal evolution in the same time period. Great stuff on your site as usual.
Is there a tuning fork in the house?
Nice!
A couple of thoughts...
1) The speed corrected version is brilliant, thanks for sharing;
2) It certainly sounds as if the music was sped up for the album. There's nothing else on Aerial Ballet at the same tempo as the original, but the speed corrected version sounds right in place. That said, I wonder if it's possible that the vocals were NOT sped up in the original. To my ears, anyway, Nilsson's voice was higher in 1968 than what the speed corrected version sounds like.
3) This brings up the question of why it was sped up (assuming it was) in the first place. It was not uncommon to speed up singles back then to give them some additional punch; this makes me believe the producer thought 'Daddy's Song' was going to be a single off the album (possibly the first since it led off the album.
Anyway, it's fun to speculate...
Glad you did, thanks.
Hey, I forgot that I did this speed correction....
-dc
Cool. Thanks.
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