Jay & The Americans - Come A Little Bit Closer (Shindig 1964)

[Anglynn74]

I can't believe it's up for debate, his voice is obviously LIVE and the background music was a tape.  Not only did he change the words but the way he sings this is not the way the studio version is at all.

[oldgeezerman1]

Loved this song then and now. Great stuff and thanks for posting this. But wow, would you just check out Jay's hair...lol....man talk about a work of art! : )

[lordritchie]

Best version of this i ever heard. Kenny Vance had some great moves on this. What a talent he became with his soundtracks and solo stuff. As for the sweaters and Jays hair, uuh truly remarkable!

[tbirdtim]

Very cool. It took me years to really appreciate this group, but they did some great stuff. This performance is great.

[DFbighair]

..here I am again...had to come back to this one because it's so different from all the other videos of this song...

Jay looks totally scared to death in this one...they say that he had terrible stage fright and would throw up before shows....after his voice cracked, the guitar player grabbed his arm...as if to keep him calm so he wouldn't freak out..

[DFbighair]

...just looked this one up again on purpose...trying to figure out which performances are LIVE and which ones are lip-synced. This one HAS to to be LIVE since his voice cracked and he sang " just like a chicken I ran "...so cute! It's kinda hard to determine for sure since in most of these performances Jay is the only one with a mic....

[deaddoc]

@DFbighair Has to be live. The original lyric is "Out a window I ran." In those days, almost all pop song performances were in sync. American Bandstand was an every Saturday show from the 50s to the early 70s (I think) and all the songs were done in sync. The clue was also that the guitars weren't plugged in and no backing musicians or singers, etc. We used to laugh at that, but it was the only way to see the bands.

[DFbighair]

@deaddoc ...Yes, I see that the guitars arent' plugged in and there's no visible horn section or drums, etc. Jay regularly would sing LIVE over a back track...I assume that's what he was doing here

[NickDanger3]

@DFbighair You didn't notice there is a huge horn section playing that is completely absent from the stage?

[DFbighair]

@NickDanger3 ...Of course I realize that...no horn section, no drums, guitars not plugged in and probably the background guys aren't singing. This version of this song was totally different than all the other versions...and Jay was known to sing LIVE over a back track.....I assume he was doing that here...

[DFbighair]

...today is my lucky day I guess...I have never seen this clip before...I look on here everyday for something new...fabulous....." just like a chicken I ran "...that's the only time I've heard him do that....love it!

[Agrace39]

@DFbighair I like that, too, it's a bit of his humor slipped in. I can only imagine what little fun things he did over the years, and it made for an interesting anticipation with the other guys, never knowing what he might do. He must have been near genius with his ad lib rearrangements, like in the movie audition when he rearranged the script and they loved it.

[bhilberg]

First of all, those sweaters are freakin awesome, and even more awesome is when Jay's voice cracks at about 2:27-2:28, I love live recordings!

[recordguy4321]

Cool hairdo on Jay.

[thecountofbasie]

Cool...wondered at first where the Americans were...but the first chorus...great performance, if those sweaters leave a bit to be desired...:-)

[rwells47]

Thanks for sharing- great video! " And just like a chicken I ran" LOL !  Ron