Leon Redbone ~ Ditty-Wah-Ditty

From the album Double Time
© 1988 Warner Bros.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• leon redbone
• ditty-wah-ditty

[johngoo343]

if you ask me he really messed up blind blake's song here way too fast

[silezukuk]

@johngoo343 // You are right, it's way too fast. I learned about Arthur Blake after hearing Redbone's version. I didn't think about comparing. I heard it as a brand new song and I liked it. I love Blake's version. Ry Cooder's too.

[scalhotrod]

@silezukuk Yes, but that's what musicians have been doing for centuries, interpreting each others music. Hadyn did it to Mozart, Jelly Roll Morton did it to Scott Joplin, Jose Feliciano did it to Jim Morrison. And (although fictitiously) a perfect example is in the Tom Hanks movie "That Thing You Do" when the drummer spontaneously up tempos the title song and makes it a hit.

[silezukuk]

@scalhotrod I couldn't agree more! You are absolutely right.

[Harpenfarker]

This guy is GREAT!......Do you know if he ever recorded & released this song on one of his albums?

[silezukuk]

@Harpenfarker Great indeed! You can find the song on the album "Double Time". Look it up.

[ohjtbehaaave]

This is a great upbeat New Orleans style version! Good stuff.

[dontbringmedown1900]

@Harpenfarker the original 1977 release was about half the pace ...a great quirky lp

[sneakiestofskittle]

I find this surprisingly easy to masturbate too

[Sexiam4it]

He released this song on one of his albums "DOUBLE TIME" much much slower..I think he must have been doing some sort amphetamine on this take .. or being Leon and bizarre as usual

[Drumr56]

luv the sax...

[74bobolink]

is that a bass sax???????

[sjcramer35]

Love the bass sax!

[mrslimcreeper]

purists say what you will, but this is a great rendition in its own right. if everyone covered any given artist note for note we wouldn't have had hundreds of years worth of innovation and we'd still be listening to what our great great grandparents did. i listen to leon redbone to hear leon redbone and the same goes for blind blake! both greats in my book...

[TheInspirationExpert]

@crazytempest I totally agree that Blake's runs wouldn't have worked in this setting, but I disagree that the brass parts are just as good. It's easy to write (or improvise) brass parts around a melody, but to have a solo folk guitar playing counterpoint that fits perfectly around the lyrics without obscuring them, that's special. I understand Redbone was going for something different here, but for me, he's stripped the song of all its unique elements and produced something less meaningful.

[crazytempest]

@TheInspirationExpert Blind Blake's version didn't have the intricate horn parts so he could play those cool guitar runs . It would sound way too busy if Leon tried it here . It would sound messy and overplayed ! This interpertation is meant to be brassy ,and in fact the horn parts are just as imaginative as Blake's guitar runs . Leon's rythmic strumming offsets the weaving horn parts in a percussive meter like way like a hi-hat keeping time . Blakes runs would sound stupid in this version !