The Little Thread Which Grew - the Apollo '73 to Everything But

[MrNobody]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

<snip>
Liked my KG so much better than my other cars I owned ( more than fleeting long ) -Super 90, Sprite, TR 4, Opel GT ( gag )AH LeMans, AH 3000, XKE or a few other I forgot.

<snip>

WTF is so gag-worthy about the Opel GT?

The GT was sexy - mostly useless, but damn sexy. IF you had enough bizeps to operate the "sleepy-eyes" headlights, that is.

I love all VWs, Opels, Vauxhalls etc. from that era, because they all had the Lego-like system: The outside appearance of their different models was so unique, but the "tech" inside was so interchangeable. If you had an Opel engine and gearbox, it fit in any Opel. Kadett, Manta, Ascona, Record, GT, whatever, that stuff fit everywhere. Almost all Opel parts also fit perfectly in any Vauxhall model of that era.

I once had a Vauxhall Chevette. A cute little vehicle and all my old Opel replacement parts fit. Exhaust pipe, gearbox, engine, transmission, shock absorbers, whatever - everything (except the outer body parts) was interchangeable and the best of it all: You could find all these parts on any junk yard, for very little money.

 

[strativarius]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

Unbeatable.

Maria, please listen to this and then tell me if you still think Garland's version is 'unbeatable'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rd8VktT8xY&index=1&list=RD2rd8VktT8xY

No contest IMO.

Dammit! Now where's that box of Kleenex?

 

[Maria Cuervo]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

Maria, please listen to this and then tell me if you still think Garland's version is 'unbeatable'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rd8VktT8xY&index=1&list=RD2rd8VktT8xY

No contest IMO.

Dammit! Now where's that box of Kleenex?

It was nicely done and in certain passages very beautiful.
But the only version I think I really ever want to hear of this is the Garland 1939 movie version.

There are so many wonderful female voices and they should find their song.
For me, this one was Garland's....

 

[Maria Cuervo]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

For example, late sixties, Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers. They were at the recording studio, at Muscle Schoals, Alabama, famous Studios. He suggested to Wilson Pickett that he might want to cover Hey Jude. And it sounded like such an odd thing to do to cover Hey Jude but he did that, went ahead and did his own version and it sounds kind of good. And who could do Campbell's Wichita Lineman but Johnny Cash, his own unique version. He did a good job. But if you are going to cover a song, do it in a completely different version, like in those examples above. Like Felciano's Light my Fire, very different than the original. That is what makes it memorable. Take a song and make it your own so that the other version doesn't intrude anymore. No cut on Eva Cassidy. She did do a very nice job of it but it was not unique in that way I was describing.

[video=youtube;0y8Q2PATVyI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y8Q2PATVyI[/video]

Others such as Otis Redding recorded at Muscle Schoals as well. It became a sort of magnet eventually for even the big names, Elton John, Rolling Stones, Traffic, Paul Simon, Dylan, etc.

 

[Cat's Squirrel]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

For example, late sixties, Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers. They were at the recording studio, at Muscle Schoals, famous Studios. He suggested to Wilson Pickett that he might want to cover Hey Jude. And it sounded like such an odd thing to do to cover Hey Jude but he did that, went ahead and did his own version and it sounds kind of good. And who could do Campbell's Wichita Lineman but Johnny Cash, his own unique version. He did a good job. But if you are going to cover a song, do it in a completely different version, like in those examples above. Like Felciano's Light my Fire, very different than the original. That is what makes it memorable. Take a song and make it your own so that the other version doesn't intrude anymore. No cut on Eva Cassidy. She did do a very nice job of it but it was not unique in that way I was describing.

[video=youtube;0y8Q2PATVyI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y8Q2PATVyI[/video]

Good post Maria. Here's another example of a cover version which is very different from the original song and which still works;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr3XHHMtrHw

I like Feliciano's version of "Light My Fire" btw.

 

[Maria Cuervo]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

Good post Maria. Here's another example of a cover version which is very different from the original song and which still works;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr3XHHMtrHw

I like Feliciano's version of "Light My Fire" btw.

I like it too!

Forgot about Cocker. This is really good. It's playing now.

Let me see if I can come back with another...hm.

 

[Maria Cuervo]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

I think I got one.

[video=youtube;3o4Fgh0KW_4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o4Fgh0KW_4[/video]

A cover version by Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger of a flip side of a Temptations song....

It was the B Side of 'My Baby', 1965.

 

[Cat's Squirrel]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

I think I got one.

[video=youtube;3o4Fgh0KW_4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o4Fgh0KW_4[/video]

A cover version by Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger of a flip side of a Temptations song....

Good song Maria! There's a DJ in the UK who has a radio show featuring 70's music and who plays that one quite a lot.

 

[Cat's Squirrel]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

Racking my brains here trying to think of cover versions which are very different from the original song, and the only one I can think of so far is this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoqO2XwAWiA

 

[strativarius]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

For example, late sixties, Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers. They were at the recording studio, at Muscle Schoals, Alabama, famous Studios. He suggested to Wilson Pickett that he might want to cover Hey Jude. And it sounded like such an odd thing to do to cover Hey Jude but he did that, went ahead and did his own version and it sounds kind of good. And who could do Campbell's Wichita Lineman but Johnny Cash, his own unique version. He did a good job. But if you are going to cover a song, do it in a completely different version, like in those examples above. Like Felciano's Light my Fire, very different than the original. That is what makes it memorable. Take a song and make it your own so that the other version doesn't intrude anymore. No cut on Eva Cassidy. She did do a very nice job of it but it was not unique in that way I was describing.<snip>

Garland and Cassidy's versions are as different from each other as chalk and cheese in my humble estimation, and I know which rendition I prefer. Anyway I've never been a Judy Garland admirer. You are of course entitled to your opinion and I respect that.

Talking about the Allman Brothers and cover versions, Gregg Allman recorded a version of 'Brightest Smile In Town', a song previously recorded by Ray Charles, which puts Charles' version to shame IMO, and that's saying something as Ray Charles is a genius and I love him dearly.

 

[Maria Cuervo]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

Racking my brains here trying to think of cover versions which are very different from the original song, and the only one I can think of so far is this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoqO2XwAWiA

This was a good one! I like it more than the other version.

 

[MrNobody]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

For example, late sixties, Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers. They were at the recording studio, at Muscle Schoals, Alabama, famous Studios. He suggested to Wilson Pickett that he might want to cover Hey Jude. And it sounded like such an odd thing to do to cover Hey Jude but he did that, went ahead and did his own version and it sounds kind of good. And who could do Campbell's Wichita Lineman but Johnny Cash, his own unique version. He did a good job. But if you are going to cover a song, do it in a completely different version, like in those examples above. Like Felciano's Light my Fire, very different than the original. That is what makes it memorable. Take a song and make it your own so that the other version doesn't intrude anymore. No cut on Eva Cassidy. She did do a very nice job of it but it was not unique in that way I was describing.

[video=youtube;0y8Q2PATVyI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y8Q2PATVyI[/video]

Others such as Otis Redding recorded at Muscle Schoals as well. It became a sort of magnet eventually for even the big names, Elton John, Rolling Stones, Traffic, Paul Simon, Dylan, etc.

So many songs, so many memories...

I remember some rehearsal room, somewhen in the mid-70s, when we wanted to jam this song. The problem: Too many guitarists and no bassist in sight. What can I say? I pulled the short stick. :wink2: So I grabbed the only bass we could find in that room: A nameless piece of shit where someone had just ripped out the frets to make it "fretless".

That was the 1st time I've ever played a bass. Anyway, I must have been not too shabby with that thing, because when that bass solo part came, they just let me improvise for almost 30 minutes, while they delivered the background groove.

After the end of that session, all my fingers were literally hanging in shreds, but a damn fine session it was.

Here's the song we played:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7bilvRfqc4

 

[Maria Cuervo]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

Galand and Cassidy's versions are as different from each other as chalk and cheese in my humble estimation and I know which version I prefer. Anyway I've never been a Judy Garland admirer. You are of course entitled to your opinion and I respect that.

Talking about the Allman Brothers, Gregg Allman recorded a version of 'Brightest Smile In Town', a song previously recorded by Ray Charles which puts Charles' version to shame, and that's saying something as Ray Charles is a genius and I love him dearly.

I respect your opinion too strativarius. And I did like Eva's version... I wonder sometimes if it's just 'whichever version one hears first'.
[video=youtube;-X2UGVGcgyk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X2UGVGcgyk[/video]
This is just really fine. Thank you.

Cat's - I just recalled that beats do a version of an Williams song. "Can't Get Used to Losing You". I think I like the Beats version better myself....

 

[strativarius]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

I respect your opinion too strativarius. And I did like Eva's version... I wonder sometimes if it's just '[highlight]whichever version one hears first[/highlight]'.

I think you make a very good point there Maria, one which I mentioned to SP a day or so ago on this thread. Of course in this example that is not the case (I first heard Garland's version in the cinema as a child watching 'The Wizard...')

Unfortunately I never got to see the end of the movie because when the wicked witch appeared my younger sister freaked out and burst into tears and we had to leave. :-(

 

[Gizmo]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

WTF is so gag-worthy about the Opel GT?

The GT was sexy - mostly useless, but damn sexy. IF you had enough bizeps to operate the "sleepy-eyes" headlights, that is.
<snip>

This the WTF that makes the Opel GT an almost worthless POS even as it was driven off the showroom floor :

Well, driven sedately by a little old lady it probably impressed her as a sleek little jewel.

Ever see anybody over 5'7" get in one ? Or anybody not really skinny ?

Unfortunately, if driven briskly it tended to break. Break what ? The valve train was unusually weak for an internal combustion engine.

First clue after driving it made was oil pouring onto the driveway from various leaks. Probably using 3,000 RPM as an absolute red line might have helped !

The clutch & gearbox did not put up vigorous upshifts or downshifts. The fragile gearbox bearings might have done well in a riding lawn mower.

( We'll stay friends if you don't mind me skipping what they laughingly called an automatic transmission in that thing )

Now the suspension. Took it to an autocross & was almost laughed off the track. It had more body roll than a 55 Buick ! There was no known cure - stock parts or no parts.

I was convinced the electrical system had to be Lucas ( Prince of Darkness ). Those marvelous Armstrong headlights seemed to love to chaff through the wires regularly.

Oh, the fun part ! The local Buick dealer carried Opels & Opel Parts. GM had training galore on their cars & NONE on the Opel. Seems the new hire low end mechanic got the Opels but only had non metric wrenches !

Thank God they let me use their manuals !

The Rallye Sport was no better than the GT in any way, shape or form - except you could count on at least one headlight after dark..

I guess in some sense it was a sports car in that one had to be a sport to give it spin around the block !


Now, in all fairness, when Toyota first hit the US market so were so unreliable the salesman would not take them as their driver for fear of not being able to get to work the next day. True story. The salesman went to the used car lot & took a just traded in whatever to drive home for the night.

Toyota stayed with it. Listened to the complaints. Made improvements year after year & now ARE the market. As did Honda. Nissan & others.

Opel ? Bombed in the US market with cars ill suited to freeway speeds for long spells & the heat of the South & South West - so they turned tail & ran back home to Europe ( as did Fiat ).

VW on the other hand was overall well designed and a real big plus was early dealers went over the cars like they were a Roll Royce.

I always thought one of the cleverest things the VW engineers ( mainly Dr. Porsche ) ever did was to slightly retard the timing on the third cam lobe - that made certain that poor little engine could not be over revved.

The other cute thing was almost twice as many blades on the engine cooling fan as necessary aided it with the over heating problems of air cooled engines.


Oh - For those in the US, today is " Flag day "

 

[Gizmo]

BLOVATION !

Yet write paragraphs of tortuously long bloviation.



PMSL

Nothing like paragraphs of tortuously long bloviation at the intellectual depth of green grass grows out of brown dirt.

But isn't that the backbone of the thread that provides us gales of laughter ?

 

[Maria Cuervo]

Re: BLOVATION !

Nothing like paragraphs of tortuously long bloviation at the intellectual depth of green grass grows out of brown dirt.

But isn't that the backbone of the thread that provides us gales of laughter ?

Aw but don't we all want to be wogs again?

I personally declare myself wogette!

 

[Maria Cuervo]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

I think you make a very good point there Maria, one which I mentioned to SP a day or so ago on this thread. Of course in this example that is not the case (I first heard Garland's version in the cinema as a child watching 'The Wizard...')

Unfortunately I never got to see the end of the movie because when the wicked witch appeared my younger sister freaked out and burst into tears and we had to leave. :-(

:-(

Thank you. Return to the beginning of that incident.....

 

[strativarius]

Re: The old days - Aboard the Apollo - 1973

:-(

Thank you. Return to the beginning of that incident.....

It's my sister who needs to return to the beginning of that incident, as she was the one who was traumatised, not me. As it happens I finally saw the film from beginning to end on TV just a couple of years ago (jeez, I must have been bored) and I realise I didn't really miss very much.

 

[Gizmo]

Re: BLOVATION !

Aw but don't we all want to be wogs again?

I personally declare myself wogette!

I was not ever, nor am I now, oriental.

But, I'd date an oriental lady.

So, I'm not myself qualified to be a wog . . . . . . though they do get my respect.


Now, if I was a rug then I'd want to be Oriental not Persian.