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Joined: September 10 2010
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Topic: America song written by Paul Simon Posted: March 06 2014 at 22:22
All are so different and I really like all three. My personal favourite without a doubt is Bowie's version (if you have not heard it before,please do listen to David Bowie - America - Concert for New York, find the link below) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggTjqja8bRQ&list=PLMyHPEAFkfwOUitOZjeDTu5msYbP3FsXK&index=27
Hugs to all P.S. This was for benefit the concert for New York after 9/11. xxxx
Joined: September 10 2010
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Posted: March 06 2014 at 22:25
Kati wrote:
All are so different and I really like all three. My personal favourite without a doubt is Bowie's version (if you have not heard it before,please do listen to David Bowie - America - Concert for New York, find the link below) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggTjqja8bRQ&list=PLMyHPEAFkfwOUitOZjeDTu5msYbP3FsXK&index=27
Hugs to all P.S. This was for benefit the concert for New York after 9/11. xxxx
Nevermind my spelling mistakes at the end what I meant to say is that David Bowie sang his own version during and for Concert for New York. hugs again
Joined: September 10 2010
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Posted: March 07 2014 at 23:21
Dean wrote:
OOOOooooo, you're going to get in trouble with the 1-2-3/Clouds webarmy for not putting their version in the poll.
This version is remarkable because 1-2-3 played it live on stage months before Simon&Garfinkel released it...
Anyway, I voted Bowie
Hoh crap! I never heard of 1.2.3 band before Dean. I always thought that this song was written by Paul Simon. Thanks for letting me know, I would add them on the poll above for sure if I had known and could :) anyway all the above I mentioned, I love them all, each is different and it's hard to compare one to another really considering that their approach is so different yet brilliant. I love Bowie's most too, I cannot imagine anyone else singing as he did and being able to pull it of too. hugs
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Posted: March 08 2014 at 02:48
Atavachron wrote:
Dean wrote:
Atavachron wrote:
That 1-2-3 version is incredible, I didn't know they were that good (and thank god for quiet English audiences)
some might say too quiet, even for English audiences
I'd say any BBC studio sesh qualifies there-- just added this to my wishlist :
it does have 'America', though not the live version presumably
You may need to hear more of it before you buy, 1-2-3 never recorded anything, by the time they'd become Clouds the music had become a lot less "prog". The version of America is on that box-set is the same one, it is the only one. I have very strong suspicions that their version is neither a modern recording, nor is it live.
Joined: September 30 2006
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Posted: March 08 2014 at 03:01
^ Noted-- it's always a risk with that much music that much of it will be sub par. No samples, but the reviews match your sentiments. Musically and historically it looks interesting, and it's only twelve bucks.
BTW, the guy on the right of the Clouds cover may be Allan Holdsworth ;
Joined: September 10 2010
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Posted: March 08 2014 at 03:07
Atavachron wrote:
^ Noted-- it's always a risk with that much music that much of it will be sub par. No samples, but the reviews match your sentiments. Musically and historically it looks interesting, and it's only twelve bucks.BTW, the guy on the right of the Clouds cover may be Allan Holdsworth ;
The guy on the pic at the back in the middle looks a bit like Bill Bruford hihihi Bruford is funny and hot too!
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Posted: March 08 2014 at 03:10
Atavachron wrote:
Dean wrote:
Atavachron wrote:
That 1-2-3 version is incredible, I didn't know they were that good (and thank god for quiet English audiences)
some might say too quiet, even for English audiences
I'd say any BBC studio sesh qualifies there
BBC studio sessions are so great. Due to a Musician's Union clause in the BBC's corporation charter a certain percentage of the music played on the radio had to be live. The BBC live sessions were a means of getting around that clause - they are recorded live in a BBC recording studio without an audience, which is why there is no audience noise.
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Posted: March 08 2014 at 03:16
Kati wrote:
Hoh crap! I never heard of 1.2.3 band before Dean. I always thought that this song was written by Paul Simon. Thanks for letting me know, I would add them on the poll above for sure if I had known and could :) anyway all the above I mentioned, I love them all, each is different and it's hard to compare one to another really considering that their approach is so different yet brilliant. I love Bowie's most too, I cannot imagine anyone else singing as he did and being able to pull it of too. hugs
No, Paul Simon definitely wrote it.
This 1-2-3 version is claimed by some to have been played in the Marquee in London in 1967 several months before S&G released Bookends and several years before Yes recorded their not dissimilar version. The claim is they had heard a pre-release copy of S&Gs Bookends and liked that track so much they included it in their live set. Miraculously this "tape" of 1-2-3 playing America suddenly appeared about 5 years ago. On hearing it I remarked that there was no way on this green earth that it was recorded in the Marquee in 1967. The sound quality and balance is far too perfect for the kind of "bootleg" equipment that was available at the time, there is no audience noise during the song (this is impossible in a small venue like the Marquee) and the teenage screams at the beginning and end were obviously from another recording, probably of a different band and certainly of a far larger audience than the 150-250 people that the Marquee could hold. I also find it remarkable that this is the only song that has surfaced from that recording - surely whoever tape it would have taped the entire performance. Having cast doubt upon the provenance of this recording I am now accused of focussing too much on the recording itself - which is in itself, rather odd.
The official 1-2-3 website is now claiming that their version not only influenced Yes, it also influenced David Bowie's 2001 version.
Joined: August 28 2010
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Posted: March 08 2014 at 03:22
C'mon you guys...get off your Prog/Prog-related high horses.....the Simon and Garfunkel version is the original and the best. The others are just adding twiddly bits to a song that was already perfection. Jon Anderson's voice always irritated me and Bowie has never really done it for me either.
The 1968 Simon and Garfunkel's America is in the top 5 songs of all time.
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America song written by Paul Simon
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Kati wrote:
I never heard of 1.2.3 band before Dean. I always thought that this song was written by Paul Simon. Thanks for letting me know, I would add them on the poll above for sure if I had known and could :) anyway all the above I mentioned, I love them all, each is different and it's hard to compare one to another really considering that their approach is so different yet brilliant. I love Bowie's most too, I cannot imagine anyone else singing as he did and being able to pull it of too. 
hugs 
