Hey, hi! Glad you
stopped by ;-)
The Battle of The Bands (BOTB) is your basic Which-do-you-like-best
contest where the one that gets the most votes wins. All you have to do is show
up (the 1st and/or 15th of every month) give a listen and
cast your vote in the comment section. Votes will be tallied and the winner
revealed on or about 8 days later.
In honor of World Letter Writing Day, I’ve chosen a song entitled “The Letter” along with a couple of artists/bands I think you may have heard
of to compete in today’s battle. The song was first recorded by The Box Tops in 1967 and was their most successful single reaching #1 on
the record charts in both the U.S. and Canada. The lead vocalist, 16-year-old
Alex Chilton, later admitted his voice sounded gruff from lack of sleep.
First up, an even more
distinctive voice: English bluesman, Joe Cocker
Next up, an American
entertainer whose first seven singles reached the top five on Billboard charts:
Singer-songwriter Richard Marx, featuring his buddy
Hugh Jackman
There
you have it, folks! Which do you like best? And how come? Let me know in the
comment section below. Oh! And, before you go, hop around and see the rest of
today’s battles (participating sites are located in the top right sidebar of
this page)
Lastly,
on the subject of letters, here is one we can all appreciate (I think) by E.B.
White.
See you
soon!
Diedre,
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you this much I'm surprising myself this morning with my voting pattern. I look at the artist thinking I'll go one way to find I do the complete opposite and that's what I did once more. I was 99% certain I'd side with Joe but in the end, Richard Marx & Hugh Jackman stole my vote. I really liked their vibe. Again, I have to wonder if my voting would be different had I listened to these later in the day. Oh well...we'll never know. Come join me when you have a moment for my latest BOTB, my friend!
Hi Cathy!
DeleteGoing against my own pattern, I'll just let you know I reacted the very same way as you on these two artists ;-) Except I tried two others before I settled on Marx to stand up to Joe Cocker. Marx surprised me. Happy to accept a vote for him from you!
Hi diedre! 👋 I love both the original and the Joe Cocker version of this song. Richard Marx and Hugh Jackman did a good job, but I'm compelled to go with Joe's version. It elicits more emotion.
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie!
DeleteWhile this isn't my favorite song by Joe Cocker, you are so right about his capacity for expression.
A vote for Joe it is, my dear ;-)
I loved this song by The Boxtops, but didn't love it so much when Cocker did it. In fact I was never much of a Joe Cocker fan though I do recognize his talents.
ReplyDeleteAfter an overly long intro, the Marx/Jackman collab was outstanding. I vote for them.
Lee
Gads, Lee. My newbie is showing! I should have warned you all to start listening at 4:20 (or whenever) because you're right, I nearly scratched him off my list of possible contenders when the intro dragged on so long. Sorry about that. For a while I was convinced that Joe Cocker was The Boxtops.
DeleteThanks for your patient vote for Marx!
I like Joe Crocker in small doses, but I have a deeper affinity for Richard Marx. I'm going to have to give my vote to Richard Marx.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary!
DeleteHa! I agree with you on Joe in small doses. This isn't my favorite song by either contender this time, but it might work out anyway ;-) Another vote for Richard Marx - thanks!
dEAR dIEDRE ~
ReplyDeleteI have never been a real fan of Joe Cocker's music.
Do you know why he did all that weird twisting and turning while singing into a microphone? It was because he was attempting to emulate the body movement of Ray Charles when Charles was singing at his piano. Is that not the dumbest thing you ever heard of? Well... OK, maybe not the dumbest (there's a LOT of competition), but it sure is DUMB!
Nevertheless, I liked his recording of 'The Letter'. I especially dig the horn & piano backing. And I'm glad we had a static image for the video and didn't have to actually *watch* Cocker singing and gyrating it live. I vote for RAY COCKER.
Judge Al Bondigas said, "It's a really good song that would be hard to mess up. I could go either way on this. But if forced to choose one, I guess I'll make a rulin' for RICHARD MARX."
So, there you have it. As often happens, my Brother's vote cancels out my own.
~ D-FensDogG
Hi Stephen!
DeleteAre you serious?! Joe was emulating? And nobody hogtied and canceled him? Before I ever saw him perform I heard "With a little help from my friends" and loved it. End of Joe for me, but this battle is all about The Letter, and Joe wasn't terrible - thanks for the vote for Joe Cocker.
Then again, Richard Marx (once he got on with it) was quite a surprise. I appreciate Judge Al tossing him a vote.
You guys are terrific - thanks!
I came into this thinking I'd vote for Joe and that'd be that. Then I listened to the Richard Marx-Hugh Jackman duet, and I liked it a lot better. It was more like The Box Tops' original, for one thing; for another, Hugh Jackman has a good voice and he and Richard Marx sound great together. I'll go for their version!
ReplyDeleteThanks, John! Looks like a lot of us are of the same mind ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis was a hard choice! I like them both but I'm voting for Richard Marx
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean ;-) A vote for Marx - thanks, Christine!
Delete