I've long suspected that things like this happen...

Bob-Dubery

From the biography section of bass player Jerry Scheff's web site...

As I was setting up (I was playing a 1960 P- Bass through an Ampeg B-15) a group of the oddest people I had ever seen came into the room (Hippies). They were the group “The Association “We cut their first album which included the hits, "Along Comes Mary" and "Cherish”. Along Comes Mary was the first hit record I played on. It had a big, fat, bass mistake in the middle of it, but they liked the take. So because the bass and drums were on the same track, I had to live with the mistake. When Los Angeles radio started playing the song all day long, the thrill of hearing myself on the radio was dampened every time that note would come up. Two years later I was in a market where a "musak" version of "Along Comes Mary" was playing ,and wouldn’t you know it, the bass player played my exact part, bad note and all.

Riaan-Combrink

Interesting topic, Bob (or is it X or the poster formerly known as Bob?)!

I found this interesting link - the Lennon one I'd picked up personally years ago as it always bothered me when listening to the song.

http://www.hometracked.com/2007/08/23/10-recording-bloopers-that-made-the-album/

Anybody else know of any confirmed bloopers / duds?

[deleted]

Riaan C wrote:
Anybody else know of any confirmed bloopers / duds?

Each of Phil Collins' records?

Bob-Dubery

It's very amusing. Somebody makes a big fat boo-boo, but then the song or the album is a hit and the boo-boo becomes a "lick" or a "signature lick" ?

[deleted]

Brilliant.

I read a Jimi Hendrix quote once, I can't verify it's authenticity but it goes like this

"I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes"

Now I suppose we'll never know what JIMI really wanted to play but we accept it for how it was played.

I suppose his version of Star Spangled Banner @ Woodstock always sounds vrot to me. hahaha ? and i saw a tab that shows even when his guitar goes out of tune in that song.. yeah they tabbed it wrong and all...

I have the song book for Eric Claptons Unplugged... before he starts playing Malted Milk I think it is, he starts with the slide and says "Hang on Hang on Hang on..." and starts the song again without the slide...

It's in the book yeah.. with the slide notes and the lyrics "Hang on Hang on Hang on..." underneath... So yeah we do copy mistakes I suppose

[deleted]

Stratisfear wrote:
Riaan C wrote:
Anybody else know of any confirmed bloopers / duds?
Each of Phil Collins' records?

hahaha Cruel...

AlanRatcliffe

A lot of the Led Zep solos have obvious warts and they are usually recreated in everything from sheet music to MIDI files.

Riaan

I once heard of a similar story: a "troep" in the airforce was ordered to repaint the runway stripes ahead of a visit by a general. At the end of the runway, he accidentally knocked over the can of paint. Having no means to clean it up he quickly spread the spilled paint into a nice and tidy square block - nobody noticed, and he got away with it. Years later, he himself was a general and visited that same air force base. The runway had also been repainted, including the square block he made years ago...

PeteM

I don't know how many of you will remember the radio ad for Lexington cigarettes. The ad ended with the famous line "That's the one". What happened here was that these ads were recorded by an American voice in the USA for the local agency and the voice tapes were sent to SA for mixing in with the jingle. The payoff should not have been sent over since the voice was referring to the fact that it was the best take. The agency producer and the studio mistakenly included it in the final mix.

sepheritoh

The most obvious and probably famous bloops were the Bob Dylan soundtrack album Pat Garret & Billy the kid. Just listening to it now is so obvious. Guitars banging against the mic stands, tambourines falling etc, etc. It is almost funny how many mistakes there were.

Still it is one of my most loved accoustic guitar albums. Bob himself refused to do another soundtrack album where he has to produce and record by himself. He hated that album for the mistakes on it.

Bob-Dubery

Riaan C wrote: Anybody else know of any confirmed bloopers / duds?

Fairport Convention got on to Top Of The Pops exactly once. This with their recording "Si Tu Dois Partir". This was a Dylan Song ("If You Gotta Go, Go Now") translated into French and given a Cajun arrangement complete with accordion and faux washboard percussion.

Drummer Martin Lamble created the washboard effect by stacking up plastic chairs that were in the studio and running his drumsticks up and down this stack. The group had planned a percussion break in the song, and Lamble had a milk bottle on top of the stack of chairs and was going to hit this at the appropriate moment. As he started the percussion break the milk bottle fell off. It hit the ground and smashed perfectly in time and producer Joe Boyd was quick witted enough to signal the band to keep on playing.

They kept this recording and decided to use it. You can hear the bottle breaking, but because it hit the ground on the beat they get away with it. And because everything happens in time the listener doesn't perceive it as an accident.

Bob-Dubery

Riaan C wrote: Anybody else know of any confirmed bloopers / duds?

Apparently at a certain point on "Hey Jude" Lennon plays the wrong chord on the guitar and you can hear him curse as he makes said mistake.

Banditman

Riaan wrote: I once heard of a similar story: a "troep" in the airforce was ordered to repaint the runway stripes ahead of a visit by a general. At the end of the runway, he accidentally knocked over the can of paint. Having no means to clean it up he quickly spread the spilled paint into a nice and tidy square block - nobody noticed, and he got away with it. Years later, he himself was a general and visited that same air force base. The runway had also been repainted, including the square block he made years ago...

There was a good one similar to that years ago, when the Botswana Defence Force bought Strikemaster jets from BAE in the UK. Their emblem was a black-edged blue triangle. For photos to show the finished product, the manufacturer made up some card or paper emblems and taped them to the plane in the hangar with black electrical tape across the corners. Come delivery time, come complaints. The planes didn't look like the ones in the photos with little black stripes on the corners. BAE painted them in to keep the customer happy. Go figure.