You've Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two

[Just1L]

With all the talk of lawsuits and whatnot lately, I thought, what better time to do a cover song.  It could be this song is made up of stolen bits and pieces of a lot of songs. It definitely sounds a little familiar. LOL Thinking of my last song Liberty. I got to thinking about how much music influences society. With Liberty, I thought of rap music and how that certainly couldn't have the best possible impact on impressionable minds. Then I thought about other songs like that and one of my favorite musicals came to mind. Oliver! Thought I'd do a little remake of this song from it. And, I'm in possession of a little free time and wanted to think of a song, record it and get it finished in one day. So, I'm happy to say I got it finished. Not perfect by any means but for a cover, I like it. And, as a bonus, I got to practice adding a ride cymbal. Crank the hell out of it!!!

 

As a side. If someone did want to do a remake of a song, where would be the first place to start in getting ahold of them? Ah, ... probably Google. 

 

https://soundcloud.com/just-1l/youve

 

You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket Or Two

Lionel Bart ©1968

 

In this life, one thing counts 

In the bank, large amounts 

I'm afraid these don't grow on trees, 

You've got to pick-a-pocket or two 

 

Why should we break our backs 

Stupidly paying tax? 

Better get some untaxed income 

Better pick-a-pocket or two. 

 

Better pick-a-pocket or two, boys. You've got to pick-a-pocket or two. 

Why should we all break our backs? Better pick-a-pocket or two. 

 

Robin Hood, what a crook!

Gave away, what he took.

Charity's fine, subscribe to mine.

Get out and pick-a-pocket or two

 

Take a tip from Bill Sikes

He can whip what he likes.

I recall, he started small

He had to pick-a-pocket or two.

 

He had to pick-a-pocket or two, boys. You've got to pick-a-pocket or two. 

Robin Hood was far too good. He had to pick-a-pocket or two.

 

Dear old gent passing by

Something nice takes his eye

Everything's clear, attack the rear

Get in and pick-a-pocket or two. 

 

When I see someone rich, 

Both my thumbs start to itch

Only to find some peace of mind

We have to pick-a-pocket or two. 

 

We have to pick-a-pocket or two, boys. You've got to pick-a-pocket or two. 

Just to find some peace of mind. 

We have to pick-a-pocket or two, boys. You've got to pick-a-pocket or two. 

Just to find some peace of mind. We have to pick-a-pocket or two!

[McnaughtonPark]

Nice take on this.  The vocal sounds a wee bit low compared to the drum track, I'd bring it up a little since the way you record your vocal has a lot to do with your sound, your groove.

 

Like it and was pleasantly suprized to see you post a couple in quick order.

 

Tom

[Just1L]

Thanks Tom. Yeah, my wife and kids are with my father-in-law in the Smokies for a few days so I had some free time to crank this out. What where you listening to this on? Reason I ask is on my computer it sounded fine but on the phone the drums were really high, and in the car the guitar solo is too high. Just trying to sort it all out. 

 

Thanks again.

 

Randy

[McnaughtonPark]

Yes, and part of the reason I don't comment much on mixes.  Here at work, I can't go to the url for soundcloud so I'm always glad when someones post has the recording from soundcloud imbedded in it.  Very possible the speakers here can't compete against the ambient noise of the switchroom.  I guess it's possible the fan units act like white noise in the vocal spectrum.  Tho, I did hear the guitar over the top as you mentioned, I just don't care because I love your playing.

 

Listening at home is a bit different with no high speed internet (can't get it that far out in the country) and only 3G (I do have the 10G package so plenty of bandwidth to listen to all the songs I want to) service tethered to the laptop through the phone, even that gets weird. ( It literally takes about 1/2 hour to upload a song to soundcloud).  I make do, but I think I'm missing out on the high fidelity of songs. 

[Avit Hammer]

Who do you think you are?

 

Donald Fagin

 

Well that was mental. It didn't sound f*** all like the original, but that's probably a bonus

 

Great fun ....can't wait for your version of Oom-pah-pah

 

Alan

[Stova007]

Randy,

   very cool cover! You definitely made this song your own. I love the guitars you have before the drums start fading in…and again, I always dig your multiple vocal tracks. Fun song and awesome performances

[Just1L]

Hey L,

 

Whenever I spin one of your songs, I can always be sure the guitars will be tops.  I can't get over how good you make them sound.  Do you mic an amp or apply affects during production?

 

This song sounds great, and I love the way you bring in the drums with the fast guitar part.

 

Vocals are great.  I'm noticing the octave thing is a common thing with your vocals.  I'd think I'd kind of like to hear you do a single line without the low octave.  Just to see what it sounds like.  

 

I've never heard the original prior to today, and intentionally looked it up after I listened to your version.  Boy... not in a million years did I expect it to sound the way it did.  I've never seen 'Oliver' so had no frame of reference.  Your interpretation rules.  It's funny reading the lyrics whilst your song is playing, and then reading them whilst the original version is playing.  Yours definitely has the rock-n-roll rebel anti-establishment vibe, whereas the original has the whole musical innocent vibe. It's amazing how I read the same words differently. I guess context is everything.

 

Bass too soft!  I hear that friggin' tone and attack and I want to hear more.

 

Cough

 

Thank you sir. It means a lot and also thanks for going and checking out the original for a comparison. As far as the sound goes, I always pan one left, one right and one center, well most of the time. Also, I don't double any tracks as I think it sound better when they are all different takes. I do a similar thing to the vocals. The low octave thing is something that has more or less come out through the years of working on songs as I determined, to me, they just sound better. I really don't have that good of a voice, so it sounds better with that method. Only advice I could give on the guitar sound and all is to just buy the cheapest stuff (i.e. guitar, bass, microphone, software) you can find and mix the hell out of it. I'll work on that bass. 

 

Thanks again - Randy

 

Yes, and part of the reason I don't comment much on mixes.  Here at work, I can't go to the url for soundcloud so I'm always glad when someones post has the recording from soundcloud imbedded in it.  Very possible the speakers here can't compete against the ambient noise of the switchroom.  I guess it's possible the fan units act like white noise in the vocal spectrum.  Tho, I did hear the guitar over the top as you mentioned, I just don't care because I love your playing.

 

Listening at home is a bit different with no high speed internet (can't get it that far out in the country) and only 3G (I do have the 10G package so plenty of bandwidth to listen to all the songs I want to) service tethered to the laptop through the phone, even that gets weird. ( It literally takes about 1/2 hour to upload a song to soundcloud).  I make do, but I think I'm missing out on the high fidelity of songs. 

 

Thanks Tom. Bummer about the internet speed. I'm sure it won't be too long until the upgrade it and you'll be paying more before you know it. LOL

 

Who do you think you are?

 

Donald Fagin

 

Well that was mental. It didn't sound f*** all like the original, but that's probably a bonus

 

Great fun ....can't wait for your version of Oom-pah-pah

 

Alan

 

LOL No, I'd never teach kids to steal. Oliver! has been my all time favorite since I can remember. Every Christmas Eve I'd get to watch almost 1/2 of it while my parents got ready to take us over to one of their friends house. For about 4 years in a row we'd always leave just about at the same point in the movie. Wasn't until College that I actually watched the entire thing.

 

You don't know how close I came to doing Oom-pah-pah. I listened to it a couple times when I wasn't sure which song I was certain on doing. Honestly, I'd like to do a rock version of the whole musical. Kind of like how Green Day did but of course mine would be much, much better. LOL

 

Thank you sir,

Randy

 

Randy,

   very cool cover! You definitely made this song your own. I love the guitars you have before the drums start fading in…and again, I always dig your multiple vocal tracks. Fun song and awesome performances

 

Thanks Michael! After I was finished and listened to it a couple of times I actually thought of Randy Jackson from American Idol for some reason. LOL Randy, Randy, Randy … dog, took this song and made it your own. haha 

 

Thanks again for the compliments, they mean a lot.  Randy

[Zson]

This made me laugh and smile....such a fun cover...Great job !

[Just1L]

Thanks man. It has kind of inspired me to want to do the whole damn musical in a rock format. I know if nothing else my wife and I would enjoy the heck out of it. If I could ask, does it sound like anyone you can think of? My wife thought a little "newer" Green Day and I somewhat agreed. 

[Avit Hammer]

From memory it has a kind of Squeeze vibe on their song Bang Bang.... but I haven't heard it for years.

You should get people on here to contribute a track... a whole musical of different genres.

Mmm a house version of Who will buy?

[Just1L]

From memory it has a kind of Squeeze vibe on their song Bang Bang.... but I haven't heard it for years.

You should get people on here to contribute a track... a whole musical of different genres.

Mmm a house version of Who will buy?

 

Hmmm…. perhaps … if I had a tall hat.

[Avit Hammer]

I'm not mucking out the elephants ....

[Just1L]

I'm not mucking out the elephants ....

 

?W?H?A?T??T?H?E???? 

[GocartMoz]

"Please sir, can I have some more?"

 

Awesome.  One of my favorite movies as a kid!  I like  your version better. 

 

Dave

[Just1L]

Thanks Man. Wish I had the time to do more from this. I have plans to, but you know how that goes. Yeah, it has always been my favorite musical for as long as I can remember. Somehow, I never ended up picking one pocket in my life.