What 2 Songs Do You Play To Show The Difference?

[Paulythene Paul]

I am wondering what two songs, back to back, do members of TKIN play to friends and family to get them to understand that the original Paul was replaced with an imitation Paul?

I don't have either in my collection of recordings, but my top choice would be Besame Mucho from Anthology 1 paired with Besame Mucho from the Let It Be DVD. I like this combination because the song is the same words and melody, with mostly the same musicians on it, but the style of singing is so very different. Phaul's version is so glottal in comparison with Paul's, who sings more from the heart. Also, John, George and Ringo seem intent on playing it the way they used to in the old days, but Phaul's not familiar with their version. All together it sounds like the band in 1968 is out of sync with one another (and we know why) while in 1962 they were "very together".

Please compare and contrast as many pairs of song performances as you wish. I.e. I don't want to limit anyone to just two songs if you have more than two pair to share.

[Paulythene Paul]

Here's another pair that might be good for comparison for newcomers to the concept of Paul being replaced with Phaul:

A. The Night Before
B. Helter Skelter

I'd really like to hear what other people think about this, my previous posting, and their own suggestions.

[paulisfred]

It seems like it would be best to play 2 songs that sound similar to begin with. Helter Skelter is difficult because it is sung differently than most other Beatles songs. It might be better to find one where Faul is using a more reserved voice. I'm not really sure if there are 2 perfect songs for this comparison.

[latvietis]

You can actually try Yesterday from the Help! album and Yesterday from Faul's 1988 performance (or was it 1987?).

[Paulythene Paul]

I find that Phaul's imitation of Paul is better when singing softer songs. JPM expressed admiration of the way Marvin Gaye sang and strived to make that booming gravelly sound MG was known for. JPM was able to sustain it pretty well, in my opinion, and you hear it in a lot of Beatles songs, including ones where JPM's singing backup vocal to John Lennon's lead (eg. No Reply). You especially hear it throughout his performance of The Night Before. Phaul's voice, however, fauls apart when he sings loud (e.g. Helter Skelter, latter part of Hey Jude, the screaming part of I've Got A Feeling "...looking for somebody who looks like you", etc.)

[latvietis]

Just realized that Lady Madonna and The Night Before are good for comparison. You can clearly hear the difference.

[jucom]

I would suggest listening to the One After 909 in two versions: first from the Anthology #1, second from the Let It Be album - in the first one John's and Paul's voices sound in perfect harmony, as they always did; the second one presents an altogether different duet

[Paulythene Paul]

Thanks jucom and Latvietis! I really like these suggestions of yours!

The Night Before on my Help lp really has that hard to replicate Marvin Gaye imitation that James Paul McCartney strived so much to do, and which Phaul never was able to achieve. On Lady Madonna, Phaul is sort of imitating Fats Domino. On the same album that Lady Madonna first appeared, Hey Jude, Phaul's singing (if you can call it that; not that Phaul's a bad singer normally, actually he's really great, but he's a bad "screamer") at the end of the title number becomes incredibly poor. It just falls apart as he screams. It's like Phaul had tried to imitate Paul imitating Marvin, but failed and came up with something new that he got away with, but just wasn't anything that Paul would have done.

(I've got to add those three Anthology albums to my collection sometime, preferably sooner rather than later. It's frustrating not having them at hand.)

Please keep 'em coming, folks!

[unrepentant]

maybe SHE'S A WOMAN and OH DARLING ? [powerful vocals]

and maybe also I'LL FOLLOW THE SUN with LOVELY RITA ? [more subdued vocals]

it's really something to listen to the studio tapes, and to hear the comparison between the speaking voices of JPM and faul. but it's more than that. there's a friendly chemistry between JPM and john that came from years of "beatle-ing" together, coming through on the pre-67 tapes. and it is simply not there at later sessions. the farther back you go towards late '66 the more strained the interplay IS between faul and the others...... might that be why the really early tapes [november and december '66] have disappeared???

wasn't YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW sung by both james paul AND faul??

[Paulythene Paul]

unrepentant said:

SHE'S A WOMAN and OH DARLING

I'll give those a try. Thanks, unrepentant! :-)

unrepentant said:

I'LL FOLLOW THE SUN with LOVELY RITA ?

We have to be careful about songs on Pepper. Some have JPM's voice on them. I think "Lovely Rita" is one of those, but I'm not certain.

unrepentant said:

wasn't YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW sung by both james paul AND faul??

Good point, unrepentant. A similar problem exists for songs on the Magical Mystery Tour album as with Pepper, because both came out in 1967, not long after Paul's death, and both might have songs there he had written, and maybe recorded some tracks for as well.