David Cloyd, "Dear Boy"

An excellent version of a great Paul song.

This cover is so faithful to the original, that it reminds me of the old “Stars On 45″… do you remember them? I used to hear them on dancefloors in the early ’80s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOuZmEKmtWQ

-hologram sam

I’d like to know why, exactly, you feel this is worth posting again. David Cloyd’s cover is a slavish reproduction of the original with none of its warmth or charm. (Or production value–there’s so much pitch correction on the vocals that I’m not even sure what the singer’s real voice sounds like.)

Ram’s ascension to indie rock touchstone status is plagued with a giant issue that this cover version highlights: no matter how much you love Ram, random contemporary musician, the reason you love it is exactly the reason you cannot reproduce it to positive effect. You are not Paul McCartney and likely don’t have the facility with melody and orchestration that makes Ram more than an album of mostly slight songwriting (with a few notable exceptions) from one of the world’s greatest living songwriters. Most of those obsessed with its “quirky genius” are doomed to make sides that actually deserve the criticism thrown at Ram when it was first released, i.e., fluffy, seemingly unfinished fare.

Some of this is moot as far as considering a cover is concerned. But anyone who needs to use that much Melodyne just to be able to recreate vocals from a song as recorded over forty years ago probably should consider whether it needs to be done at all.