Greatest Clams on Record

[g-fry195]

What are your "favorite" mistakes on a recording? Not just a little fluff, or some sloppy playing, but a clam of wince-inducing proportions?

I'll start things off....

Bassist Berry Gordy turning the time around when he returns after the guitar duet in "One Way Out" from the Allman Brothers "Live at the Fillmore." Kudos to Butch and Jaimoe for getting things back on track within a bar or two.


Send in your fave today!

[guitbeef]

The bridge in "Son Of A Preacher Man"- the bassist goes to A too soon. I would bet he just misread the chart that there was supposed to another measure of D before the A. Doesn't bother me, I think it sounds cool...and he did recover about as well as person could. It's about 1:25 here...







And IIRC (it's been years) but either Tipton or Downing played a wrong chord a whole step up and as a great recovery promptly slid back down- this happened on "Sinner" on the "Unleashed In The East" record. Very subtle, and it really may not be a mistake at all...

David Lee Roth on "Everybody Wants Some"- he sings "I like the..." and gets drowned out by the loud D chord. When Eddie and Michael choke it Roth finishes the line properly...

James Brown, listen at 0:40...



I think he screwed the lyric up and said "sometimes I tee...", and then he just starts all over including the line before the mistake and sings "sometimes I feel..."... freakin awesome to me.

EDIT: I realize none of my entries are very "wince-inducing", so they hardly qualify as great, but I do think they are mistakes.

[scriptphase]

EVH has always said there was a clam on Eruption, but I've never figured out exactly which part he was referring to. Hardly wince-inducing, but the first that came to mind on a famous guitar track.

[guitbeef]

I bet this was a Buddy Miles mistake here- around 5:25 or 5:26...



Probably only cringe-worthy to a drummer, but he doesn't hit the crash on the same part of the phrase as every other time in the song. He ALMOST flipped the beat around, but he quickly starts playing steady 16th notes on the snare to catch his bearings. Awesome recovery, and once again, I think it's actually super cool- couldn't imagine the recording without it, I've listened to it so much.

[Texas Jeff]

This one always irked me as a kid. Besides the obvious, Jimmy comes in a little early on the A to B flat at 3:29. I guess there's a bit of me that appreciates the rawness though...

[The Kid]

Originally Posted by guitbeef

The bridge in "Son Of A Preacher Man"- the bassist goes to A too soon. I would bet he just misread the chart that there was supposed to another measure of D before the A. Doesn't bother me, I think it sounds cool...and he did recover about as well as person could. It's about 1:25 here...







And IIRC (it's been years) but either Tipton or Downing played a wrong chord a whole step up and as a great recovery promptly slid back down- this happened on "Sinner" on the "Unleashed In The East" record. Very subtle, and it really may not be a mistake at all...

David Lee Roth on "Everybody Wants Some"- he sings "I like the..." and gets drowned out by the loud D chord. When Eddie and Michael choke it Roth finishes the line properly...

James Brown, listen at 0:40...



I think he screwed the lyric up and said "sometimes I tee...", and then he just starts all over including the line before the mistake and sings "sometimes I feel..."... freakin awesome to me.

EDIT: I realize none of my entries are very "wince-inducing", so they hardly qualify as great, but I do think they are mistakes.

Speaking of James Brown, The bassline in "The Boss" from the Black Ceasar soundtrack is unmistakably out of tune... and it's still one of the funkiest songs in the world.

Also, Duane Allman's solo in the Layla outro is one big hot mess. Interestingly enough I kinda dig that too. What's wrong with me?

[pete692]

Can drummer hit a "clam",

if so, Ringo totally flubs a cymbal crash near the end of "No Reply", it's so bad, I can't believe they left it in.

[TwoTubMan]

Berry Oakley was the ABB bassist. Barry Gordy owned Motown.

I always liked Clapton's "klank" when he starts his solo in "Key To The Highway" from Layla.

[CyberFerret]

Not sure if a live performance counts, but during U2's live concert at Slane Castle, Adam Clayton totally clams up the start of 'Angel of Harlem'...Bono had to count him in!

[g-fry195]

[QUOTE=TwoTubMan;7918703]Berry Oakley was the ABB bassist. Barry Gordy owned Motown.


Can't believe I wrote Gordy instead of Oakley. Late night brain freeze is my only excuse. However, in my defense, it is Berry Gordy and not Barry Gordy of Motown fame.

[michaelvincent]

Originally Posted by pete692

Can drummer hit a "clam",

if so, Ringo totally flubs a cymbal crash near the end of "No Reply", it's so bad, I can't believe they left it in.

There are flubs all over the entire Beatles catalog. I almost never notice them though, the songs are just that good, and it really hits home for me when you hear them that it was all about the performance and huge part of what makes them great songs. I think its in "I'm Looking Through You" you can hear a tambourine getting knocked on to the floor, probably in the vocal booth while Lennon and McCartney are doing the vocals. And I have read this about "Hey Jude" in a few places:

"At 2:58 of the song, McCartney can be heard to say, "Oh, ****ing hell!" Before this, at 2:56, you can hear McCartney say "hit the wrong chord!" According to sound engineers Ken Scott and Geoff Emerick, it was Lennon's idea to leave the mistake in the final mix. "'Paul hit a clunker on the piano and said a naughty word,' Lennon gleefully crowed, 'but I insisted we leave it in, buried just low enough so that it can barely be heard. Most people won't ever spot it…but we'll know it's there.'""

And to me, "Rain" has always sounded a little wobbly timing-wise in the intro.

[MKB]

In Kansas' "Dust In The Wind" you can hear some sort of wrong note or a string clanging on the frets at 0:13 in this clip. It's one of those things that you never hear until it's pointed out, and it then sticks out every time you hear it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hzv0TSSDgU

[ocripes]

"Put It Where You Want It." LC's playing the head. At about bar 13 or 14, sounds like his finger slips off the G string while he's bending.

[MKB]

Oh, and who can forget on "One Way Out" by ABB off Live At The Fillmore, where Berry screws up at 3:21. They recover so smoothly it sounds like they meant it that way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIY8CoMILgU

[ivers]

Originally Posted by TwoTubMan

I always liked Clapton's "klank" when he starts his solo in "Key To The Highway" from Layla.

I remember Clapton doing a really good "Skoink" in the riff to Sunshine of your Love. Some live recording, but I'm not sure which.