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Top notch chef cooking our dinner
There is a growing subgenre on YouTube — classical musicians reacting to rock tunes, and you might be familiar with examples of such presented on our pages. What distinguishes the Virgin Rock channel from the rest of the pack is that the first listen reaction is followed by a few days later by an in-depth analysis of the piece. This week Child in Time got the treatment. Check out the comparison with Bombay Calling and Stairway to Heaven in the second part.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Staircase to wot? Never ‘eard of that song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmRkPE5GjdE
October 26th, 2022 at 14:02It’s always interesting to hear what classically trained musicians and singers think of DP and other rock bands. Growing up, I had a cassette (still have it) with a live version of Difficult to Cure which I recorded off the radio. It ended up being the version from Live Between the Eyes. I played it for a classically trained keyboardist who was the church organist where I was working. We had a beautiful organ imported from Gernamy and he often played it for me. He listened to Difficult to Cure and he gave me his assessment. He liked how Blackmore and the band kept to the chord progression at the very end, the part where Blackmore goes a bit off the deep end. He also noted that aside from the main theme, there was very little of Beethoven’s Ninth in the song. I also played a live version of You Fool No One to a jazz guitarist. He called Blackmore’s solo noise, LOL. It’s interesting that this is now a constant on Youtube.
October 26th, 2022 at 18:43Nice to watch the second analysis of CIT, well done & thanks for posting. A good narrative & down to earth & pleasant. Had a look at the youtube site & many were asking her to look at Yes & Close To the Edge & Awaken. The progressive rock bands really nailed it down. Talking of the Harp I went to a concert performance of Harp & Flute last Saturday, wonderful it was. And a String Quartet performance also, superb. Now where is that Led Zeppelin aficionado that lurks here occasionally, oh I see he has already visited. Cheers.
October 26th, 2022 at 20:47I recently watched a few of her videos including Child in Time just yesterday. While she finds things to appreciate in rock songs, she stuggles to enjoy the sound and in the end she compliments this or that but says she is not interested in hearing the song again. That is the context when she says she’s really enjoying Child in Time, is putting it on her play list, and will listen to is more than once. This is the only video so far that I’ve seen her say that about a rock song. There was a moment when I was thinking at her next pause she’ll say “wow”. Then she pauses and says “wow”. She is a novis to rock but she gets it.
October 27th, 2022 at 06:01How about this one then:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToNxQ2W8XzM
October 27th, 2022 at 09:13Stay away from my music old lady. Your to old to Rock “n” Roll!
October 27th, 2022 at 12:16She has a trained ear and absolutely loved “Child in Time,” especially the beginning and how well the song was composed. I’d much rather listen to a polite music professional like her than some of the get-a-lifers who have “review” classic rock songs because the tunes are popular and they hope to make a buck off it or add people to their “subscriber” list.
October 27th, 2022 at 12:56” Stay away from my music old lady. Your to old to Rock “n” Roll!”
She looks about half Ian Gillan’s age and is probably younger than most people reading this!
October 27th, 2022 at 14:07“Now where is that Led Zeppelin aficionado that lurks here occasionally …”
You have summoned me, Master?
https://media.tenor.com/tESM96Zuav8AAAAC/the-count-arises-wake-up.gif
To the subject: CiT has a timeless and broad appeal for people who don’t even really like (hard) rock, at least until the band breaks into the one-note shuffle in the middle. Even my dad liked it. I remeber sitting in out living room in the mid 70ies and listening to In Rock’s side one. He walked in, had some work to do, stayed there, didn’t ask me to turn down (he never did) and after CiT concluded nodded and rose, saying: “For once, that was actually music.” For someone who didn’t even care for The Beatles (which my mom loved), that was quite a statement.
Years later he would say something like that again, this time after having heard the On Stage version of Still I’m Sad (again in a living room though in a different house and on a diffferent continent). My dad had no idea or interest in who DP and Rainbow were (though he regularly chauffeured me to rock gigs, waiting patiently outside in the car), but he must have heard a commonality in the music.
I’ve never met anyone who did not like Child In Time, at least the calmer parts. Too bad that Big Ian has developed such a dislike against it, I could listen to him holler that song in any alternative key on earth just to hear the regular verses, I don’t hold the screaming parts essential, but there is nothing wrong with having a bunch of background chicks do it either. Music can be performed in various ways and guises.
And btw, I find the IGB cover that gave it a treatment midway between Pink Floyd and Santana great, very tasteful and original. That is a version no one seems to like, but I do, both studio and live, Colin Town’s flute intro on the latter is proggy-artsy in a good way.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwkJo9_c3fM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwgeEnv6uDw
October 27th, 2022 at 14:15@ 7 – well said, I agree. Amy isn’t into rock music at all, which is a good thing. I don’t watch the other ‘influencers’ & ‘youtube stars’ at all. This lady is genuine, sincere & down the earth & she appreciates different aspects to certain artists.
October 27th, 2022 at 20:51Black Sabbath’s title song she appreciated all that they were trying to achieve with the atmospheric tension & feel etc. Queen’s ‘Love Of My Life’ really surprised her & she rated that highly, which didn’t surprise me. Stairway to Heaven was also there, Uwe is the dedicated Zeppelin fan here who would be interested in her take on that song. Or perhaps not.
Uwe @ 9 – ha ha ha, Nosferatu, he is the classic creepy Dracula isn’t he, nice one. In regards to CIT, yes it was a good review of that classic that Amy did, I like her take on it. I can relate to your experiences with you father also. My ‘old man’ (it is a bit strange calling him that at this stage of my life) he was a record store manager & radio announcer & baritone singer who was into many styles of the older music genres. He didn’t mind some of the DP, Yes, Tull & a few others. No doubt the ‘classical’ & dare I say ‘jazz’ style running through those bands he could relate to. It was a much better reception than other people I knew who’s parents would not tolerate it at all.
Regarding Child In Time I am a bit funny with other people attempting it. I do think it is Gillan only for me, with the falsetto scream sections especially. I really enjoyed that isolated guitar track link that was posted here not long ago. Hearing Blackmore slowly & subtly building the riff as the song went along & then repeating it again after his solo until the end. Wonderful to hear. Cheers.
@ 2 -that is a wonderful story regarding Difficult To Cure aka Beethoven’s Ninth.
October 27th, 2022 at 21:12I was also happy to see the inclusion of that instrumental when DP Mark 2 reunited in 1984. It is a classic indeed. Who would have thought, from Don Airey to Jon Lord & then Don Airey ends up in DP. I think Airey & his band have played that a few times over the years. I am not sure though & I will try to find a live version, if it exists. Cheers.
Found one of the Airey band Difficult to Cure versions, Simon McBride on guitar. I have watched this a few years ago & of course had no idea who McBride was. There’s that tangled web that has been weaved, again. Cheers.
October 27th, 2022 at 21:19Then I found this version, there is that McBride guy again & Ian Gillan.
October 27th, 2022 at 21:23https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZG_5SlBzm4
Yo, whilst it is good for DP & the tune to continue getting recognition, I’m not sure why going to the trouble of a video-review is necessary for something we as fans, already know, & have known likely for decades lol ?!
I haven’t watched the review to be honest, but I know that as classical musicians, they’re generally, even strictly bound to the written-notes on-paper, & their job is to replay the notes as best as possible by the composer…That said, a Jazz musician ( & Rock musician ) may be given a lead-sheet, that may have the chords & melody line given, & is essentially told “go-for-it” as far as solos etc are concerned. Some of us are even blessed with great ears, that allow one to play along with a tune with no sheet music required at all…
That said, the chords to the tune are A-min, F-Maj, & G7…They alternate between one another.This means you can play the C-Major scale all the way through it for solo’s, since the A-min is the VI chord, F-Maj the IV chord, & the G7 the V chord, from the harmonized C-Major scale…This pretty-much means that you’ll be playing through the Aeolian, Lydian, & Mixolydian modes…Or if you prefer RB’s attack & note choices, the C-Major pentatonic-scale starting from the note A, (with the added blues-notes in-between at your discretion), plus a tonne of talent & expression is all you need !…Some folks will prefer saying the A-min pentatonic, but it’s related to C-Major, & imo less confusing to state it the way I have. (The vamp in the middle for the solos is around the A-min chord).
I hope this helps the younger folks wanting to play along with the tune !
Peace !
October 27th, 2022 at 22:45“Found one of the Airey band Difficult to Cure versions, Simon McBride on guitar. I have watched this a few years ago & of course had no idea who McBride was.”
Tsk, tsk, tsk, Herr MacGregor. Learn that (extended) family tree by heart!
We by now have a DP line-up with
– first generation (Roger & the two Ians),
-second generation (Don Airey, coming from a second generation spin off, namely Rainbow) and
– third generation (Simon, coming from the Don Airey Band as a spin-spin-off)
members. It gets harder to keep track!
October 28th, 2022 at 12:29I’ve been enjoying these kinds of reaction videos. BTW for those who might be wondering about her accent (it really distracted me at the beginning because I couldn’t place it, even though it seemed to be some time of European): She is in fact American but grew up in different parts of the country including an Amish community. So it seems to be what they call “Pennsylvania Dutch.”
October 28th, 2022 at 12:38And she does indeed like “Child In Time.” In her first listen she didn’t hit the pause button as often as she did for some of the other songs…which is a good thing, meaning she was amazed by it and enjoying it too much to pause.
Reinder @8: Ouch!!!
Did anybody else here also dislike how Ritchie speeded that song (the middle part) up no end come the reunion? He did the same thing to Lazy. In both cases his rushed approach killed the groove.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgGMU3puNJE
I have no idea what he was trying to prove with that. Groove was/is important with Purple, with Rainbow not so much.
October 28th, 2022 at 14:03Blackmore, Lord & Paice & their experience of working together in MK1. Lord is the key being classical & all, Blackmore feeding off that as he did so well & Paice knowing what to do & what not to do. That MK 1 song April says it all. Then the Concerto & then CIT. Cheers.
October 28th, 2022 at 21:45@13 MacGregor, that’s a very cool video. I never would have guessed that Gillan’s band covered Difficult to Cure. And to have Airey and McBride on it! I really like McBride’s interpretation and it’s great to see and hear Airey reprise his solo.
October 29th, 2022 at 00:14Andy @ 19 – yes it sort of seems strange in a way, hearing Gillan introducing it as Airey, Beethoven & Blackmore, who would have thought. A very good version though.
October 29th, 2022 at 09:20@17 – Uwe we talked about this a little while ago, the reunion playing by Blackmore being sort of frantic or too fast or hyper etc. It isn’t something I noticed at the gig in Sydney back then, maybe because it all flew by so fast with so much happening at the time. However watching the VHS of CHOHW back in ’93 & since then online clips I have noticed it & it does kill the song in many ways, sort of. Lazy is played way too fast. Cheers.
It was a good review. She’s right to notice the almost magical transformation that Purple effected on their source material.
She als0 had an emotional response to the music, which Doug Helvering, for example, doesn’t seem to have. He goes straight to analyzing how it works technically.
These classical musicians who review rock songs are good sports, and I admire their efforts, but I fear they don’t actually enjoy the tone of electric instruments, especially when it’s distorted.
I’ve also noticed that they never seem to comment on the solos (best understood in classical terms, in my view, as cadenzas).
October 29th, 2022 at 18:46@ 21 – rock music is or can be abrasive, for want of a better description. A lot of it is ‘noise’ in many ways. It depends on what peoples perceptions are I suppose. I also remember many decades ago Ian Anderson getting heaps in regards to his flute playing. His technique & approach riled the classical music world, well some of them. The same happened to Purple with the Concerto. I have heard so many people over the years say they loathe distorted guitar & heavy music & I always knew where they were coming from. In Amy we have someone who is as the sight says a ‘virgin’ to the rock ‘n roll formula. That is a good thing in a way, however the shock of hearing certain things may be heightened somewhat. She may regret asking for people’s suggestions & I hope I am wrong on that. It has opened the proverbial ‘Pandoras Box’ & we know how the internet kills time & can be a major distraction in so many ways. I would think she will back away from all this if it starts getting too full on. Good luck to her. Cheers.
October 29th, 2022 at 21:36