June 2009 Offering Of The Month:
"Black And Blue"
Written by Michael Jackson and Edward Jerlin
Original version "Black or White" © 1991 Michael Jackson, Published by Ignorant Music
New recording "Black And Blue" © 2009 Everlasting Arms Records & Publishing - All Rights Reserved
Update June 25, 2009 7:37pm EST:
I just heard of Michael Jackson's passing.
I had uploaded this music and web page just two days ago.
For now, I've decided to leave it intact as a tribute to the
"King of Pop"
My condolences to his family, friends and all who enjoyed his
music over the years. Whatever else is said about him,
he certainly was a supremely talented artist and entertainer
from a very young age and also a humanitarian who contributed
to a number of worthy causes.
Certainly, I'd like to thank him for writing this catchy piece
of music upon which this recording is built. Also, his recording
of "I Want You Back" remains to this day one of my favorite songs.
Rest in peace, Michael.
This month's offering has been a long-standing request
from a few people who have heard it and enjoyed it. For some time
I resisted sharing it due to copyright restrictions, but I've
been told as long as it's a "parody" and we make no money from
it, it's okay to share.Written by Michael Jackson and Edward Jerlin
Original version "Black or White" © 1991 Michael Jackson, Published by Ignorant Music
New recording "Black And Blue" © 2009 Everlasting Arms Records & Publishing - All Rights Reserved
Update June 25, 2009 7:37pm EST:
I just heard of Michael Jackson's passing.
I had uploaded this music and web page just two days ago.
For now, I've decided to leave it intact as a tribute to the
"King of Pop"
My condolences to his family, friends and all who enjoyed his
music over the years. Whatever else is said about him,
he certainly was a supremely talented artist and entertainer
from a very young age and also a humanitarian who contributed
to a number of worthy causes.
Certainly, I'd like to thank him for writing this catchy piece
of music upon which this recording is built. Also, his recording
of "I Want You Back" remains to this day one of my favorite songs.
Rest in peace, Michael.
In the early 90's, my buddy John D played me a tape he had of the B-Side of Michael Jackson's "Black or White" which was an instrumental version of the song. The arrangement was quite stark, consisting primarily of the guitar, a drum machine pattern, and an occasional bass part. John challenged me to "jam" to it. "Certainly you can make this a little more interesting to listen to."
I took him up on his challenge.
I had a lot of fun adding all kinds of cheesy bits to it, starting with the horns and slap bass, then bell-like pads and strings, then synth leads, leading to some piano bits, which trade with the synth leads, culminating in a nifty unison fill at around 1:05. A brief string line leads to 1:21 where my drums kick in along with a funky repeating ascending bass-guitar unison line under Slash's guitar leads. It sure was fun jamming with Slash. Then a quick sequenced synth break at 1:38 (which was the original recording, not me) leads to the "rap" section...
I'm particularly fond of the "rap" section;
I changed it from this empty repeating drum pattern, to... a ragtime piano number.
I also added some incidental percussion to that section. I then return to the synth-piano interplay which leads to them agreeing in unison. The horns pay another brief visit along with a choir-like sound, then a unison bass/drum fill at 2:21 leads to me pretty much taking over with the original being overwhelmed by all the layers I added. I just had to end it with the ubiquitous 80's "Digital Native Dance" sound from the Roland D-50 synth -- the ultimate cheesy touch. I think this piece almost comes across as one of those cheesy "demo sequences" that come with synthesizers that show off the synth's sound capabilities. (If you've ever bought or gone shopping for a keyboard or synthesizer, you know what I'm talking about.)
This was all recorded in one night, no road map, just making it up as I went along, trying sounds out, jamming away, right on through to sunrise. I hope you enjoy this little musical excursion.