Cold Turkey (John lennon cover)

[rammer24]

Hey guys,

Got 4 or 5 new tunes done in the last few weeks.

I'll start with this one. I actually find the drums sound distant no matter what I do. I think my snare mic might have been further than usual. I don't know and maybe it's my imagination, but I couldn't get them in your face like I usually can. Considering it's a cover, I just went with it. but I wonder if everyone hears the same thing.

Cold Turkey (John Lennon cover).mp3

[Greg_L]

Gonna check this tomorrow. I hate John Lennon and don't know the song anyway, so I'll just pretend it's a Rami original.

[rammer24]

It's not a sappy "Imagine" type song. It actually rocks for a Lennon tune. As much as I love the Beatles, I think they're all pretty useless on their own. McCartney had his moments, but they're over-shadowed by his monumental collection of cavity inducing, syropy fluff. Lennon's solo work does nothing for me, either, with very few exceptions, like this tune.

[rayc]

Lennon was a rock animal at this stage - Yoko provoked simpering wimp sometimes and burning rock machine at others.
I love this song and I REALLY dig this cover. The palmed bits are much louder than in the original and I think they sound better your way.
The drums sound good to me & the snare is prominent as well as clear. Maybe you're just second guessing yourself.
Your solo is cool - it's all about edgy and unhinged.
fab job Rami.

[rammer24]

Lennon was a rock animal at this stage - Yoko provoked simpering wimp sometimes and burning rock machine at others.
I love this song and I REALLY dig this cover. The palmed bits are much louder than in the original and I think they sound better your way.
The drums sound good to me & the snare is prominent as well as clear. Maybe you're just second guessing yourself.
Your solo is cool - it's all about edgy and unhinged.
fab job Rami.

Thanx a lot, Ray. Maybe I just hear something about the drums that may or may nor be there. I think it's because I'm riding on the floor tom for most of the song. When I do that, I might hit the snare differently and that's what I'm hearing, hopefully.

[Greg_L]

I do think the snare is a little "distant" compared to your usual tracks...but like you mentioned it's only during the floor tom parts, and then only like the first verse or so. It gets better as the song rolls along. Speaking of floor tom, I think you need to bump it some. It's a little flat and dull compared to the rack toms. They pop, the floor tom is kind of lifeless compared to the rack toms.

The rest is great. The guitars are cool. Great vocals. Good bass as always.

[rammer24]

I do think the snare is a little "distant" compared to your usual tracks...but like you mentioned it's only during the floor tom parts, and then only like the first verse or so. It gets better as the song rolls along. Speaking of floor tom, I think you need to bump it some. It's a little flat and dull compared to the rack toms. They pop, the floor tom is kind of lifeless compared to the rack toms.

The rest is great. The guitars are cool. Great vocals. Good bass as always.

Cool, thanx Greg. This 18" floor tom is a bitch to tune. It's either too low or too high. I think it "wants" to be tuned low, but that doesn't translate well when recorded. I'll work on it for the next tune. Thanx a lot.

[Greg_L]

Cool, thanx Greg. This 18" floor tom is a bitch to tune. It's either too low or too high. I think it "wants" to be tuned low, but that doesn't translate well when recorded. I'll work on it for the next tune. Thanx a lot.

Try a little subtle compression. It helps bring out some body on big giant toms.

[einstein magoo]

Nice work Rami! The Plastic Ono era gave us a couple really good Lennon works, this being my fave.

Within the Lennon framework you have OWNED this one. I wonder what would happen with some thick reverb applied to the lead vocal? I'm not swift enough yet to know how to bring things out in a mix, but I think this would sound really good with the vocal taking on a little disjointed space. Meaning just something to make it stand out a little from the rest of the mix. Drenching it in reverb may have the opposite affect, but it sounds pretty dry to me right now.

Great job in capturing the vibe! Knocks me out!

[rammer24]

Nice work Rami! The Plastic Ono era gave us a couple really good Lennon works, this being my fave.

Within the Lennon framework you have OWNED this one. I wonder what would happen with some thick reverb applied to the lead vocal? I'm not swift enough yet to know how to bring things out in a mix, but I think this would sound really good with the vocal taking on a little disjointed space. Meaning just something to make it stand out a little from the rest of the mix. Drenching it in reverb may have the opposite affect, but it sounds pretty dry to me right now.

Great job in capturing the vibe! Knocks me out!

Thanx a lot man.

I do have quite a bit of slap back on the lead vocal. But I know that my idea of "quite a bit" is probably less than most people's. If I ever open this one up again, I'll see how a wetter vocal sounds.

[miroslav]

Got 4 or 5 new tunes done in the last few weeks.

You really are a fucking rabbit.

I like, I like...and as you've acknowledged, just the drums a bit more forward, otherwise the rest is cool.

We probably have Ono to thank for the few rocker tunes Lennon did...it was the pussy-whipped frustration she caused him, and so he just had to let it out somehow.

[rammer24]

We probably have Ono to thank for the few rocker tunes Lennon did...it was the pussy-whipped frustration she caused him, and so he just had to let it out somehow.

I've always found that all his tunes, including this one, just lacked....something. Almost like a home recordist who says "Meh, good enough". I think this tune could have been so much better. Listen to the original. Small, type-writer drums, demo quality recording. That's why I'm not too bothered by my drums lacking some volume on my version. Compared to the original, they're YUGE!!!!

My favorite solo Lennon tune is "Let Me Roll It". I think Paul was saying "Is THIS how you're trying to sound?".

[miroslav]

My favorite solo Lennon tune is "Let Me Roll It". I think Paul was saying "Is THIS how you're trying to sound?".

You meant solo Paul tune.

Some background details on that song and the assumed connection to "Cold Turkey".

https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/pau ... e-roll-it/

[rammer24]

You meant solo Paul tune.

No, I meant John. Meaning, it sounds like Paul doing a John tune better than John himself.

[miroslav]

OK...I think I understood that.

Paul had a lot of syrupy stuff...but I think overall, he also rocked out more than Lennon...though I do like some of Lennon's work on Double Fantasy.
Not really "rocked out", but definitely a nice R&R vibe.

[rammer24]

That link is cool. I guess I'm nowhere near the only one that thinks it's Paul nod to John. The tape echo vocals, the scream at the end, the guitar riff, etc....

[rammer24]

though I do like some of Lennon's work on Double Fantasy.

I like Double Fantasy. You could tell his head is clear and not clouded by heroine. Good, focused song-writing, much better production than anything else he'd done. "I'm Losing You" has another one of those Plastic Ono guitar riffs.

[rayc]

The original was recorded and then mixed in a day - 1st mix and out - or that may have been Instant Karma but the same quick, no fuss process so very demo in production qualities but all the better for it for me.
I have to disagree re DFantasy - it was everything I didn't like about Lennon combined with everything I didn't like about McCartney.

[rammer24]

The original was recorded and then mixed in a day - 1st mix and out - or that may have been Instant Karma but the same quick, no fuss process so very demo in production qualities but all the better for it for me.

It's funny that he took that appoach, considering he complained on more than one occasion that George martin never gave his songs the same time and treatment that he gave Paul songs. He said songs like "Across the Univers" and others didn't get the care and attention they should have got. Then, he goes solo and treats his songs the same way. Weird. Wild.

I have to disagree re DFantasy - it was everything I didn't like about Lennon combined with everything I didn't like about McCartney.

I might have to agree with your disagreement. I think it's a better produced album than anything he ever did, but it is rather AOR and pretty sappy. Without Googling it to look at the song list, I can really ony think of one song I like on it, which is "I'm Losing You". Maybe there are others, but I can't think of one.

[Roman]

John can be forgiven for any and all alleged sins for writing and recording "Working Class Hero".

As far as him getting sloppy on his solo stuff here is a theory;

He got tired of all the hard work with the Beatles. At this point in his life and career it didn't matter. If the record had John Lennon on the cover it would sell.

He just wanted to put out songs, and stay home and fuck Yoko. Lol