Friday, May 13, 2011

Compare & Contrast Thursday Repost

Hey everyone I haven't done a compare & contrast entry in weeks. I wasn't inspired by anything until Wednesday, I was listening to Ella James's All I Could Do Was Cry, after I decided to listen to Beyonce's version, I recieved so much inspiration. Then I listened to I'd Rather Go Blind, with that I felt I could do comparison of both versions.


ALL I COULD DO WAS CRY

Etta James Version

Beyonce Version

When it comes to this song, I love Etta James because she was the original, but in my opinion Beyonce delivers on this one. Not taking away from Etta James because her version is great as well, but Beyonce's version is a lot more soulful. When Beyonce starts with "I saw my love walk down the aisle", you can feel the emotion. As I stated before, Etta's version is good but I like Beyonce's version a little better.


I'D RATHER GO BLIND

Etta James Version

Beyonce Version

With this song, it took me a while to decided which version I like best. I think Etta James version I perfer. Even though, I must say that Beyonce's killed it with the vocals at the end, but Etta just touched my soul a little more.

Comparsions/Conclusions
When you listen to each of versions, you can tell the difference in years. For example, Etta's versions her voice was over the music. It seemed that back then, it was all about the voice, Etta's versions the background music is a lot lower than her voice, it seemed it back then when singer sung ballads, it was more about the voice then the music. Meanwhile, when you listen to Beyonce's version the music and vocals are balanced making the song sound more crisp. But technology can also play a part in that because technology is much stronger then they were in 1950s.

Above all, Etta James set the blueprint for Beyonce to sing these songs. As a result, you must give Etta her respect. In addition, I feel with these versions Beyonce didn't try to sound like Etta, she made the songs are own, which is why I have to give Beyonce her respect as well. In today's music, it seems like when remakes are done, the artist tries to sound too much like the original artist, which it takes away from the song. As I said, Etta James should be proud of Beyonce's versions because she made her songs current, but still kept it old school.

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