"Nowhere Man" by the Beatles cover

[Glennwillow]

This is my cover of the Beatles' song, "Nowhere Man." I made some effort to sing the vocal parts and guitar parts played by the Beatles, although I made no effort to cover Paul McCartney's bass part. I played a bass guitar but made up something that I thought worked without getting too complicated.

The vocal harmony for "Nowhere Man" is fairly sophisticated and I really enjoyed putting this together. I made about a 49-second clip of just the vocals from the first couple of verses and the first chorus to show AGF members how much compositional and recording effort went into this recording by the Beatles. I couldn't help wondering if George Martin had a hand in working out the harmony parts. Part of the interesting harmonic shifts in the harmony happen because of John Lennon's choice to use the Am chord in the key of E, where normally a player would use an A major in this key.



I also tried to come up with a lead electric guitar sound that sounded fairly close to the sound that John Lennon and George Harrison came up with on the original recording. (They played two, sky blue Stratocasters and doubled the same parts.) It's not perfect but it's sorta close. I played the lead guitar parts twice and panned the two versions left and right in the mix. I showed only one electric guitar in the video, however.

Thanks for listening!

- Glenn

[started with 1]

Glenn you animal! What an accomplishment. I loved the whole finished project and the whole process. Congratulations.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by started with 1

Glenn you animal! What an accomplishment. I loved the whole finished project and the whole process. Congratulations.

Hi Started!

Ah, you made me laugh! 55-60 years ago when I was in competitive swimming we used to say that to swimmers who were super competitive! Of course, it was a compliment!

My 15-year-old grandson who recently told me he was ready to learn to play guitar wants to learn "The House of the Rising Son" as played by The Animals!

Thank you for listening to this and checking it out. It was quite a project. I spent a lot of time on the vocals because there was so much to learn there. Also, the harmony parts were each doubled, and so I had to work pretty hard at getting my timing right and staying on pitch.

Also, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get an amp sound close to the sound John and George got on their recording -- and their sound on this song is one I have always marveled at.

I thought while I was recording this that I bet the Beatles would have loved to have equipment that sounded as good as the stuff I am using in my little studio. Technology has progressed so much since 1965. What is that? 57 years. Wow! Time flies!

Thanks so much for your comments -- I'm so glad you thought this came out well! I'm so pleased that you like this!

- Glenn

[islandguitar]

Ah! The "Band GlennWillow" steps out again tonight....to our amazement and pleasure!
Just great Glenn.....so enjoyable, great sound, it all came together in this one!!

Congrats on another winner!

Be well,
Fred
ps......and one more overlap between the two of us...(close in age, started and finished college in the same years, guitar/music...and now competitive swimming!) LOL!

[rbpicker]

Great job, Glenn. Very highly produced, which seems like it would taken a month or so . Thanks for sharing this. Very enjoyable.
Rb

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by islandguitar

Ah! The "Band GlennWillow" steps out again tonight....to our amazement and pleasure!
Just great Glenn.....so enjoyable, great sound, it all came together in this one!!

Congrats on another winner!

Be well,
Fred
ps......and one more overlap between the two of us...(close in age, started and finished college in the same years, guitar/music...and now competitive swimming!) LOL!

Hi Fred!

Thanks so much for watching and commenting! I'm glad you felt this came out well! I put a fair amount of time into this, so I am very pleased that you felt it came out reasonably well. It's a cool song.

I had no idea, Fred, that you were in competitive swimming. One more parallel in our lives comes to light! Holy cow! I stopped swimming once I got into college, but I spent a huge portion of my life from age 7 to age 18 going back and forth in swimming pools. I bet you did, too!

Be well, Fred!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by rbpicker

Great job, Glenn. Very highly produced, which seems like it would taken a month or so . Thanks for sharing this. Very enjoyable.
Rb

Thank you so very much RB!

How nice of you to comment and provide support and feedback! I'm so glad you like this.

I spent about 2 1/2 weeks on this. In fact, I spent two whole days working on the vocals. They were a challenge.

I have an old Beatles' transcription hardbound book from Hal Leonard that I must have acquired in my 40s. I pulled that out for this song cover because it has all the vocal and guitar parts, drum parts, bass part, the whole works. I used to be able to read that book without glasses, but now I not only needed strong reading glasses but a magnifying glass to read each line. But I eventually got the information I needed.

Regarding the production, I am very fortunate to have a very nice, large room over our 3-car garage where I have my studio. We are way out in the country where it's quiet and also where I can make noise with an electric guitar and not drive my poor wife out of the house. I have also invested in some nice mics and recording equipment, which all helps. Still, it's great to read your comments and know that you appreciated the production.

Thanks so much for your kind comments! I hope all is well for you! Take care!

- Glenn

[mikealpine]

You do so many songs that are wonderful, but this overall production might be my current favorite.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by mikealpine

You do so many songs that are wonderful, but this overall production might be my current favorite.

Thank you Mike!

Coming from you, that means a great deal! Thanks so much for your vote of confidence! I am so glad you like this!

You probably have this sense of trepidation about approaching a Beatles song just like I do. There are so many people out there who are total Beatles fanatics that a person is kind of sticking their neck out to do a Beatles cover. And of course, the Beatles are true legends. I did take this song on with the idea of really putting some work into it so that, hopefully, there would not be too much criticism. I guess we will see!

The fun thing about this project is that I learned some things, and that always makes something like this worthwhile.

Thanks for your kind comments Mike! I hope you and your family are all well!

- Glenn

[jklotz]

Very nice sir! I enjoyed that. The harmony vocals made it for me. After watching Get Back, anything Beatles gets my attention these days.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by jklotz

Very nice sir! I enjoyed that. The harmony vocals made it for me. After watching Get Back, anything Beatles gets my attention these days.

Thank you so much James!

I am so pleased that you enjoyed this and took the time to comment here! Much appreciated!

You know, for me, too, the vocals were the thing about this song that really knocked me out. The acoustic guitar rhythm track was done on the first take; it was not terribly hard. The bass line I played I think was the 2nd take. It took some time to program the drums, a few hours maybe with all the checks I was doing.

But getting the vocals down was a two-day immersion. I actually read the transcriptions to learn the vocal parts and practiced them over and over until I had them right -- or as right as I was ever going to get them -- and then worked on the recordings and then doubled each of the harmony parts. In the end, it was very rewarding.

The power of these vocals and the vocal arrangement really opened my eyes to how much of a vocal group the Beatles were. After this project I have completely changed my concept of who the Beatles were.

It's kind of cool to have gone through this experience.

I hope you are doing well, James.

- Glenn

[reeve21]

Hi Glenn,

That was astounding! Please give us more Beatles

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by reeve21

Hi Glenn,

That was astounding! Please give us more Beatles

Thank you Bob!

Astounding is good, right???

Thank you, Bob, for taking time to listen and comment here! It's so much appreciated! I'm really so pleased that you like this!

I have actually been thinking of doing a few more Beatles songs. This really was a challenge but it was really fun!

I hope you are well, Bob! Be well!

- Glenn

[Chickee]

You absolutely kill me. One of your best, for sure.

[acousticland]

It was a pleasure to listen and work of au / vid editing.
Beatles music played and sung in this manner are delightful.

Did you compose any song played with your voice ?