Grow Old With Me (3rd remix now up)

[sauce1958]

Here is a third mix. Sunnylew gave me the idea for this and I've used John vocals from two different takes to create a superior double tracked version. See what you think...

https://tinyurl.com/expires-aug-6

I still get a bit teary when I hear John sing "Whatever fate decrees". No one could ever have forseen such a terrible fate.

Beautiful.

[sunnylew]

I hope the Lord doesn't mind me uploading here, but it feels like part of the conversation. I was inspired by his comment earlier on in this thread about the piano being untunable, and thought I'd see what was possible.

It's by no mean perfect, but here's my go at it:

hxxps://we.tl/t-6PHQgIL68l

Once the piano was more in tune, John had to move to match it, but I've done my best to leave in quirks of timing and tuning in his own performance. I've also tried to make his voice sound more natural and vulnerable, with a couple of tiny surprises I couldn't help adding in.

[BTL1210]

EXCELLENT - Thank you for sharing ...

[theboxinargentina]

I hope the Lord doesn't mind me uploading here, but it feels like part of the conversation. I was inspired by his comment earlier on in this thread about the piano being untunable, and thought I'd see what was possible.

It's by no mean perfect, but here's my go at it:

hxxps://we.tl/t-6PHQgIL68l

Once the piano was more in tune, John had to move to match it, but I've done my best to leave in quirks of timing and tuning in his own performance. I've also tried to make his voice sound more natural and vulnerable, with a couple of tiny surprises I couldn't help adding in.

My request of LR was to tune the vocal, which of course can be done - not sure what he was saying? I don't understand the willingness to build a Frankenstein but draw the line at auto-tune. The idea is to finish the song I thought. And of course the vocal would be in tune if it were a more finished record, which this is, with LR's beautiful accompaniment. John would be singing to the backing, and in tune, because he was really, really good. Thanks for your effort sunnylew. I don't think the piano should be touched though, just the vocal. John should be singing in tune to the new backing, which is great as it is. Re-tuning the piano, which was in tune, throws it off to my ear (but what do I know?). IMHO! I think it would be great if you just did the vocal.

[Lord Reith]

I'm afraid I can't stomach autotuned vocals. It literally makes me sick, even in the tiniest doses. I hear it on literally every vocal since way back when, even people who supposedly can sing like Adele (autotuned to the rafters). I think remix #3 pretty much solves the out of tune singing aspect in a more authentic way through double tracking.

I do wonder if John actually intended for he and Yoko to sing this song together? The melody is too high for his range and he is struggling. You'd think if he'd intended to record it himself he would have lowered the key. The same with certain parts of Now And Then, and we know that was intended for the "musical" so was this song also? Could they both have been duets if he had lived?

[Rupert Pupkin]

I'm afraid I can't stomach autotuned vocals. It literally makes me sick, even in the tiniest doses. I hear it on literally every vocal since way back when, even people who supposedly can sing like Adele (autotuned to the rafters). I think remix #3 pretty much solves the out of tune singing aspect in a more authentic way through double tracking.

I do wonder if John actually intended for he and Yoko to sing this song together? The melody is too high for his range and he is struggling. You'd think if he'd intended to record it himself he would have lowered the key. The same with certain parts of Now And Then, and we know that was intended for the "musical" so was this song also? Could they both have been duets if he had lived?

I can't put French FM radio stations and hear their shit rap or r&b autotune songs, even in French, that's an horrible effect.
In the past autotune was used to sing "in tune" it was not planned to be noticed at first. Though, I remember a Cher comeback hit in the late 90's were the autotune sucked already; I wonder why they apply this effect constantly.

regarding John's voice, these are demos; look "If I Fell". Same "insecure" voice. I'm not sure that for demo (acoustic guitar or piano) John tried to sing like he would do in studio. I have in mind a lot of Dakota demos which turned out to be released in studio on Double Fantasy and Milk & Honey and John's voice is higher in the demos, not the same in studio.
Then the Ballad of John & Yoko was a "musical" (She's A Friend Of Dorothy was a part of it, Whatever Happened To... (check this song where Lennon sings about himself loosing the touch; the lyrics are great, so is the melody with staccato guitar rhythm a-la Richie Havens)
But the songs was more like a QA than a duet. John wrote a song sung it to Yoko on the phone, and she answered with her own song.
I did not expect or read anything about duets.

But check the bridge of "Love" ("love is knowing we can be...") on Plastic Ono Band. I think that John took time to record it in studio while his voice is cracking on the acoustic tremolo guitar demo. I think that he could sing in the same range "Grow Old With Me" but it would have took some lot of takes in studio. Perhaps another reason why John pushed this song for later (and he was proud of this song according to the liner notes by Yoko in Milk & Honey and the photos they made together in sepia- since the lyrics of the song came from a poem by Robert Browning).
I think that this is perhaps not only a love song but could be a song about his family John being impatient to see his son, Sean, growing up (these are the same lyrics in Beautiful Boy or Mucho Mungo re-recorded for Sean at the Dakota). The verse "the best is yet to be", or "the worst is over now" on Starting Over (early version of the song) is
The "irony" is that I doubt that John was prescient or had a sixth sense, it's the bad irony of life. Just it. Look at the later lyrics retrospectively you could think "he knew". John was paranoid (but he was right; he was on a "list" like Joan Seberg).
Worst, his last song put to tape (apparently the last one, with a brief cover of September which is one of my favorite song (love Woody Allen's movie Radio Days) :
Dear John
Don't be hard on yourself
Give yourself a break
Life wasn't meant to be run
The race is over, you've won

he sung his own RIP.

[Lbrow65]

Here is a third mix. Sunnylew gave me the idea for this and I've used John vocals from two different takes to create a superior double tracked version. See what you think...

https://tinyurl.com/expires-aug-6

I still get a bit teary when I hear John sing "Whatever fate decrees". No one could ever have forseen such a terrible fate.

I'm glad that someone thinks the same. I cant watch or listen to anything about his death.

[craigwill1982]

Here is a third mix. Sunnylew gave me the idea for this and I've used John vocals from two different takes to create a superior double tracked version. See what you think...

https://tinyurl.com/expires-aug-6

I still get a bit teary when I hear John sing "Whatever fate decrees". No one could ever have forseen such a terrible fate.

Can this be reupped please?

[Lord Reith]

Can this be reupped please?

Here is GOWM and three other tracks

https://tinyurl.com/exp-26th-sept

[Gredel21]

Does anyone know if there are more takes John did with " Now and Then " or is the cassette Yoko gave to Paul the only version available ????