18 replies to this topic

[UncleEarl]

This question is for Chris (BBCentral), but anyone who knows, feel free to chime in.

I know the MP3 for "I Can't Turn You Loose" has been in the "Downloads" section of this website for over a year, but I have only recently discovered and listened to it.

What is the source material for the MP3? I know I've read here that it is "looped", but I'm just curious - what recording did you loop?

Thanks!

[SolomanDHBlues]

Kind of on topic, but not really, and in case you didn't know I wanted to help with this:

I Cant Turn You Loose is a song by Otis Redding and hails out of Memphis here. There are lyrics to this song, too! If I happen to find a link that has the whole song on it, I'll post it here.

[UncleEarl]

Kevin,

Thanks for the info. I actually am a fan of Otis Redding and picked up the Otis! box set when it originally came out on CD.

I'm also aware of the whole "Time is Tight"/"I Can't Turn You Loose" debate/issue, which I was trying to avoid bringing up in this thread.

Thanks again for the input.

Ken

[SolomanDHBlues]

UncleEarl said:

I'm also aware of the whole "Time is Tight"/"I Can't Turn You Loose" debate/issue

Oh? Tell me more. I'm unaware of this.

BTW: The song also appears on Red, White, and Blues.

(I'm floating so far off topic, aren't I?)

I think the looped MP3 here came from splitting the tracks from the movie itself and making a whole new recording of it maybe.

But, I forgot. Where does Time is Tight come from? Isn't that a Booker T. & MG's tune?

[UncleEarl]

Kevin,

You're right. "Time is Tight" is by Booker T. & The MGs.

There are several threads in this forum where members have discussed how "The Blues Brothers Theme" (aka "I Can't Turn You Loose") is more of a hybrid between "Time is Tight" and "I Can't Turn You Loose".

A quick search of the word "tight" on the forums revealed some of these threads. Here is one:

http://www.bluesbrotherscentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=767

Steve Cropper, "Duck" Dunn or even Paul Schaffer could probably shed some light on the similarities of these two songs and how "The Blues Brothers Theme" (as performed by the band) came about.

Thanks for the insight on the MP3. It's what I had assumed, but I wanted to confirm with Chris. While watching the documentary from the Blues Brothers DVD recently, I noticed how some of "I Can't Turn You Loose" was featured (minus dialogue and sound effects).

Besides that, I was so excited to discover (last year probably) that my DVD featured an even longer version of "Boom Boom" than the theatrical version that I didn't take that a step further to check out all of the other musical performances in the movie. You probably already know, but I have only recently realized that just about every performance is extended and/or different on the DVD.

"I Can't Turn You Loose" as performed in the movie at the "Palace Hotel Ballroom" is no exception, but I guess I never really watched the extended version of the DVD all the way through (my bad). In my memory, the song always kicked off with the organ. Not so in the extended version.

So back on my original topic: I know Chris has taken quite a bit directly from the DVD ("Boom Boom", for example), so I was wondering if all of the MP3 from "I Can't Turn You Loose" comes from the DVD or if there is an additional source.

Later,
Ken

[Dauber]

UncleEarl said:

Besides that, I was so excited to discover (last year probably) that my DVD featured an even longer version of "Boom Boom" than the theatrical version that I didn't take that a step further to check out all of the other musical performances in the movie. You probably already know, but I have only recently realized that just about every performance is extended and/or different on the DVD.

And that, of course, brings up another debate...I know John Lee calls it "Boom Boom" in the movie. I know the lyrics "boom boom boom boom" are sung...but my introduction to John Lee Hooker was when I first saw the movie...and after I saw the movie, I heard Hooker's original recording, and a cover by the Animals...and you know what? Almost none of the lyrics JLH sung in the movie were in either version of the song.

And I read on one of the Usenet newsgroups that sure enough, the song he was performing really is "Bang Bang Bang Bang." When I found that out I went to the library and checked out a compilation that had both songs...and when I heard "Bang Bang Bang Bang," I swear it was IDENTICAL to what's in the movie, except that the word "boom" was nowhere to be found. The riffs were the same, the overall sound was the same...

Speaking of John Lee Hooker, I'd like to share a little theorem I have about the songs of Hooker, based on the dozen or so songs I've heard by him:

A John Lee Hooker song's lyrics will mention an infatuation with how a woman walks and talks.

HOWEVER: if the infatuation isn't in the lyrics, then the lyrics will mention a Cadillac.

[UncleEarl]

Dauber,

Pretty interesting stuff regarding John Lee Hooker. I never heard it before, but I am interested in checking it out myself.

I've got the old "Boom Boom" on a blues compilation and have also heard a song by Hooker, which I if I remember correctly, was titled "I Love To See Her Strut" or something very derivative of the lyrics from the movie. Basically, that song sounded pretty much like the song he sang in the movie. Ironically, like you I heard that song courtesy of my local library. (Kinda reminiscent of Elwood's speech from Briefcase Full Of Blues.)

Ken

[SolomanDHBlues]

Uncle Earl, I love the avatar, btw:
"Do you have this in a Miss Piggy?" HA HA!!

As best I can figure where Time is Tight and Can't Turn You Loose are performed in the Palace Hotel Ballroom would be the intro theme of the Blues Bros. IS Can't Turn You Loose, but during Curtis' introduction they shift into Time Is Tight. That's all I can think of. That's the only connection I can concoct!

And, I don't 'concoct' too often...

[UncleEarl]

Kevin,

Thanks for the comment on the avatar. I just looked for something unique and ended up picking what I thought was one of the funniest of the avatar choices.

On topic, I listened to sped up versions of Redding's "I Can't Turn You Loose" and Booker T. & The MGs' "Time Is Tight" recently, and the tempo more closely matched the one maintained by the Blues Brothers band. Of course, Otis ended up sounding like a chipmunk when I did it that way...

:D

[UncleEarl]

I really like how this song is used extensively on bluesbrothers.com.

[Flashcomix]

Dauber said:

And that, of course, brings up another debate...I know John Lee calls it "Boom Boom" in the movie. I know the lyrics "boom boom boom boom" are sung...but my introduction to John Lee Hooker was when I first saw the movie...and after I saw the movie, I heard Hooker's original recording, and a cover by the Animals...and you know what? Almost none of the lyrics JLH sung in the movie were in either version of the song.

Well Dauber one of the great things about JLH was that he never sang a song the same way twice (like BB King or Aretha). He also changed the key the way he was feeling at that moment (must have been very hard to play along with him). So their is no "real" version of Boom Boom. Listen to the way he did it in 1957 and his recording of the tune from 1992.
He also recorded all of his songs very often (I think their must be over 10 verions of "Boogie Chillin" for example).
He also rerecorded his owen songs with changed titels under other names (like John Lee Booker or Little John Lee) to get some money. Because back in the days you got payed only one time and that was shortly after recording.

[SolomanDHBlues]

The Vol 1 2-Disc set of "House of Blues: Essential Blues" has a version of Boogie Chillun and they call it the original recording/version of the song there. As best anybody's gonna find to "Claim" the "real" version of one of his songs, that's as close as they're gonna get.

Uncle Earl--I've always loved listening to things at high speed! The chipmunk sound is hilarious!

[UncleEarl]

Kev,

Yah, chipmunks are great. I've found that if I hit the fast forward button on my DVD player while playing a CD, the audio doesn't go into a mute mode like it does when fast forwarding through a DVD.

[Willsatx]

When I hear this song it reminds me about here in San Antonio when the Spurs had these bruisers on the team and they were called the "Bruise Brothers". We everytime the Spurs took the court between 80-83 they always played this song.

[UncleEarl]

I have seen posted somewhere here in the forum (sorry, I can't remember where exactly, or I would credit) that "I Can't Turn You Loose" and "Peter Gunn Theme" both are sometimes called "The Blues Brothers Theme."

It makes sense, seeing how both are used in the original movie trailer (and "Peter Gunn Theme" so predominantly).

[UncleEarl]

Chris (BBCentral),

I wanted to re-phrase my original question on this thread regarding the download you have available here on bluesbrotherscentral.com.

The question is regarding:
"Can't Turn You Loose (BB Band)
2.28MB
This is 'Can't Turn You Loose', as performed by The Blues Brothers Band in the orignal movie. this has been looped to recreate the way it sounded in the 'Mall' scene (Note, sound can sometimes be distorted due to heavy audio processing)"

My question is, did you start with the audio from the Palace Hotel Ballroom, where Cab Calloway is introducing Jake and Elwood, then use the audio technology favored by vocalists to remove the original "lyrics" (in this case, Cab Calloway's spoken voice), and finally "loop" what remained?

If so, bravo!

If not, I am curious to hear the whole story.

Thanks,
Ken

[bbcentral]

UncleEarl said:

Chris (BBCentral),

I wanted to re-phrase my original question on this thread regarding the download you have available here on bluesbrotherscentral.com.

The question is regarding:
"Can't Turn You Loose (BB Band)
2.28MB
This is 'Can't Turn You Loose', as performed by The Blues Brothers Band in the orignal movie. this has been looped to recreate the way it sounded in the 'Mall' scene (Note, sound can sometimes be distorted due to heavy audio processing)"

My question is, did you start with the audio from the Palace Hotel Ballroom, where Cab Calloway is introducing Jake and Elwood, then use the audio technology favored by vocalists to remove the original "lyrics" (in this case, Cab Calloway's spoken voice), and finally "loop" what remained?

If so, bravo!

If not, I am curious to hear the whole story.

Thanks,
Ken

Hi! Sorry for the delay replying
It's a great question.

I used Cool Edit 2000 (Audio editing software) to make this track. First I recorded the "Can't turn you Loose" from the Palace Hotel and removed Curtis's speech (if you listen really close you can hear some remains of it).
Then I recorded the background audio from the mall chase scene, including all the car crashes, dialogue etc.
I had both tracks on the screen at once, and copied segments of the palace hotel audio into a new track to synchronise with the looped/edited version in the mall scene.
That's why if you play MY mp3 against the mall scene, it should synchronise almost exactly to the DVD audio.

[UncleEarl]

Chris,

I am blown away by your ingenuity. Great job!

Years ago, I was convinced there was no way any of us fans were going to get a recording like the one you edited together unless it was officially released (I mean somebody, somewhere has the original track used in the mall scene, right?).

Have you noticed that the version of "I Can't Turn You Loose" on bluesbrothers.com sounds very similar to yours? Not sure if they "borrowed" it, but if they did, you must feel a little flattered.

No prob with the timing of the reply, seeing as how you have been having the time of your life and all... :D

Ken

[SolomanDHBlues]

I shall forever more sing the praises of Chris' hard work on this fantastic website!