Hit Songs where the Original Performance was Filmed

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Alert, Apr 22, 2014.

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  1. Alert

    Alert Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Great River, NY
    In this age of YouTube I'm always trying to find live performances of songs I love.

    I can think of only a few instances where a hit/popular song was filmed while it was being recorded. I don't mean a song that was filmed live or in the studio after it became popular.

    Here are some examples of hit songs that were filmed during their recording:

    - "It Was a Very Good Year" Frank Sinatra, CBS Special broadcast in November, 1965.

    - "Alfie" Cilla Black, Burt Bacharach. Filmed at Abbey Road studios in 1965.

    - "All You Need is Love" The Beatles. "Our World" broadcast (1967).

    - "Star Spangled Banner" Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock (1969). This was not a chart "hit" but an iconic rendition I'd heard many times in high school and college before seeing the actual performance in the movie.

    - "Layla" Eric Clapton (1992). From the MTV "Unplugged" series. Was the hit version of "Tears in Heaven" also from the "Unplugged" performance?

    Any others?
     
  2. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I would say that the footage (music video) of "Hey Bulldog" by The Beatles is them recording the actual song. The vocals seem to be the final vocals, especially the ending where John and Paul are doing all that funny stuff.

    Also, all of the live rooftop tracks from Let It Be have been filmed.
     
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  3. Rolling Stones, "Sympathy For the Devil", in the Jean-Luc Godard film of the same name.
     
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  4. Alert

    Alert Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Great River, NY
    Thanks, but I'm talking about songs that were popular "hits." For example: though the rooftop performance included "Don't Let Me Down" and "Get Back," different versions of those songs were on the released 45 that charted.
     
  5. Mr Hankey

    Mr Hankey If you eat fiber on Xmas Eve...

    Location:
    Dallas, TX USA
    We Are The World - did I just release an earworm?
     
  6. AudiophilePhil

    AudiophilePhil Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    Some of the tracks from the Beatles' "Let It Be"
     
  7. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    "Give Peace a Chance"?
     
  8. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    I’m not sure if this is stretching it a bit, but when the Beach Boys’ SMiLE Sessions came out a few years ago, some footage was unearthed of the Beach Boys recording backing vocals for “Good Vibrations” in the studio. It’s pretty cool! It is synced to the song, though.
     
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  9. Digital-G

    Digital-G Senior Member

    Location:
    Dayton, OH
    Was the live version of Maybe I'm Amazed the same one in the Rockshow film?

    I thought Elton John's live version of Candle In The Wind was filmed but I'm not sure.

    Edit: I'm not sure if these count since they weren't the original versions, but they were the hit verisons.
     
  10. supermd

    supermd Senior Member

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    "Maybe I'm Amazed" from WOA is a different performance than Rockshow (only "Silly Love Songs" is the same between the two).
     
  11. JuanTCB

    JuanTCB Senior Member

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    "Purple Rain" and "I Would Die 4 U"
     
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  12. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    The hit version of Tears From Heaven is the version on the "Rush" movie soundtrack.

    Mariah Carey's cover of I'll Be There (the Jackson 5 classic) was recorded during her Unplugged performance and it was a huge hit in 1992.
     
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  13. markbrow

    markbrow Forum President

    Location:
    Denver
    Plus at least one more song from that album, can't remember which at the moment -- Baby I'm a Star?

    I don't know that All You Need is Love counts as the basic tracks were recorded beforehand and overdubbing was added after the fact before it became a hit.
     
  14. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    If it counts, I seem to remember videos from Billy Joel's Songs From The Attic live album in the early days of MTV. Not sure if they were the same performances as the album.
     
  15. DJ LX

    DJ LX Forum Resident

    Location:
    Madison WI
    The version of "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" that appears on Electric Ladyland was allegedly filmed in studio by ABC for a documentary on Hendrix that never aired. Unfortunately the film, which included ample footage of Jimi recording and peforming and also interviews with him and others, went missing - either stolen or destroyed - in the early 70's. :realmad: What I wouldn't give to see some of that footage.

    Oh, and shortly after Hendrix died "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" was released in Britain as a single. It reached no. 1 if I'm not mistaken.
     
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  16. Alert

    Alert Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Great River, NY
    John Lennon's cover of "Stand By Me" reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1975.

    The video seems to be a film of his actual vocal performance for the recording.
     
  17. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    The Queen Days Of Our Lives documentary that aired a couple of years ago (and is now out on DVD and BluRay) has got black-and-white video footage of the band in the studio recording News Of The World. They synced up the album version of "We Are The Champions" with what sure looks like footage of the actual performance, at times.
     
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  18. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Mostly the recordings of the vocals of The Raspberries "Let's Pretend"...

     
  19. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Here's a good one ...

    The Alan Parsons Project "Games People Play"

     
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  20. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    One of my all-time favorites, although some parts were "staged" ...

    Frank Sinatra - "Younger Than Springtime"

     
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  21. TheLazenby

    TheLazenby Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Pittsburgh
    That unfortunate incident where Robin Gibb was recording "Oh! Darling", and tried to run off with headphones on... :p

    Oh wait, that was a movie?!
     
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  22. pbuzby

    pbuzby Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, US
    Although I don't know if any of it is the actual performance, here is a neat Hollies video from the early 70's shot in the studio.

     
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  23. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Not really a "hit", but this is still some great "studio recording" footage with the late, great Jim Reeves ...

     
  24. Yannick

    Yannick Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cologne, Germany
    Opus - Live is Life
     
  25. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    Not necessarily the complete "hit" version, but certainly a part of the recording of The Who's, "Who Are You"

     
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