Can you list songs where a mistake was intentionally left in?

Hmm.... The sad part about it, I've never owned an LP copy of Nilsson Schmilsson, but "Into The Fire" has a punch-in right at the beginning of the song on the MFSL CD. Sounds like they tried to use one take, didn't like it, went back and did it again right on the head of the 1st try.

Does that count? I guess that's a technical mistake rather than a artistic one.

 

The last "badder than old King Kong" at the end of Bad Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce. The bass player misses the change.

 

The coughing part at the end of In My Time Of Dying from Led Zep's classic Physical Graffiti.

 

The "Plastic Ono Band" album is riddled with mistakes, but it's the nature of that recording. Same with a lot of Bob Dylan stuff.

In Alice Cooper's "Be My Lover", during the ending finale, the band stops, and you hear the drummer's stick tumble across the kit (I believe he threw it into the air and missed it on the way down. Why would he do this in a studio??). The band then hits the final chord, and the drummer quickly recovers.

 

Yup, got one...

Walk On By - Leroy Van Dyke. The best charting country single between 1958 and 1994 according to Billboard. The drummer comes in early during the second verse with a fill that should have waited till the chorus. Leroy said they knew it was wrong but left it in. Worked out ok it seems.

Best!

 

Missed note on the lead guitar outro of Sittin' On A Fence by The Rolling Stones. Also on She's So Cold Mick accidentally says "booty" instead of "beauty" at one point, and on Too Much Blood he says "when her ate her" instead of "when he ate her". Eric Burdon says "He stay'll behind" instead of "He'll stay behind" in Sky Pilot. John Lennon got his lyrics mixed up at pretty much every Beatles concert, and also on some records. The stereo mix of Please Please Me comes to mind, but I know I have heard at least one other recently.

 

How about on Ob-La-Di, Ob-La Da "Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face"...that was left in.

 

Diana Ross laughing during the latter part of "Love Hangover."

 

I used to have a bootleg (Houston '65?) of John singing "She's in love with her and I feel fine"(!)

 

The Mamas And The Papas "I Saw Her Again", where Denny comes in saying "I saw her..." at the wrong place at the instrumental break near the end.

 

On Jimmy Bowen's "Ever Lovin' Fingers" (released by Roulette as the B-side of "I'm Stickin' With You"), the guitarist played a wrong note just before Mr. Bowen repeated the first verse towards the end of the song. (If anyone else has a copy of this 45, or a CD compilation of Buddy Knox & Jimmy Bowen's Roulette masters, you will hear what I'm talking about.)

 

on stephen stills "live" stills sings the wrong words to "word game' and it is left just the way he sang it.

i've always wondered why they didn't overdub it in the studio and make it right.

renny

 

Mike Love? coughing during the instrumental break of "Wendy"

Jerry Butler coming into late with another verse with Curtis Mayfield singing backup on "He Don't Love You" -right after he improvises the "and he never will" line

 

I think its well known that in The Kingsmen's Louie Louie, the singer begins a verse early, the drummer plays a fill, and then he starts singing again. I always thought they did it on purpose.

 

Does the false start at the beginning of 'Bob Dylan's 115th Dream' on Bringing It All Back Home count? I'm surprised this isn't more well known/mentioned more - It really takes you by surprise the first ever time you hear it if you don't know it's there, and Tom Wilson's(?) wheezy laughter still cracks me up every time.
There are a few bum notes where Dylan leaves backing musicians behind momentarily on loads of his records - Subterranean Homesick Blues, Like A Rolling Stone, Visions of Johanna and Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands spring to mind...

 

Sinatra - "You're Driving Me Crazy"


The Beatles - stereo version of "Please Please Me" (the song)

 

How bout Michael Jackson's "Look over your Shoulders" in Ill Be There. Should have been shoulder. And the famous Blackmore intro to Smoke on The Water from Made in Japan, although that one can be debated...

 

Funny how these mistakes work too!

One I don't think is ever mentioned is where Steve Tyler starts to sing "Love in an elevator..." during the instrumental break. Just like Denny singing "I saw her..".

Another famous one is Billy Joel stuttering and laughing during on the third verse of "You're Only Human (Second Wind)".

 

Kingsmen - Louie Louie; the drummes sure is off in several spots (and some of us maintain you can hear a person yell F*** at about the time the drummer really gets off track)...

 

On Nilsson's "She Sang Hymns Out Of Tune," Nilsson came in too early on the last verse. He sings the first couple of words, "She sang...", then mutters, "...hymns out of tune." Producer Rick Jarrard liked it and decided to leave it in.

 

Beach Boys - I'm waiting for the day

The single chord on the banjo at 1:43 sounded always like an accident to me (because it is the same strum 4 beats later and doesn't repeat at 2:31)


Beach Boys - I'd love just once to see you

After the line "it's not too late" (1:18) the bass (single note) sets in 6 beats too early


And doesn't Ringo in "Honey Don't" sound like a bit in a hurry with his vocal after the guitar solo?

 

In "Yellow Submarine", when Ringo sings "In our yellow submarine" for the last time solo, he sings "slubmarine".

At the end of "Jailhouse Rock", the bass drops out for a whole ten seconds, as if Bill Black couldn't figure out the key(or something).

Evan

 

I always wondered if the bit in Nirvana's "Polly" where Kurt Cobain sings "Polly says..." and then stops for a couple of beats was a mistake. Though he does the same thing on the "Unplugged" version (but maybe because people are used to it that way)

 

I don't know if this was left in the Beatles song, "I Saw Here Standing There" intentionally or not. At about 1:25 into the song Paul sings, "Now, I'll never dance" at the same time John sings, "I wouldn't dance." About 5 seconds later Paul sings, "Till I saw her standing there" at the same time John sings, "When I saw her standing there."
Talk about not being on the same page! Huh?

On "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" you can hear Paul stating to crack up on the line, "writing 50 times, I must not be so." I'm sure they got a kick out of that and left it in.