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My last Battle Of The Bands installment took place [link> HERE. It pitted Dick Van Dyke & Julie Andrews against Louis Armstrong over bragging rights of the song 'Chim Chim Cher-ee'.
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Although it certainly wasn't one my most popular BOTB match-ups, I thought it was an interesting contest which elicited some fairly strong opinions (always a goot thang, in my view).
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Aside from the fact that I love the song 'Chim Chim Cher-ee' from the Disney movie 'Mary Poppins', which I also love, this Battle was meant as a test of the two most universally held unwritten Rules amongst longtime BOTBers. To repeat, those "Rules" (or better yet, "time-tested guidelines") are:
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1) Do NOT use a famous rendition of a song against a relatively unknown cover version of it.
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2) Do NOT use one of the legendary crooners against a lesser-known singer. By "legendary crooners", I'm referring to singers such as Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, and Bing Crosby.
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My question was: What if I break BOTH of those Rules simultaneously, and used the most famous rendition of the song against a cover version by one of the "legendary crooners"? Would the two broken rules cancel each other out and leave us with a level playing field?
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Well, I got the answer, and it was "NO!" Rule #1 carries more weight than Rule #2, and inconceivably, that left Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong getting beaten in this match-up!! A lot of BOTB voters (or, BOTB "boters") weren't real crazy about Dick Van Dyke's performance, but he and Andrews still cleaned up. Below are some selected comments from my beloved boters:
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[Armstrong's recording] "...started turning into the "In-a-gadda-da-vida" of Disney interpretations."
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"Dick Van Dyke's Cockney accent is ... generally regarded as the worst in the history of film. ... I wanted to go with Louis, but his seemed weak."
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"...the original just sounds too much like what it is supposed to sound like at this point."
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"I like Satch so much, but this isn't a good song for him. ... It's not a good song for Van Dyke either. He can't sing for beans..."
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"Penis Van Lesbian...er, Dick Van Dyke can't do the cockney accent very well..."
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"...nostalgia wins out and I'm voting for the original movie version."
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So, there ya go! Van Dyke kinda-sorta sucks, but the original version is still preferable to the "legendary crooner's" cover. Interesting, interesting!!
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I most sincerely thank each and every one of you who took the time to visit here, to listen, and to submit a vote & opinion. I'm grateful, mighty grateful!!
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My own feeling about this match-up was quite different from most of the other folks. I actually love BOTH versions of the song and could have happily boted for either one. But since I have to choose between them, I go with Satchmo. I remember hearing his version for the first time, decades ago, and being immediately blown away by it! IMO, he transformed a cool, happy tune into a downright tour de force!
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One reason I think this song suits Armstrong so well is that he is the singer who popularized the technique known as "scatting", or "scat singing". In Jazz vocals, scatting is vocal improvisation with wordless sounds or nonsense syllables synchronized with the beat or rhythm. It was Satch who made "scatting" a famous thing in music. Other very famous scat singers are Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme.
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I can honestly say that I don't much care for scatting... UNLESS it's Louis doing it. Somehow, it just seems to be a perfect fit for his too-big-to-be-contained personality. Aside from that, even the title of the song - "Chim Chim Cher-ee" - sounds like an example of scatting. How ideal for Satchmo, the king of scat singing!
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Satch's personality just explodes into this song, and I literally can't think of an example of a singer having more fun performing a tune. I find the bigger-than-life joy that Satchmo exudes in launching himself into this song to be utterly contagious. In his comment, G DogG wrote, "I vote for Armstrong as his voice instantly put a smile on my face". ZACTLY! DITTO!
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I'm actually kind of shocked that most of the voters weren't wild about Armstrong's cover; I feared he was going to clobber Van Dyke & Andrews so thoroughly that I was concerned about a possible shutout. BOTB: the mystery continues.
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FINAL TALLY:
Dick Van Dyke & Julie Andrews = 7 votes
Louis Armstrong = 5 votes
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As much as I love the original recording, this Battle becomes "no contest" for me at about the 3:08 point when Satchmo is having so much fun with the song that we are treated to that wonderful laugh of his:
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Chim Chim Cher-ee -- Louis Armstrong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22TnKgjEL_U
.Anyway, thanks again to all y'all for participating in this, and I hope to see y'all back here again for my April 1st Battle. I've got all my match-ups already worked out from here through September, and I feel good about all of them. We've got some unique fun stuffs coming in the months ahead.
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
