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Those harmonies
The Beatles, Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, Simon & Garfunkle could do harmonies like none other. The BBC praised the Beatles for their harmonies saying that’s one of the things that set them apart from the rest of the pack, of course the amazing song writing was another.
These 2 songs have amazing harmonies, and MLT knocks them out of the ball park with their harmonies, which do these songs amazing justice, even more justice than the originals. It attests to Mona and Lisa’s supreme musical talent and vocal prowess.
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14 Replies
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And this one, absolutely sublime.
Here are some fun facts about these 2 songs from Wikipedia:
When discussing his song “Here, There and Everywhere”, Paul McCartney has often cited Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows” as his main source of inspiration.[9] The latter track appeared on the Beach Boys’ 1966 album Pet Sounds[10][11] and was itself inspired by Wilson repeatedly listening to the Beatles’ Rubber Soul album.[12] On 17 May 1966, the day after the new Beach Boys album had been released in America, McCartney and John Lennon attended a private listening party for Pet Sounds held at London’s Waldorf Hotel.[13]
In 1990, McCartney told Beach Boys biographer David Leaf that it was “just the introduction that’s influenced [by the Beach Boys]”, referring to the harmonies he and Lennon devised for the opening lines of “Here, There and Everywhere”. McCartney added that, with this style of introduction, they wanted to capture the “old-fashioned” idea of a preamble to the song.[14]
McCartney began writing “Here, There and Everywhere” at Lennon’s house in Weybridge, in early June,[14] while waiting for Lennon to wake up. McCartney recalled: “I sat out by the pool on one of the sun chairs with my guitar and started strumming in E. And soon [I] had a few chords, and I think by the time he’d woken up, I had pretty much written the song, so we took it indoors and finished it up.”[15] -
Jung, I echo your thoughts. MLTs covers are often better than the originals, in my opinion.
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Hi Patrick, thanks. And I’ve discovered so many wonderful gems I never knew of thanks to MLT, like the Beatles lesser known songs, and they’ve just become MLT songs for me like “Hey Bulldog”. I’m loving all the new originals, MLTs great song writing talents are just shining. Really looking forward to the new album release.
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Jung, I believe their harmonies rival the Everly Brothers. I consider Mona the master harmonizer (equal to Phil Everly). One of the many songs that just gives me chills is “Vincent”
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Hi Diana,
I so agree with you about Vincent. It’s a beautiful clear night here, so I stepped outside and popped in my earbuds to look up at the stars. When Mona begins to sing, the chills start and then the anticipation of Pietro’s first breath is crazy. I was gonna leave some deep comments about how I feel like music is the dopamine of the soul, but then this little angel on my shoulder whispered,”Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Turns out there’s a boatload of studies on that very subject. As you become more familiar with a song that you like, your ears may become like a junkie’s craving vein.
If I don’t emerge from that rabbit hole in a few days, send lawyers, guns and money.
JP
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Amen brother !! Very eloquently stated
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JP,
One more thing. That was hilarious!!
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Hi Diana,
I agree, Mona is a master harmonizer!
Patrick
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Hi Diana. Vincent is just magnificent, and sublime. I can’t believe Mona just picked up the accordion and watched some youtube videos and be able to play like that so beautifully with feeling. Mona and Lisa are amazing musicians to be able to do that.
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Speaking of the Everly Brothers, always love this Everly cover from a while back by Mona and Lisa.
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I don’t think anyone could do this song justice like the Beatles did, leave perfection alone. Well Lisa’s dynamic vocals can hold it’s own right along side Paul and John’s, and carry that beauty every bit as well as proven here. Mona’s harmonizing is right there with Lisa. Superb justice to this song, every bit as good as the Beatles version, but more interesting to me because of the unique style Mona and Lisa’s singing brings to the table, very complementary. And while the original Beatles version used harp, violin, violas, cello, and double bass, the use of the ukelele really adds to the color of this song, brilliant arrangement. I love how MLT know what to add to a song to make it unique and all their own, while staying true to the essence of a song that makes it great in the first place.
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Mona and Lisa’s harmonies send shivers every time I listen to this. When they released this one for Christmas a few years ago, I remember listening to it all year round, it just didn’t feel right to leave such absolute beauty locked away until Christmas.
Oh those harmonies!
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The harmonies by Mona and Lisa are so good, but what always gets me is their instrumental prowess. Mona’s simple, eloquent, playing on her hollow-bodied Ricky on “Here There and Everywhere”; Mona’s accordion playing on “Vincent”; and Lisa’s uke work on “She’s Leaving Home” are just so outstanding.
The combination of their brilliant harmonies along with their instrumental prowess makes these blessed, hard-working twins what they are; simply, the best musical duo of their generation.
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I’m just loving everyone’s sentiments echoed here.
Christopher, indeed! Mona and Lisa are the real deal, they bring to the table the level of brilliant musicianship and inspired song writing talent that was prevalent in the 60s and early 70s, that is so sorely lacking today.
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