# Songs where the studio version is made to sound like it was recorded live **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515 "2006-12-01T19:40:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/1 "2006-12-01T19:40:55Z")
I can think of two examples of this kind of song off the top of my head are _Hanginaround_ by Counting Crows and, many decades earlier, _The Rapper_ by the Jaggerz. Both of these songs end with a small amount of clapping and cheering that makes it sound like they were recorded in a small club or bar in front of a live audience - however, these are the album versions of the songs, and I’m assuming that they were recorded in a studio and the crowd noise was added in. I know there are other songs like this. Can you name some? ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/2 "2006-12-01T19:48:12Z")
“Bennie and the Jets”, by Elton John. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/3 "2006-12-01T19:48:31Z")
Elton John - Bennie And The Jets The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (& its reprise) Focus - Hocus Pocus (the studio version has overdubbed applause on it) David Clayton Thomas - Walk That Walk The Kingsmen - Louie Louie (on the LP version, there is applause overdubbed, very badly, out of phase, over the studio version. In fact the whole album is like that.) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/4 "2006-12-01T19:50:17Z")
Many Ray Stevens songs have a studio laugh track. Makes it sound like audience laughter at a live show. Well, not really. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/5 "2006-12-01T20:00:36Z")
“Release Release” by Yes and “Power Failure” by Procol Harum both contain drum solos that are greeted by overdubbed applause at their conclusions. The entire _Mingus Presents Mingus_ album by Charles Mingus is a make-believe club date, with Mingus introducing each tune and asking the non-existant audience, bartenders, and waitresses to maintain perfect silence. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/6 "2006-12-01T20:07:37Z")
Tom Waits - “Nighthawks at the diner” - whole album the Beach Boys - “Beach Boys Party” - whole album ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/7 "2006-12-01T20:27:55Z")
Well, to be fair to Tom Waits, the whole “Nighthawks” album was recorded in a studio with an invited audience, so it _was_ live, but in a controlled environment. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/8 "2006-12-01T20:39:38Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] I can think of two examples of this kind of song off the top of my head are _Hanginaround_ by Counting Crows and, many decades earlier, _The Rapper_ by the Jaggerz. Both of these songs end with a small amount of clapping and cheering that makes it sound like they were recorded in a small club or bar in front of a live audience - however, these are the album versions of the songs, and I’m assuming that they were recorded in a studio and the crowd noise was added in. [/QUOTE] It’s possible that those tracks really were recorded live. It’s not unheard of- Radiohead’s “My Iron Lung” is a concert recording; only Thom Yorke’s vocals were re-recorded for the album mix. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/9 "2006-12-01T20:47:19Z")
The entire Paul McCartney “Get Back” concert movie was re-recorded in a studio, with looped speech and crowd reaction. It _looks_ live, but the looping is terrible. and often the sound coming out of the speakers doesn’t match the frets the musicians are playing on. Paul will be saying something to the audience, meanwhile he steps away from the mic and his voice is still coming out of the speakers. Shoddy, shoddy workmanship. Similarly, when The Beatles appeared on ABC-TV (US) “Shindig”, the producers must have thought the girls in the audience weren’t enthusiastic enough. The final program had many hundreds more hands clapping and voices shrieking than could have fit in the studio. This was only brought to light when audio tape of the unadulterated soundtrack before post-production was unearthed in the 1990s. “The Beatles At Shea Stadium” is full of studio overdubs to cover lousy playing and singing. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/10 "2006-12-01T20:57:42Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] Well, to be fair to Tom Waits, the whole “Nighthawks” album was recorded in a studio with an invited audience, so it _was_ live, but in a controlled environment. [/QUOTE] The Chris Smither album “Another Way to Find You” was recorded this way as well. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/11 "2006-12-01T21:02:30Z")
Two examples from antipodes of the rock world: The last song on Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention’s second album, _Freak Out_ , has cabaret-lounge background noise dubbed in. The album version of Ricky Martin’s song “Maria” has a crowd sound dubbed in for a few seconds _after_ the otherwise studio-clean song is over. Why, I don’k know; it sounds idiotic. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/12 "2006-12-01T21:06:25Z")
“Farmer John” by The Premiers also had crowd noise and an emcee dubbed on to a studio recording. This was apparently a popular process in the 60s. ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/13 "2006-12-01T21:41:33Z")
[QUOTE=JKellyMap] Two examples from antipodes of the rock world: The last song on Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention’s second album, _Freak Out_ , has cabaret-lounge background noise dubbed in.. [/QUOTE] _Freak Out_ was their second album? I thought it was their first… mm ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/14 "2006-12-01T21:49:12Z")
I don’t know for a fact, but “The Rapper” sounds too well made to have been done live. Judging from the quality of the album it came from, It would be a big shock to me if Donnie Iris and co. could have done that well live. Unless they played the song 20 times a show and this is the 20th take. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/15 "2006-12-01T21:50:04Z")
I read a biography of Janis Joplin in which the recording engineer for the “Cheap Thrills” record (that she did with Big Brother & the Holding Co.) had fake live cuts - all the tracks were done in a studio and the ‘racous cheering’ on the supposedly llve cuts was just the producer, the engineer & a few odd studio folks whooping it up. Patti Smith has one song on the Lp “Easter” that has a lot of hooting & hollering from ‘fans.’ But when you listen closely, it’s obviously prerecorded SFX on a tape loop with the same guy going “Yeah! Yeah!” over & over again. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/16 "2006-12-01T22:15:15Z")
[QUOTE=mamboman] _Freak Out_ was their second album? I thought it was their first… [/QUOTE] It was. **JKellyMap** meant to refer to the Mothers’ second album _Absolutely Free_, and the track “America Drinks and Goes Home.” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/17 "2006-12-01T22:16:05Z")
The Neil Young song “Broken Arrow” on _Buffalo Springfield Again_ starts with what sounds like a bit of the group in concert singing “Mr. Soul.” However, the whole song was done in the studio including the “live” part and the screaming fans. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/18 "2006-12-01T22:19:16Z")
[QUOTE=mamboman] _Freak Out_ was their second album? I thought it was their first… mm [/QUOTE] Correct. This isn’t complete, I don’t think, but… [Zappa Discography](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa_discography) Joe ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/19 "2006-12-01T22:21:09Z")
Erasure mixed in some live noise to make “Love To Hate You” sound like it was recorded in a packed arena. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515/20 "2006-12-01T22:44:38Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (& its reprise) [/QUOTE] I would tack on “With a Little Help from My Friends” onto this, too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-where-the-studio-version-is-made-to-sound-like-it-was-recorded-live/382515.md?page=2)