Jeremy Jordon and Oklahoma

[FranklinDickson2018]

I don't know who wrote the melody for this but with the exception of about 20 notes, the rest is an unknown composer.  I know that the R & H Organization is thrilled by this, but I find it really upsetting, especially since Rodgers was such a stickler for his music to be sung correctly.  I have listened to it twice and with th exception of the intro to each verse there is nothing left of the original melody.  In fact the entire R & H Goes Pop at Broadwaycon was really dreadful.  Laura Osnes and Boyfriend did a rap version of "Wash that Man"  And the rap part wasn't even the same song....  (I am a huge fan of Mr. Jordan and think he has a wonderful voice.... but this is to me so ill advised.)  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtnTaaLTTmw

 

 

 

 

 

[lightguy06222]

I thought this was kind of lovely.......

[BwayLB]

The accompaning music was nice but too loud for me to sometimes hear Jeremy.

[Tag]

Doesn't this just sh*t on the R&H legacy?  I mean it doesn't even sound like their work.

[haterobics]

Tag said: "Doesn't this just sh*t on the R&H legacy? I mean it doesn't even sound like their work."

I think their legacy can withstand a bad cover, if one doesn't care for this.

Sort of how a novel can survive a bad movie adaptation, it's still there and what people will return to over time...

[JohnyBroadway]

Kinda strange to see Laura Osnes introducing this. Awhile back she talked badly about the 1997 TV production of Cinderella for adding a pop sound to the Cinderella score.

[BwayLB]

JohnyBroadway said: "Kinda strange to see Laura Osnes introducing this. Awhile back she talked badly about the 1997 TV production of Cinderella for adding a pop sound to the Cinderella score."

Actually since that version was my introduction to Rogers and Hammerstein, i found the pop arrangements to Brandy's songs to be beautiful. I was 5 when i first saw it on video and i will be 26 next month.

[dramamama611]

I think there is some difference to adding a pop sound to a PRODUCTION vs a single.

 

That being said: I just don't get it.  If you didn't want to sing what they wrote, why bother doing it at all?

[amygbrooks]

Jeremy is my favorite, but I don't love what they did to his singing on this track. Sounds very processed/auto-tuned to me. As far as the cover itself, I don't mind, it's cool if they want to get creative with the arrangement, and I'm sure they're well aware not everyone will like it. I just wish his voice was clearer and/or sounded more like it normally does.

[Phantom4ever]

Big fan of Jeremy Jordan and of R&H, so I was very excited when I saw posts about this song. But it is not a pop version of a song from Oklahoma!  It's just a song that happens to have the same lyrics. Other than that, there is zero connection to R&H. And it sounded like they used whatever production equipment they use on the voices on Glee to Jordan's voice, so that makes it even worse. 

[BwayLB]

amygbrooks said: "Jeremy is my favorite, but I don't love what they did to his singing on this track. Sounds very processed/auto-tuned to me. As far as the cover itself, I don't mind, it's cool if they want to get creative with the arrangement, and I'm sure they're well aware not everyone will like it. I just wish his voice was clearer and/or sounded more like it normally does."

My thoughts exactly

[SweetLips22]

Well at least the lyrics and short intro. are the same, the rest is pure ****e.

Steal someone else's lyrics then waffle away with your own 'tune' till you run out of ideas.

Way to go.

[CurtainPullDowner]

He should be ashamed of himself.

[henrikegerman]

It doesn't upset me like some others, but I agree, other than the lyrics this is completely unrecognizable. Unlike the many freewheeling jazz riffs on R&H songs or Fred Wells's exquisite if liberal arrangements for A Grand Night for Singing, this just doesn't sound like the R(&H) tune it claims to render.

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

I enjoyed Ali Stroker's "Surrey with the Fringe on Top" and Jelani Alladin and Matt Doyle's folksy "We Kiss in a Shadow." To me, that's the direction the RH Goes Pop project should go in...reimagining the songs and instrumentation without changing the melody very much.

[Bwayornoway]

Sorry not a fan of it, but I am of him... it's not Oklahoma, it's not a pop song, and the hokey city sunrise has to go!

[haterobics]

CurtainPullDowner said: "He should be ashamed of himself."

Being picked to launch a new series from the R&H estate? Yeah, it's a black mark on anyone's career...

[GavestonPS]

dramamama611 said: "I think there is some difference to adding a pop sound to a PRODUCTION vs a single.



That being said: I just don't get it. If you didn't want to sing what they wrote, why bother doing it at all?"

The other day, I heard a very convincing argument against the extension of copyright protection beyond the 56 years that was the norm for most of the 20th century. The gist was that culture always builds on what comes before it; so extending Disney copyrights far into the 21st century is a detriment to the culture as a whole.

I agree with dMama that there is a difference between doing a pop cover and a performance within the musical play. (Years ago, Sammy Davis, Jr. played Littlechap in a revival of STOP THE WORLD...! He had made a standard of his version of "What Kind of Fool Am I?" and that is what he sang in the show: HIS version. Not a single note of the original melody. The problem was that in that moment, he became SDJr doing his night club act and Littlechap was forgotten. I thought THAT was a travesty.)

But Jordan doing an over-produced cover of "Mornin'" doesn't bother me, as long as he keeps it out of productions of OKLAHOMA!

To wit, is anybody bothered by Nina Simone's cover of "Feeling Good" from ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT...? Apparently not, since everyone has covered it, including the makers of TV commercials.

I'm more surprised by the video. Why is Jordon singing about cows and corn while gazing out at the NJ Palisades?

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

The new installment is out: Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan combining their resumes with a mashup of "Ten Minutes Ago" and L5Y: "The Next Ten Minutes Ago."

[SweetLips22]

Can we just throw in the Leslie Uggams version of 'June etc etc'. At least the melody was still there--there's improv and there's improv.