Quote:
Originally posted by gldstwmn
Listen Snotty Applebuns, I have a version of Gypsy that (I think, don't quote me) has The Heartbreakers backing her. I, like you, always thought LB turned this song into the masterpiece that it truly is, until I heard this. The version is very, very similar to what appeared on Mirage, making me wonder if Petty or Iovine were the ones responsible for the molding of this song. Now that breathtaking guitar part at the end of the song, that's all LB.
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I don't think it sounds very similar to the Fleetwood Mac "Mirage" recording, but I'm maybe a little nutso. On the Heartbreakers' recording of it (which may have actually come
after the Mac tracked it in Herouville), you've got essentially a very standard series of Heartbreakers signature riffs & styles: Benmont's chunky B3 organ chords with plenty of on-again, off-again Leslie; Stan Lynch's galloping drums in brisk time; Mike Campbell's rhythm strumming of the chords; & the loping bass, which probably sounds the most like the Fleetwood Mac style. It has its own merits, like energy, immediacy. But it's essentially just a Heartbreakers jam, & the only similarity I can hear between it & the Mac recording is the chord progression.
The Mac's version, on the other hand, is a (some might say suffocatingly) stylized work built on a pentatonic riff & an intricately arranged pattern of choral backup vocals. It's just a whole different feel & approach. In fact, the accompaniment on the bridge "To the gypsy that I was" on the Heartbreakers version kicks in to this spare drums & bass thing with a little funk -- really totally different from the fake strings & pedal points in the backup vocal choir in the Mac's version.
Do you remember the crashing mess it was on the solo '83 tour? "Gypsy" lost her velvet.