Do you recall any disputes during the development of the New Song Book?

by Quarterback 19 Replies latest jw friends

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  breakfast of champions

  DNCALL - thanks for all your insights. Enjoyed reading your experience on freeminds. Just started reading some of your previous posts.

  I remember hearing the bootleg Celine Dion cover (supposedly produced by Benson) and thinking Wow! The society has finally got it together in the music department! Unfortunately, for anyone who has to listen to Kingdom Melodies, creativity and conformity rarely mix. Also, the idea of a "worldly" person signing a KM must have driven the society crazy! But then again, how else would you expect cult leadership to react?
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  Broken Promises

  I remember hearing the bootleg Celine Dion cover (supposedly produced by Benson) and thinking Wow! The society has finally got it together in the music department!

  Can you elaborate on that?

  What song was a "cover" of which CD song?
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  breakfast of champions

  BP - Oh gosh! I can't remember the title.

  I can hum it, but that doesn't help us!

  And I can't seem to find an old songbook around. . . Was it something like "Daily Walking With Jehovah"? It was a slow-tempo song, not a real standout on its own, but with real music and Celine Dion singing ( and I am not a big fan ) it was MOVING. Chills up your spine.

  Ill have to get back, unless someone else knows. . .
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  exjehovah

  I wish I could hear some of them for comedy sake. I haven't been in years and went just last week only for a family member's funeral. I just remember those songs as some of the silliest things set to music, I can't imagine them trying to "upgrade" them. LOL!
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  DNCall

  The song in question is 'We Must Be Holy". It was never recorded by George Benson and Celine Dion. It was produced and arranged by the composer of that song (the same individual who did the majority of the work on the new songbook). The singers who have been mistaken for George and Celine Dion were Phil Ingram and Christine LaFond, both of whom are Witnesses. It was one of the tracks for the vocal CD that the Society developed, but never released. Although George Benson contributed to this project, he did not sing on this track. The digital files of many of these tracks were stolen and leaked on the Internet, thus starting the Benson/Dion rumor.
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  breakfast of champions

  DNCALL - Thanks for debunking that JW urban myth! But whoever Christine LaFond is, she is a dead-ringer for Celine Dion! Spectacular job. Hope she has some kind of career.

  BTW - were these songs not released because of their more "contemporary" production value? Just curious.

  Again, thanks for the correction.
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  CaptainSchmideo

  Here is a Youtube link to the recording. I have to admit, the old song sounds pretty good with this arrangement.

  Of course, you could probably make the theme from "The Flinstones" sound pretty inspiring with the right sort of arrangement....

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6Mrezb0jR0
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  CaptainSchmideo

  Here is another "George Benson" arrangement:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0psTmnf_DKM
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  DNCall

  CaptainSchmideo: You don't need the quotes on your second link. That really is George Benson. Same producer/arranger as "We Must Be Holy."
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  DNCall

  Breakfast of Champions: Your speculation about the approach being too contemporary is pretty much on the money. As for Christine, she does have a professional career as a studio singer.