MusicScribe BLOG

Here is a clip of Danny Funderburk singing “Champion of Love” from his Somebody Touched Me live video. The description states, “I’m still trying to figure out who’s singing the tenor on the end.” Before watching the video, my initial reaction is, “Well, it’s Danny, duh!!!”, but then I gave it a listen….

First of all, the track being used is obviously the original studio track recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. If you listen even casually, you can definitely hear George and Glen on the background vocals throughout. The rest of the vocals, however, are somewhat hard to discern, and could even be a mixture of different versions.

The first two choruses sound like they came from the original 1987 studio cut, as George is not over-emphasizing his “from above” line, and I think that I can hear Mark Trammell’s voice in the mix. The first problem with that theory, however, is that the end of the first chorus was not sung in unison….it was a solo by Gerald Wolfe. The Cathedrals didn’t start singing that line in unison until Scott Fowler joined them (in fact, if you listen to the Reunion version, Gerald still sings it solo).

The last chorus (following the modulation) definitely has Ernie Haase on it (albeit a younger-sounding Ernie Haase), and the ending is held much longer than the original recording. This may have come from the CD version of Campmeeting Live (I listened to the video recording of this song, and the vocals do not match, but I know that the CD was redubbed, so it may have come from there; I do not have it readily available to be sure, however). The problem with THAT theory is that the track used on Campmeeting Live, both the video and the CD, were a new studio recording of “Champion of Love,” not the original ’87 track, so unless the tempos were identical, the odds of the vocals matching are slim (a quick comparison of the two videos on YouTube indicates that the Campmeeting version is actually slower).

So, what happened here??

One listener offered the theory that the track was specially recorded for Danny by the Cathedrals using multiple vocal sources, and mixed down in the studio. This is definitely possible, but would be an awful lot of work, when they could’ve simply used one source or another, not to mention the tempo aligning that would’ve had to be done. It’s also possible that the current (at the time) Cathedrals lineup could’ve gone into the studio and re-cut the vocals for their own use (i.e. stacks) for live performance, and simply offered that to Danny, which would explain why George’s “from above” bass licks are more subdued, and also why the unison line and extended ending are on the track.

My guess is the latter theory, that the vocals were recut and offered to Danny. The harmony vocals seem a bit louder on the track than the original recording, and there have been times where I’ve had trouble discerning Mark Trammell’s harmonies from Roger Bennett’s, so it could very well be Roger singing on the first choruses.

On a side note, Doug’s mention of “Stupid Pet Tricks” gave me an interesting idea, so stay tuned for a new feature I like to call…..”STUPID QUARTET TRICKS” (see what happens when you let a brain like mine go, Avery??).

UPDATE: Upon further listening, I can cleary hear Scott Fowler’s voice during the first chorus, singing a harmony above the lead, which leads me to believe that this was indeed a specially-recorded backup track, as Scott normally sang lead on the song. I could be wrong, but the evidence  is there….