I simply love concert versions of songs I like. There are magical new elements in these versions that make you fall in love with the song even more. The music is fresh, live, and there’s the joy of being part of an audience that is rediscovering the song with you.
Among my favourites is Eric Clapton’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow (The Wizard of Oz). I discovered Clapton rather late, and by then I’d missed his live concert in Singapore, where I lived. My friend introduced to me a concert version of this song because during my college days I used to try to sing the 1930s Judy Garland version with the vibrato and all the exaggeration, much to her amusement. ‘Enjoy your “somewhere” song,’ she wrote when she shared the song.
In this version, Clapton starts slow, and the audience doesn’t know what he’s going to perform, but they start clapping along to the slow beat anyway. And suddenly, Clapton breaks in with ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow,’ and the crowd goes wild.
That moment when the audience realises which song a performer is playing is one I cherish; it always puts a smile on my face. Imagine being in a concert – something starts playing, you don’t know what song it is, but you know it’s going to be a good one because only the good songs get this kind of a build-up. An exaggerated opening during a concert of The Eagles and you know it’s going to be Hotel California. Sometimes, based on the chords, you’re able to guess, but the really good ones, you can never tell. Clapton with Somewhere… was one of those you-can-never-tell types.
Clapton brings in different emotions – sangatis, if you will – of the words ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’, and there are random jazzy elements snuck in here and there. A saxophone, some jumpy chords, and gentle beats. The bass quietly adds to the magic, not making itself felt but you’d know something was missing if it wasn’t there. Someone from the audience whistles in appreciation: a long, exaggerated whistle that ascends in tune. When Clapton finishes with a slow, dragged ‘Why can’t I?’ the audience starts clapping again. And he says a quick ‘God bless you-thank you very much-goodnight!’
Another Clapton concert favourite of mine is the acoustic version of Layla. That, though, is one of the obvious ones which you can tell based on the chords. All he says at the beginning of this song is ‘See if you can spot this one,’ and the crowd doesn’t need too many seconds to recognize it. This one is also beautiful because it changes the flavour of the original song – it isn’t racy like the original. I even like this jazzy version better than the original.
I’ll sign off with an all-time favourite concert version, which I don’t think the composer has ever managed to top. The 2001 San Francisco concert by AR Rahman, which had one of the richest orchestras ever in Rahman’s concert, and fewer annoying lights that are the norm in concerts these days. Hariharan comes in and starts an alaap that, within a few seconds, already has the crowd cheering. After a good minute or so, he pauses for a microsecond and Clinton and co sing ‘Sakhiye, snegidhiye,’ and the crowd loses it. Loses it. So did I, the first time I heard it. The song is more or less the same, but the sangati of ‘Snegidhiye’ (in the chorus) is a special add-on.
Social media’s made it far easier to find such versions now, although with that the joy of finding these has also reduced. There are impromptu versions from the musicians themselves (they’re on TV shows, they post on Instagram…), covers made by other bands or fans, and so on. But just when I feel overwhelmed with current stuff, YouTube comes to the rescue. As I discover older songs, especially in non-Indian music, there’s scope to find concerts from the 70s and 80s and enjoy live versions. Here’s to more spontaneous discoveries and new lives to songs we love!