Recording cockups that made the cut

[Nicko]

I guess the most obvious is Roxanne by the Police, where Sting allegedly sits on a piano and then laughs.  I always thought it was the bum note at the beginning. (Cue argument - a lead in note not a bum note etc etc.)

Others that spring to mind - The lead singer of Jet clearing his throat during the intro to Are You Gonna Be My Girl, and Dave Gilmour doing the same at the start of Wish You Were Here.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by Nicko

[Mike Brooks]

I'd suggest the swearing in Hey Jude is a fairly good one  how many times was that played before it came to light and became public knowledge

[James Nada]

The Beach Boys - Wendy.

A loud cough in the instrumental break.  Once you notice it, you can't un-notice it

[Guest]

Some earlyish Beatles track one of them sings boyfriend and the others sing girlfriend. Or vice versa.

[seashell]

Does Greenday, 'Good Riddance, (Time of Your Life)' count? The false start is genuine but has obviously been left in for effect when it could have been taken out. 

[Dad3353]

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by Dad3353

[seashell]

Also..Four and Twenty on Deja Vu by CSNY. There is a point where he sort of gulps during the vocals, but they've kept it in. Presumably because it adds to the dramatic effect. 

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 14, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[seashell]

Also..(I'm on a roll now), the most famous bass related one is supposedly a bum note in Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf. But I've never been able to spot it 🙂

Edited May 21, 2021 by seashell

[BassTractor]

There is a recording with me on it ...

[Downunderwonder]

35 minutes ago, seashell said:

Also..(I'm on a roll now), the most famous bass related one is supposedly a bum note in Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf. But I've never been able to spot it 🙂

That's the only one I can think of. It's very obvious once you have heard it. From memory it comes on the 'Wild' of the interlude, something like that anyway, a true nowhere to hide clanger.

[wateroftyne]

1 hour ago, Nicko said:

...Dave Gilmour doing the same at the start of Wish You Were Here.

 

 

I think that's half deliberate. It's supposed to be a bloke sitting down and playing along with the radio.

Don't know if this counts 'cos it was post-recording, but there's an absolutely terrible edit in Eric Claption's Blues Power, just after 1:25.

 

[pineweasel]

Bowie’s Jean Genie. Trevor Bolder usually gets the blame for going to the first chorus too early, but if you count the bars it’s the rest of the band coming in too late. 

[The fasting showman]

 

[AndyTravis]

‘My life is brilliant…’ at the start of “you’re beautiful” by James blunt, came in a bit early, they left it in.

[ezbass]

If you can track down this album from my youth, it is chock full of bum notes, many, many from the bass player; it's bordering on hysterical.

[DylanB]

Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream is a particularly joyful example.

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by DylanB

[Nail Soup]

The Stranglers - "Do Ya Wanna - Death and Night and Blood (Yukio)"

I read an interview with drummer Jet Black, who says a fan asked him about a mistake on this.  Jet's response was along the lines of "Well spotted, I thought I'd got away with that."

It's basically two songs medleyed together. When It switches from the first song into the second song (about 2min30s) the drums are kind of 'out of phase' with rest of the band, but goes back into phase (snare on the 2 and 4) at about 3mins.

 

Given the extremely off kilter drum pattern in the first half of the song, it would be reasonable to assume that the 'mistake' was deliberate. So hats off to Jet for owning up!

 

[Nail Soup]

The Cars - "Best Friends Girl"

 

After the into/verse and into the first chorus - the drummer misses the first snare hit. About 48 seconds or so.

I think it's on record (excuse the pun) as being a mistake rather than deliberate.

 

[Owen]

The 4th "7th 8ve" of the "root, 7th, 8ve" pattern Verdine (1st name terms) plays in the intro stutters. Once heard, never missed. @ 16 seconds ish. Sorry Verdine. I wish my career was such that a bassist from sticksville could discuss my mistakes and lay them bare for everyone to see.

 

[Nail Soup]

The Fall - "Paintwork"

 

I think it's some kind of home recording, especially as it has a crude drum machine instead of drummer Karl Burns.

At about 38 seconds Mark E Smith accidentally taped over some of the tracks for a few seconds.

Not sure if the voices heard are what he accidentally taped, or added afterwards to fill the silence.

 

 

[ZilchWoolham]

1 hour ago, Nail Soup said:

The Stranglers - "Do Ya Wanna - Death and Night and Blood (Yukio)"

I read an interview with drummer Jet Black, who says a fan asked him about a mistake on this.  Jet's response was along the lines of "Well spotted, I thought I'd got away with that."

It's basically two songs medleyed together. When It switches from the first song into the second song (about 2min30s) the drums are kind of 'out of phase' with rest of the band, but goes back into phase (snare on the 2 and 4) at about 3mins.

Given the extremely off kilter drum pattern in the first half of the song, it would be reasonable to assume that the 'mistake' was deliberate. So hats off to Jet for owning up!

 

Listened to this just the other day and I can admit I did not spot it! Just as you mentioned, it wouldn't be hard to argue it's supposed to be that way. That era of the Stranglers has some bizarre arrangements. Baroque Bordello off The Raven has Hugh in a different time signature to the rest of the band. They were really playing at the limits of their abilities on those two albums, maybe sometimes a bit ahead of them, so to speak. 

[MartinB]

1 hour ago, owen said:

The 4th "7th 8ve" of the "root, 7th, 8ve" pattern Verdine (1st name terms) plays in the intro stutters. Once heard, never missed. @ 16 seconds ish.

I always assumed that was a deliberate variation, but maybe the mark of a great bassist is that even their mistakes sound intentional!

The Kingsmen's version of Louie Louie is well known for the vocalist coming in too early after the solo (~1:56), which the drummer then covers with a fill.

But less obvious is the drummer yelling "F**k!" as he drops a stick, around 0:54

Edited May 21, 2021 by MartinB

[MacDaddy]

Guns n Roses - Don't Cry

Terrible misfret 4 seconds in.

 

 

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 14, 2022 by Jus Lukin