Michael McDonald Covers Grizzly Bear
One day after closing out this year's Pool Parties (with Jay-Z and Beyoncé in attendance), Grizzly Bear continue crossing over in every direction with today's release of the "While You Wait" single ... with a b-side where Rossen's vocal is performed by Michael McDonald. Yes, that Michael McDonald. Basically you just gotta hear this, so pony up the $1 and head to iTunes ASAP or check it here:
You can purchase the vinyl directly from the band. And if you didn't make it to the Williamsburg Waterfront yesterday, here's 45 seconds of what it was like to stand behind Jay-Z, Beyoncé, and Solange during "Ready, Able."
Brooklyn, we crossover hard.
UPDATE: MM talks to PASTE about the collab. The Doobie bro met the band at their NYC show a few months ago, introduced by Chairlift's manager.
"I was really impressed with the show," he says. "Their songs were alluring and interesting. So when they mentioned to me about doing this, I said absolutely."
The band soon sent McDonald the track, having asked him to provide some background vocals. Apparently pleased with the results, McDonald said Taylor then asked if he'd record again--this time singing lead. "I liked the tune, I said sure," McDonald says. "Like I said, I'm a big fan of the band."
For the McDonald, 57, Grizzly Bear's tightly arranged piece seemed like a perfect fit, even a return to form. "When I was with the Doobies, the style of music was that we all went over the falls with chord progressions, trying to make things as complex and interconnected as possible," he says. "The punk movement swung towards being as primitive as possible, but now it's back to where these guys are good musicians. I never thought that would come back around, but it has."
Posted at 10:23 AM by amrit in Video
Tags: Beyoncé | Grizzly Bear | Jay-Z | Michael McDonald | Solange
i don't know if i was just wiped from the dodgeball or if grizzly bear just that awesome or that im an effing stoopid that i didnt see them standing 10 FEET IN FRONT OF ME!
Score = 1
If I wasn't at work I'd be crying my eyes out because I love this so much. I would have paid a lot more than 99 cents for this download
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Someone on the BrooklynVegan blog posted that they saw Daniel do a ton of coke near the side of the bus before they went on. Seriously, Grizzly Bear, who do you guys think you are?
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oh come on, that is so not true
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I think it might be. Dude looked fucked up. Sweating everywhere and constantly talking to Chris/laughing.
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Riiight. The band has their own trailer 25 feet from the stage, but he's going to do rails out in the open? I don't know what's worse: the people that write that lame crap on BV, or the people that believe it.
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Idiot. As someone that knows Daniel, he's never done Coke in his life. Get a grip. You sweat when you play in the sun. Sometimes you have fun and laugh too. You guys are fucking retarded
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Look how cutting-edge you are with such a topical name.
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For some reason, I kept reading the name "Michael Cera."
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lame. this sort of represents the tepid quality of their music and why it doesn't offer anything new to something old, it is just old sounding. for better or worse
Score = -1
Just downloaded it. Awesome. It's pretty hilarious, but honestly rocks at the end when they start chanting back and forth.
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Close your eyes and reaquaint yourself with the obvious...it is obvious...
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I would not trust some of the stuff people post on Brooklyn Vegan. Some of the most hate-filled people in the world are on there w/ major axes to grind.
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I dunno. Daniel was totally out of it. He was sweaty and super giggly, walking over to sit down and then stand up multiple times during a song. I just thought he was drunk but whatever.
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We (Big Ass Lens) just posted the video from this song at yesterday's show. If you look at around 2:03, when Dan says "you could hope for substance," he looks back at Chris, smiles, sings a line, then looks back at him again and cracks up. Then for the next 15 secs is trying to contain his laughter. bigasslens.com
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People really need to drop the desperate coke comment. Its just beyond ridiculous and makes a fool out of whomever believes it. The band doesn't even party hard, let alone snort blow before shows. Brooklyn Vegan commenters can be a hateful and jealous lot. Don't let that garbage come in here.
If you're a singer, you would also know that Coke is the absolute last thing in the world you would do before a show. It destroys your range and numbs your throat. Hell, Dan and Ed aren't even smokers...let alone coked up. Also, they had a dressing room at the show. Even if you were going to do that, you wouldn't do it side-stage with everyone watching you AT THAT MOMENT.
Drop that trash.
Oh...and Michael Mac collaboration is amazing. His soul is unbelievable. Good day of news for them.
Score = 3
That would explain why my voice always sucks live. Or should I put that in the past tense...
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I am by no mean validating the coke story but I know for a fact Rossen is a smoker. I talked to him outside of dept. of Eagle show while he was smoking a cigarette.
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Michael McDonald > ...
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Michael McDonald > cocaine rumors
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He was at their Town Hall show back in May. I thought it was pretty cool that he was a fan.
I can't wait to download this.
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Freaking sweet.
Finally this dude is getting his due.
Superbowl Half Time Show!
Just announced.
I love how he sings through a wrapping paper tube.
-Farmer Ted
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Michael McDonald sounds like James Petralli from White Denim
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James Petralli from White Denim sounds like Michael McDonald
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Even if you were going to do that, you wouldn't do it side-stage with everyone watching you AT THAT MOMENT. >
Not to mention all the state troopers & NYPD present at the show.....and all the wind that would blown said line all over the place..... the whole notion is just dumb & mean spirited.... if you don't like GB's music then fine but why tarnish someone (who most likely) you've never met...
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HI this is Daniel,
I'm going to post something because my mother, Wendy, reads these blogs. She may very well find this.
Mother, I don't do cocaine. I've never even tried it. I don't even smoke cigarettes.
Don't listen to these kids.
I laughed on stage because I was having a good time. Sometimes I joke around with Chris Bear during shows. I may have looked a bit haggard. That's because we've been playing festivals for a weeks and and I'm a little burnt out. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. It was nice to turn around every now and then and watch the boats go by.
It's enough to worry about our basic well-being while we are on the road, so I don't particularly appreciate rumors spreading about false drug habits, no matter how ridiculous.
Thanks yall
happy posting
Daniel
Score = 8
Wow Daniel, I'm sorry you had to waste your time clearing this up. Trent Reznor was right the first time he quit Twitter. To everyone else, at what point do we realize all this Internet noise can have a real effect on people's personal lives when even one of indie rock's biggest artists doesn't feel safe from slander? Just because its on the Internet doesn't mean its automatically a joke, as the guy who wrote the post on bigasslens.com about Dan suggested. I hate how there are people who justify all the lies and rude comments made about others by saying it doesn't count since its on the Internet. I can't wait for the day when they find a way to regulate all this "anonymous" junk.
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yah, when the day comes where everything people write on the internet has their real name attached to it, we'll see how many big time talkers and rumor starters we have out there in the world.
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Daniel, thanks for clearing things up, but you still kind of left us hanging on how the hell you got Michael "I can't believe I'm not in love anymore" McDonald to sing the hook.
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"Keep forgetting" sorry.
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Anybody who knows Daniel knows that story is complete bullshit.
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I'd have to say this beats Robin Pecknold's post.
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DJ Red-Cent - Two Weeks Of The Hard Knocks (Jay Z vs. Grizzly Bear)
http://bit.ly/Vwqxa
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nice mix
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btw Mrs Rossen, even if Daniel did do blow, and I'm sure he didn't, it's no thing really. it's just a silly phase that rock-stars sometimes go through, and yeah, it's not great in terms of one's health, and supporting bad people in countries like Colombia, and its carbon footprint's pretty awful, but it's not worth getting upset about. maybe all this is revenge for Ed Droste's tweets about Lady Ga Ga's people doing blow at Summer Sonic. that wasn't kind either, was it Ed?
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My brother's first words on hearing this: "Yamo-G-Bear."
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Your brother earned you a positive score for that. Made me laugh.
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a 30-second itunes clip is too long, i feel really icky and gross from michael mcdonald. must take shower now
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This could be a full circle if Grizzly Bear would cover I keep forgetting. I want to see that just kike I want to see Antony AND THE Johnsons cover beyonce.
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Holy Shit -- Michael McD just called the Grizz out for being UnPunk!
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To the jay-z and beyonce comment pitch fork released this statement today!
As pretty much the entire music blogosphere already knows, Jay-Z, along with Beyoncé and Solange Knowles, attended JellyNYC's free Grizzly Bear show at Brooklyn's Williamsburg Waterfront yesterday. This surprise royal visit led to this pretty hilarious video of Jay and Beyoncé swaying to "Ready, Able".
As he tells MTV today, Jay himself doesn't see anything weird about the world's most recognizable rapper going to see an indie band: "I don't understand why people are always surprised to see me at shows! I've always said that I believe in good music and bad music, so I'm always at those type of events. I like music. The second Blueprint, the reason it was so all over the place was because I love music so much, so there's records on there with Lenny Kravitz and Sean Paul and Dr. Dre. I've done records with Chris Martin. I'm all over the place because of my taste in music."
But Grizzly Bear isn't exactly the same thing as Lenny Kravitz, and Jay knows it. To hear Jay tell it, he hopes Grizzly Bear and "the indie rock movement" in general will "push rap". Here's the exact quote:
"[Grizzly Bear is] an incredible band. The thing I want to say to everyone-- I hope this happens because it will push rap, it will push hip-hop to go even further-- what the indie rock movement is doing right now is very inspiring. It felt like us in the beginning. These concerts, they're not on the radio, no one hears about them, and there's 12,000 people in attendance. And the music that they're making and the connection they're making to people is really inspiring. So I hope that they have a run where they push hip-hop back a little bit, so it will force hip-hop to fight to make better music. Because it can happen. Because that's what rap did to rock.
"When rock was the dominant force in music, rap came and said, 'Y'all got to sit down for a second, this is our time.' And we've had a stranglehold on music since then. So I hope indie rock pushes rap back a bit because it will force people to make great music for the sake of making great music."
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Stop whining, people do coke. Big deal.
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If you're going to stop listening to a rock band because its members use coke, be prepared to throw out a TON of records.
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the only thing Daniel has ever put up his nose is a neti pot
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