Chris Cornell’s Version: Billie Jean Which David Cook Sang
Listen to Chris Cornell – frontman for Soundgarden and Audioslave – cover Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. This was the version/arrangement used by David Cook for his Top 10 American Idol Season 7 Song. Then listen to David Cook’s version here. They are pretty much the same. Cornell’s version that’s playing is the acoustic one. He has played it live several times before with electric backing and that version is even closer to Cook’s. Before you launch into a vitriolic fit in the comments section if you feel I’m over emphasising this whole arrangement thing, do go to the David Cook version post where I’ve tried to explain why I feel credit is important.
By 70smom, March 29, 2008 @ 11:24 am
I just don’t get what the so-called controversy is all about. Ryan Seacrest introduced Cook’s song as Chris Cornell’s version of Billie Jean and reiterated that clarification on the results show adding that Cornell himself called to say he loved the performance. Cornell also called in to Ryan Seacrest’s radio show and said what a tremendous job Cook did with his arrangement. They discussed whether the judges might not have heard Ryan’s introduction but agreed that they were all industry professionals and should have known, especially Randy Jackson since Cornell identified him as a personal friend. Simon Cowell removed all doubt by telling EW that he knew where David got the arrangement but it didn’t matter-David was brilliant. That leaves Paula as perhaps clueless but in this case I doubt it. Regarding Doxology: a former Idol whose name escapes me at the moment said he originally thought that Cook didn’t credit Doxology only to find out later that he did but the producers chose not to air it. Cook credited Whitesnake for Daytripper and that at least did manage to make it into his pre-performance broadcast interview. Contestents have no control over what the producers choose to air and if Ryan doesn’t mention it in the intro how are they supposed to know if their comments are cut for the live broadcast. Would you have them interrupt each judge after every comment to say, by the way, that’s so and so’s arrangement. If you, by any chance, find my performance incredible, well, I had nothing whatsoever to do with it. Give me a break! Do you really think after seven seasons the judges are that naive? A bunch of whiny bloggers without all the facts can call foul all over the internet and the poor contestent can’t even defend him/herself. David supposedly also stole the Incubus rendition of Hello but I listened to it on Youtube and frankly don’t see the comparison. Cook’s performance, vocals and arrangement was orders of magnitude better than Boyd’s besides, I didn’t see Lionel Richie raving about Incubus. For all we know Cook might even have mentioned them only to have it cut out. Contestents should not be blamed for omissions by the producers. They are being judged on their song choice, the arrangement they pick and their live performance in front of millions of viewers and they only have one lousy week to pull it all together. Not to mention they are at the mercy of whatever lame theme the producers throw at them. Cudos to them all. Go to Youtube and listen to David Cook’s work with his former band Axiom and his independently released solo album Analog Heart before Fox erases all evidence. He’s perfectly capable of writing and composing his own lyrics and music, too bad he can’t use it on Idol.
The show is all about covering other artist’s music-it’s what they all have to do. The bravery and originality come into play when as in David’s case he chooses an arrangement that the average AI viewer might not be familiar with or willing to accept. His performance of Billie Jean simply takes your breath away regardless of whose version it is. It was a huge risk to take such a well known song and do Cornell’s totally different take on it and still manage to resonate with an audience that for the most part probably wants their covers more familiar and within their comfort zone. Listen to Cornell’s live version and then listen to David Cook’s. It might be the same arrangement and not to take anything away from Chris Cornell, but David takes it to a whole other level. Go read Cowell’s EW interview. It’s no secrect he originally thought that David Cook had no charisma and couldn’t perform without his guitar. In the interview he says that David’s performance on Wednesday was in a totally different league and made the other performances seem almost “ridiculous”. My point is that David Cook is the real deal no matter how you cut it. He can blow away the competition and do it with his own music. I almost don’t want him to win because I’m afraid if he does all that raw natural talent will be crammed into a safe little American Idol box. And that, my friend, would be a real trajedy.
By ListenUp, March 29, 2008 @ 12:52 pm
Well, not a vitriolic fit, but a nice thesis nonetheless. I think I’ve explained what my issue as a viewer is in my post on Cook’s version, which i implored readers to take a look at in this post on Cornell’s version. To quote it – “Some might argue – what’s the big deal. Well, the big deal is that a viewer who for example, is not aware of the existence of the Chris Cornell version of Billie Jean could easily be misled into believing that David Cook came up with that absolutely mind blowing arrangement and start thinking that Cook is a great songwriter when until now, Cook has only proved himself a great singer with a keen sense for choice of arrangement.”
While I agree with you that contestants can’t be blamed for what is edited out of the show, it really is of no relevance if the judges know or don’t know where the arrangement’s from – it’s the viewers who VOTE and they should be informed clearly on an arrangement that goes beyond the original radically, which wasn’t done – simply because, to take a song and change it around requires a certain skill and that can wrongfully be associated with someone (thus generating votes) who is perhaps a very good singer who can rattle out a GIVEN song. Which i guess, is all that is expected of an American Idol. They’ve started doing the crediting thing now, but Eleanor Rigby blew everyone out and probably got him a lot of votes just for the arrangement. Cook to his credit has been trying hard to get across like he did this week while talking of his fascination for itunes and the ideas he gets from there. Also think Cornell is incomparable, but that could just be the Soundgarden fan in me talking.
- a whiny blogger
By 70smom, March 30, 2008 @ 10:53 am
I understand your point, still, Seacrest announced it as Chris Cornell’s version. To me, as a viewer, that signals something that isn’t necessarily what I might expect. It tells me this probably isn’t the Bille Jean I’m familiar with and I have to tell you when I read on a spoiler site that Cook was doing Billie Jean I thought Oh, no! that’s not him at all. So when Seacrest said Cornell’s version I thought good it’s not going to be what I anticipated even though I wasn’t familiar with that version. Anyone at all familiar with Cook, and I just started watching the damn show in March, knew he tended to find obscure arrangements. From the very beginning of the song I, and anyone else listening realized how radically different it was going to be so I was completely blown away after the performance because it was an amazing rendition of a killer arrangement. After the show I immediately went to Youtube to check out where he found that incredible arrangement because I thought it fit the lyrics/story so much better so I googled Chris Cornell Billie Jean and that, I gather, is just what thousands of other people did. If you look at the comments after the Youtube video of Cornell you can see he netted a whole new audience and how is that bad for him? Chris himself has to appreciate that as I’m sure his music downloads increased exponentially afterward. From your post it seems you expected Seacrest to say something along the lines of “Now performing Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell’s radically different arrangement of Billie Jean….” and even that’s probably not enough informatiom for viewers who weren’t familiar with either Cornell or his bands. In my case he would also have had to mention Black Hole Sun or some other song I knew from the radio but didn’t really know the band behind it. So can you see my point-now we’re getting into ridiculous territory because that’s just not a reasonable expectation. From what I understand this kind of controversy isn’t new on this show. Apparently the same thing happened with that Daughtry guy when he did Live’s version of Walk the Line and gave props on a pre-performance video only to have the producers cut it. Then, of course, the judges go on to rave about the originality blah, blah, blah and everyone familiar with Live’s version had a “vitriolic fit”. You’d think the producers, if they truly cared about such things, would have learned a lesson but no it continues this season. Cook isn’t the only contestant this season who has done other arrangements from the original and so far I haven’t seen the same kind of uproar over it. I’m sure these mini-controversies are great for ratings (come on, we are dealing with Fox network home of Faux News) and stir up a bunch of interest in the show, if only to have people watch so they can vote off the evil “cheater” du jour. Like I said before I only started to watch this month. I had completely stopped watching TV, oh, sometime shortly after the X-Files ended because eveything was such drivel and the reality shows- don’t even get me started! I was always kind of bemused at all the talk at work the next day about Survivor or Idol or whatever and used to think how sad it was that the whole world’s falling apart and this is the only thing people care about? I watched the Daily Show and The Colbert Report and that’s about it. I got my news from independent sources on the web and apparently the night after Cook did Hello on AI I saw some headline where Lionel Richie was raving about some dude on AI so I checked it out on Youtube. So, yeah, I used to like Lionel Richie back in the 80’s. I thought the kid (who is my daughter’s age) was a pretty decent singer with a lot of potential so I started watching to see what he’d do next and will stop watching the moment he’s voted off. So, okay, I’m prejudiced as well but so are you regarding Cornell. I was intrigued enough to do some research after I saw he was from OK (brother lives there) and found his pre-Idol stuff online. He’s been in bands since high school playing original material in bars and small town venues so it’s not like he’s just some karaoke(sp?) singer. Did you notice the orange band he wears? It’s from a little girl who has leukemia who’s a fan of his and he wears it every show and doesn’t say a word. It has her name on one side and “Do what you have to do” on the other and he wears it so the kid sees he’s supporting her, not so he can garner any sympathy votes. He has a brother who has cancer (for whom he wrote a song, AC) so he knows what she’s going through as do I since I lost a sister. Seems to me he’s a pretty decent guy and I hate to see him catching flak I don’t think he deserves.
By ListenUp, March 30, 2008 @ 11:26 am
I think there’s a bit of confusion with my main issue which is not with the crediting done this week but what was omitted regarding Eleanor Rigby. The keyboards in that actually blew me away until i got to know it was taken from Doxology. A lot of people were ranting earlier about Hello being from Incubus, but Cook did a whole lot more with it.
And as far as Idol is concerned i seriously think he’s in with a great chance if he can keep the momentum. I’ve not been a great fan of Archuleta or Carly’s vocals right from the outset though everyone were talking like they were the ones to beat.
At the risk of earning some (very long) brickbats about how it was one BIG mistake – heh – Thank You, for dropping by.
By Anonymous, March 30, 2008 @ 12:44 pm
Like I said in my first post: Blake Lewis, the former AI contestant who’s friends with Doxology, said that Cook gave props to his boys but the producers cut the comments.
By TxJen, March 31, 2008 @ 3:15 pm
hmmm
I did catch Ryan’s credit, but I was confused when it seemed that Randy, Paula, and Simon all thought that Cook had figured that one out for himself. I’m glad that Randy and Simon have figured it out.
And, to be quite honest, I am thrilled that millions of people are getting exposed to some amazing music via American Idol delivery. First, with the Jeff Buckley/Hallelujah cover, and now the Cornell that you don’t necessarily hear on the radio. So, overall a good thing. And, kudos to Cook for going for that particular cover. He pulled it off, and I don’t think that many could!
By Matt, April 17, 2008 @ 6:25 pm
And then David Cook did his arrangement for “Always Be My Baby” by Mariah Carey and proved that he can create his own beautiful arrangements. As far as his arrangement being identical to Cornell’s version. Listen closer. Although it follows faithfully in many respects, he uses his own phrasing and character and the arrangement is clearly fleshed out in comparison. PS Chris Cornell himself said that he loved. David will have a top ten hit by this time next year.