Some time ago Joanne Cooper (Jo131) contacted me to see if I could turn one of her folk songs into something more commercial, like a rock ballad. Well, I've been at this game too long to be scared off by the word "commercial" so I readily agreed and we eventually settled on her most recent post. If you missed it, here's a link to the original track -

Tissue Paper Child - The Original

Joanne sent us the wav file of the vocal from the original song and bravely gave us a free hand from there on. This is what we did -

Tissue Paper Child - The Rock Ballad

Credit must go to -

Lead vocal - Joanne Cooper.
Backing vocals - Jessie Lush, Courtney Ward and Josh Kenyon.
Guitars - Beth Thomas and Roger Jackson.
Bass - Alex Richards.
Keyboards - Roger Jackson.

Many thanks to Joanne for having the courage to set us loose on this one - we certainly had a lot of fun.

ROG.

I liked this song when Jo first posted it, and commented favorably on it at that time. But it was a very intuitive move on her part to offer you the opportunity to develop the idea in a new direction.

Whereas I really liked the original idea, this manifestation of it really shines! You've orchestrated her original idea with the professional backing it screamed for all along.

Kudos to all involved in the project! Great job all around!

And Jo.. I'm so glad you abandoned the "aspiring" adjective in your self-description. This song is all anyone needs to see you as a full-fledged song writer!

ROG, Joanne, (and "the kids")

This is SO VERY COOL. "the kids" are a great addition to this.
A nice production "wrapped around" the song. (The added lead was nice).

Nice.

floyd

Both versions are outstanding, the new version is definitely more dynamic. I felt like the original version fit the song better; it just seemed more personal. Can't go wrong either way. Thanks for sharing!

Guys,

This is truly ...


From the very first note of the intro, I knew that this song was going to be well worth the listening journey.

ROG: You've done a really superb job arranging and producing Josie's work. I could never have imagined that her song could sound like this. I bet she was over the moon when she first heard it! What you've put together shouts "PROFESSIONAL" <--- left, right and centre.

Josie: I have to say that I've never heard you sing better. I was totally blown away by your performance and its showcasing by ROG's arrangement and backing. Hope you're feeling incredibly proud of this song! You've done a great job.

Jessie, Courtney, Josh, Beth, Alex: You guys are amazing how you keep on coming up with the proverbial "goods". You're a very polished team of musicians.

Best regards to all,
Noel

Hi Joanne and Rog,

like Pat said: Kudos to all involved in the project! Great job all around!


Guenter

Yeah +1 both versions are great, my preference is for the "unplugged" one though. Sorry ROG, great arrangement though

Dennis

I agree with Dennis (Joden)as I too prefer the 1st version myself as IMHO the title leans more to a "folk" ballad.
Nice solo tho'.

But all kudos to ROG and the gang for their trans-atlantic music making

Alyn

ROG,

I'll bet Joanne's feet haven't felt the ground since she heard this! My jaw dropped at the transformation.

Absolutely wonderful. I love what ya'll did with this song. The unplugged version is good but this is just beautiful - perfectly compliments Joanne's voice and makes her song sparkle with emotion.

Bravo! You and the kids get a standing O from me.

Just wanted to add for Joanne, You, and the kids that I played this for my husband who's a former career radio guy and he was super impressed (not an easy thing to do with him when it comes to music. LOL). He says "sounds like a hit" and "as good as Judy Collins" he thinks the arrangement sounds totally pro and if he was still on the air would play it.

Hi All

What an absolutely fantastic job Roger and his team did on this song. I was completely blown away when Roger sent me the song yesterday afternoon. He did all of this with just a wave file of my vocal! Incidentally it was the same vocal as I used for my version so Roger worked his magic on this too.

Pat, Guenter, Floyd, Robert, Josie, Dennis and Alyn. Thanks for the comments and for listening. Floyd, thanks again for your input on the lyrics. Noel - LOVE the pic!

Josie, thanks for pitching back with your husbands comments. I agree that it is an absolutely professional job on the arrangement. Glad you both liked the song in general.

Best regards

What they all said. I really enjoyed both and appreciated the opportunity to hear two disparate interpretations. And building that around just a vocal file is an impressive piece of arranging and production!

Whoa! I'm overwhelmed!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to give it listen and for all the really nice things that have been said. Special thanks to Joanne for providing the excellent song and lead vox and for having enough confidence in us to give us a free hand.

Thanks also to everyone from "The Team" who never tire of people telling them how good they are! I'm just so lucky to be able to work with them.

ROG.

Big +1

Kudos to all, but Jo you sound super girl!

I love it!

Great production Rog!

Later,

Wow, so cool to hear two such different versions of one song!

Love both of them!!

you have brought the joy of making music to a wonderful song. I enjoyed listening