Disco Beethoven 5th
Yi Pressimone
"A Fifth of Beethoven" is a disco instrumental recorded by Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band, adapted from the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. The record was produced by production music and sound effects recording producer Thomas J. Valentino.[4] The "Fifth" in the song's title is a pun, referencing a liquid measure approximately equal to one-fifth of a gallon, a popular size for bottles containing liquor, as well as Beethoven's Fifth Symphony from which the song was adapted.
Released as a single by Private Stock Records in 1976, the song debuted at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and climbed to number 1 within 19 weeks, remaining there for one week. In 1977, it was licensed to RSO Records for inclusion on the best-selling Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. The song is one of Murphy's few Top 40 hits.
The response was underwhelming, but "Fifth" caught the interest of Private Stock Records owner Larry Uttal. Murphy signed on to Private Stock and recorded the album A Fifth of Beethoven, containing the title track and first single of the same name. The single was credited to "Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band" upon encouragement from Private Stock, which believed it would be more successful if credited to a group rather than an individual. However, two days following the record's release, Private Stock discovered the existence of another Big Apple Band (which promptly changed its name to Chic). The record was later re-released and credited to "The Walter Murphy Band", then simply to "Walter Murphy".[7]
"A Fifth of Beethoven" started at number 80 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually reached number 1 within 19 weeks, where it stayed for one week. The single sold two million copies, while the album sold about 750,000 copies. The second single, a rendition of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee", titled "Flight '76", reached number 44 on the Hot 100.[7]
On Oct. 9, 1976, Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "A Fifth Of Beethoven." The music is a disco rendition of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Op. 67, First Movement.
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any ways, as I was driving to work, I heard this jazz version of Beethoven Symphony No.5, and It was very very good too, and when I came home, I also heard this on family guy (tv show), Can any one give me a link to it, or the real name?(I tried to find it on youtube or google but it doesn't work)
May 1, 2008 at 02:18 AM I don't know if this is the one you listened to, but growing up in the '80's I can never forget the perenial classic knowns as "Hooked On Classics" (as well as HOC 2 and 3). These were albums (those large round petroleum based discs that were played on a record player) containing "classic" tunes by such composers as Mozart and Beethoven and given a nice late '70's early '80's disco beat. "Hooked on Classics 1" had Beethoven's fifth. It was performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the diretion of Louis Clark, who was also the idea man behind the albums. You may be able to find digital versions of these albums around. HOC 2 and 3 are available on the American version of iTunes. The one with the Beethoven 5 however is not. Maybe this puts you on the right track (pun intended).
A Beethoven Symphony Jazz style? Isn't that tasteless? Considering composer intent? I mean if it doesn't match composer intent it is per definitionem tasteless, or so I was told by various people on this forum.
The song that I'm reasonably sure you're looking for is called "A Fifth of Beethoven" from the album of the same name by Walter Murphy. Released in 1976, the album is full of a bunch of classical pieces with a disco twist.
May 1, 2008 at 09:19 PM When I was in high school we did the 5th of Beethoven, and had a jazz solo improvisation type section to it...So I guess I can see it happening. It is pretty cheesey but I loved playing it at that age!!
Do not hate me for this. I understand that disco may not be the music that really sets your heart on fire. Your soul may not thrill to drum machines and repetitive rhythms. I am asking you to bear with me for a moment. In exchange, I promise revolution.
Classical meets disco and funk in this arrangement which features a full band backing track. Originally released in 1976, it rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart before being included on the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever.
Every so often, an established artist releases a live LP which threatens to eclipse their studio recordings. David Live is by far and away the best document of Bowie's music as he made the luxurious transition from futuristic gothic to plastic soul; Rock 'n' Roll Animal, the first of Lou Reed's solo live records, contains a drama and intensity which was lacking on his best-seller Transformer. Similarly, with 'Beethoven Was Deaf', a recording of Morrissey's Your Arsenal tour, there is a raw power, energy and conviction which wholly enriches the already muscular force of his recent records. 'Beethoven Was Deaf' is Morrissey unleashed: a fast, hard, but ultimately elegiac selection of songs which surely confirms Morrissey's position as one of the great performers of the post-war period.
As a document of the Your Arsenal tour, 'Beethoven Was Deaf' is formal and lucid. Avoiding unnecessary sound-bites of crowd noise, technical hitches and on-stage patter, the record explodes into life with a fast and furious version of You're the One for Me, Fatty (a modern love song if ever there was one) and maintains a hard, robust pace to the conclusion of National Front Disco, which breaks down into three minutes of feedback and uncontrolled white noise. So far, 'Beethoven Was Deaf' has answered point-for-point the glam-heavy production skills of Mick Ronson's wall of sound. With Seasick, Yet Still Docked, which finds Morrissey in a mood of near pastoral melancholy, the delicacy and intensity of the studio sound is maintained. This mood continues, gradually accelerating, until Jack the Ripper, when Morrissey makes a great pop moment by allowing his voice to soar above the sinister melody: 'Crash into my arms, I want to... You don't agree, but you don't refuse - I know you...' This is something which Morrissey achieves with effortless ease - the ironic, mock-heroic plea; he's been quickening pulses with this technique since the days of Wonderful Woman and How Soon is Now?, and it never fails.
The latter half of this recording is an exercise in tightening the performance to breaking point. From the hymn to hope, I Know It's Gonna Happen, Someday to the ominous challenge of We'll Let You Know ('...we may even be, the most depressing people you've ever met...') there's a steady rising of tempo, making the opening chords of Suedehead ring out like a peal of bells. The fast pace returns, ripping through We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful and concluding with the glam-thrash of Glamourous Glue. Rather than presenting a shadow of a concert, 'Beethoven Was Deaf' runs like a new Morrissey record, exploring a selection of songs and bringing them to perfection.
But one is aware, even while offering this sincere, considered opinion, that Morrissey is surrounded by detractors and cynics; praise for his work is written off as fanatical hyperbole, whilst musicians with one tenth of his talent and originality are hailed as new saviours of pop. Why has Morrissey suffered this fate? It is cruel for any artist, in any medium, to suddenly find himself, as it were, sent to Coventry - and for no reason other than his tenacity to his ideas and his aesthetic. Last summer, the British music press embarked on a self-satisfied witch hunt because of the 'controversy' surrounding nationalistic imagery on Your Arsenal: a song about hopelessness and anger, entitled The National Front Disco was assessed with child-like literalness to be a rallying cry for The British Movement. Anyone who has read Bill Buford's Amongst the Thugs, with its description of a real National Front disco, will see more clearly that Morrissey - as he always has done - is mining the confusion of male adolescence and male tribalism for his stories and his images. Gilbert & George, we must remember, have been equally taken to task for the ambiguity of some of their recent work, most notably the New Patriot pictures. Morrissey's arraignment was continued because of his use of the Union Jack on stage; The Jam, The Who and Ian Dury have all used Union Jack imagery: as Morrissey said, in a recent interview with Tony Parsons, 'When I do it, people think I'm Hitler.' It seems absurd that people cannot distinguish between dangerously nationalistic performance and the artist's right to contextualise his material.
Morrissey sings about the impossibility of intimacy, and about the febrile volatility of 'ordinary boys'. This has been his position as a lyricist and as a pop icon since The Smiths recorded This Charming Man. It would be peculiar if everyone subscribed to his point of view, just as it would be peculiar if everyone found themselves reflected in the music of Joni Mitchell or the novels of Amis or Winterson. The important thing, beyond the importance of music or writing which can engage directly with emotion, is to preserve, from the litter that lies about us, the power of those artists who contribute something wholly new. Before Morrissey, Britain didn't have a musical spokesperson for a certain vision of life; his track record over the last ten years has revealed a constant renewal of ideas and performance. If Kill Uncle was reckoned by some to be his weakest record, then Your Arsenal, produced by the late Mick Ronson, was certainly his strongest since The Queen is Dead. With 'Beethoven Was Deaf', Morrissey has tightened his work to a tautness which responds to every emotional inflection. From the hard rocking of You're Gonna Need Someone On Your Side to the near unbearable intensity of Jack the Ripper, there is a completeness about this record which makes it a classic of its kind.
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