Similarities: "Irish Blood, English Heart" and the Willams/Watson tune "Too Late"?

jjijj · Sep 24, 2008

...Was listening to (and really enjoying) the Larry Williams/Johnny Watson song "Too Late" (1967); the song seemed pretty instantly familiar -- even during the first listen -- but in a way I couldn't quite place.

Then the familiarity was spelled out for me rather dramatically. At the end of the song, when the horn 'fanfare' (just my laymans' shorthand, there's probably a better term for it) coda to "Irish Blood, English Heart" came through, note for note.

Check it out for yourself if you would like, in this YouTube clip. (The spot-on ending fanfare starts at 1:59)

My question is: do you think that this would indicate a fairly purposeful and direct homage/nod on the part of Whyte/Finn, or is this particular vamp/coda/horn-line/whatever common enough to have entered into the realm of "song-writer shibboleth"? I think the parallels would be pretty apparent to anyone, but I'm not at all sure if it's unique enough to be noteworthy. I'm really hoping that someone with a more nuanced understanding of music/songwriting can help shed some light on this for me. Many thanks.

Fireglo · Sep 24, 2008

Re: Similarities: "Irish Blood, English Heart" and the Willams/Watson tune "Too Late"

No, I don't really see the resemblance.

It sounds a bit like it but not enough to class it as a tribute or sample or whatev..

MrTheEdge · Sep 24, 2008

Re: Similarities: "Irish Blood, English Heart" and the Willams/Watson tune "Too Late"

i dont see any resemblance at all. at all :confused:

the judge · Sep 24, 2008

Re: Similarities: "Irish Blood, English Heart" and the Willams/Watson tune "Too Late"

yeah, it's the same. the same. that doesn't mean IBEH is a rip-off, sometimes these things are not related, more than one person can create a certain melody.

jjijj · Sep 25, 2008

Re: Similarities: "Irish Blood, English Heart" and the Willams/Watson tune "Too Late"

Woah woah... Certainly not accusing anyone of ripping-off anything. Using an isolated element of a song in a new song that's entirely different in every other way is nothing to be ashamed of and is no "lapse in integrity" or whatever (assuming, again, that this is even true in this instance). Everyone does it, it happens all the time. It can even considered a very kind and honorable thing when it's done artfully and with restraint (as I believe it was -- again, if it was). A respectful nod for folks that came before...

Of course, you're absolutely right that several folks can independently come up with something (Hell, if it can happen with something as complicated as Leibniz/Newton, then surely it has to happen all the time when you're dealing with something like music... there's so few notes/progressions/melodies, really). From the very start, I've left the door entirely open to this being the case. Just looking for an opinion much more expert than my own... not approaching it with any pre-formed conclusions.

As far as: