So sad when an instrument is stolen! Years ago, I had a bass stolen while in NYC as part of a pit band for a theater group. In a separate incident, I had my car window smashed in Philly and a beautiful old Mexican Telecaster was lifted. Lessons learned.

This is really nice -- i admire the risk people take covering Beatles songs because, you know, by comparison you can never really win.  
 
That said, I didn't recall this song so it is a fresh tune for me.  I thought it was all really really good.  The organ in particular has a really warm feeling to it.  If I was going to pick on anything, at times the lead vocal sits a little too far back in the mix, especially toward the end.  But i struggle mightily getting vocals together so I am a lousy perspective on that point. 
 
Not sure why Lennon singled this one out for scorn.  Sometimes I think he said stuff just to get people going.  Thanks for sharing!

michaelhanson
...I have always thought this song was great and loved the chord progression...

 
There was once a thread in a Beatles forum about the White Album, where the topic was "if the album was a single album rather than a double, which songs would you want to see included". People had submitted their personal choices. Looking through all the different lists, I was amazed to find that nobody had included "Cry Baby Cry". I would certainly have included it myself. I think it's a gem. I was also a bit surprised that almost everyone had included "Birthday", which I regard as a filler.

The Beatles were/are Mason's. That's the spell you're under and that's their fairy dust. 666. (j/k)

You probably have better sensitivity to high frequencies than I do (I'm 66). I have to rely on spectrum analyzers to inform me about content above 15 KHz - and, of course, comments by folks such as yourself who can hear things that I cannot. So thanks for that observation.
 
 

Thank you for the kind words! I always appreciate it when song posters supply technical details, so here goes.
 
Curiously, my best mixes have always come easily, if not predictably so. This one took about 4 hours in total: two hours for tracking, one for vocals and one for editing/mixing. Then I went back and spent some time tweaking after getting comments here, softening the exciter on vocals and bringing up the bass by a decibel.
 
I'd like to think I'm getting faster because I continue to get better at it, but the truth is I've had far more mixes that took days or weeks to finish and I still wasn't happy with them in the end. Near as I can tell, the difference seems to be in how much patience I exercise in the early phases, rather than in mixing or mastering skills.
 
I jammed on this tune every day for two weeks before starting to record it. Then I sang along with the instrument tracks many more times. It was that repetition that allowed me to record the verses in one take, start to finish, then the choruses, no comping. Luckily the song fell into my natural range so I only had to tweak pitch on a few high harmony notes that I'd struggled to hit. You can't beat a "live" performance, IMO, flaws and all. Embrace the flaws!
 
Beyond that, there is no secret sauce. I am most obsessive about vocal effects, often trying and rejecting multiple approaches. This time I used the Cakewalk CA2A on every vocal track, something I'd not done before. It does a great job and is light on the CPU, and has now become part of my go-to toolkit. When I got done mixing, it all sounded kind of bland and safe, so I wanted to throw in something a little daring. I tried a number of effects before settling on the edgy MVintageRotary on the third verse.
 
Other effects used:
ValhallaPlate for vox reverb
ValhallaRoom for instrument reverb
tkDelay on vox
Pro-L on the drum bus
iZotope exciter on acoustic guitar
Pro-C2 for de-essing
Noveltech Vocal Enhancer on BGVs
 
That last one is new to me. I had just bought it that day and was looking for an excuse to try it out. I got carried away with it on the first pass and ended up backing it off quite a bit. It's a nice effect, even if it's just a specialized equalizer. But it's a fine line between "bright" and "harsh" and I'm learning through trial and error just where that line is for this effect. It's about 30%.
 
 
The mastering chain is so light-handed it almost doesn't need to be there. It's Ozone 7's EQ and limiter, but it could have been anything. When you're only shaving a dB off stray peaks, it really doesn't matter what limiter you use. Similarly, when you're only doing broad 1dB boosts and cuts, any equalizer will do. Insight and SPAN terminate the chain.
 
OK, maybe there is one trade secret: I like to perform vocals on a Sunday afternoon after having played a gig on Saturday night. The four hours of singing the night before will have loosened my voice and stretched my range, while the subsequent 12 hours of rest takes off the harsh edge. And lets the ringing in my ears subside.
 
I've got a gig tonight, but rather than spend the following day recording vocals I'll be having fun with my new Crumar Mojo that's scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I've already recorded rhythm tracks for a cover of Time is Tight, in anticipation of the Mojo's arrival.

A+ Dave.

Bumping this thread and tune because it's just that DANG GOOD!!!!
 
Any objections? If so, please reply here in this thread which will result in continuing to bump it..... 
 
On a side note, listening to this tune in all honesty has helped me realize what I am trying to do with my own music, even though I know it is a cover tune and very exceptionally well done in my opinion, it has inspired me to change directions with my own music in various ways, or by that I mean that I learned a lot of things listening to it and how music should be made.
 
So many thanks Bitflipper! Keep on Keepin' on!
 
Bobby
 

I think George Martin would approve … Fantastic work !

Glad I caught this. Really fine work on the mix and the singing. You treated it as a period piece and that's cool
 
-Tom 

Flagrant Regard
NICE interpretation!! Love the tones you get out of everything. Would love to hear the snare/stick up a bit. All else is great!  Hope you're well! Last I remembered, you'd gotten robbed! Very good to see/hear you're up to great things!  
 
Later,
Martin 

Coincidentally "stick up a bit" is how I hit the high notes nowadays.
 
Yes, Martin, I am well, thank you. Since the robbery I've been gradually re-equipping my live rig. After the latest addition of the Crumar Mojo, I now pretty much have my dream setup: Korg Kronos as my main synth, QSC stereo amplification, Ventilator on the Mojo. I have no excuses anymore - when it sounds bad, it's all on me!
 
I've been on the lookout for another semi-obscure oldie to interpret. At the moment, I'm thinking about a prog-ish version of John Barleycorn Must Die. Traffic did it straight-up with the emphasis on acoustic guitar, but I'm thinking some nice distorted organ on the Mojo.