Richy Snyder – “Strangers In The Night”
Richy Snyder – “Strangers In The Night” – Single Review
I love it when someone tells me I’m in for “an odd one” – according to whom? First of all, it’s a strange comment to make to a guy that listens to everything…truly odder than any song would ever be, that I can tell ya – and secondly…there’s really no such thing lol. The internet eradicated that barrier between eras of music, and basically made everything have some sort of relevance at all times. It’s fair to say that a song like “Strangers In The Night” might not be exactly in lockstep with what’s happening in the right here & now…but even saying that – so what? The online realm will find the right home for a song like this on many a playlist out there, whether or not it ends up on yours, mine, or any otherwise.
Personally, I can dig it. “Strangers In The Night” was made famous by ol’ Blue Eyes of course…so maybe it’s the history of it all that’s supposed to make this experience “odd” for me…which again, it ain’t – it’s music. Apparently, as legend would have it, Sinatra didn’t like the lyrics that were originally written for this song, which at the time was actually called “Broken Guitar,” composed by Bert Kaempfert – so in came Richy’s father, Eddie Snyder, to fix that up along with co-writer Charles Singleton back in the day. They say it takes a village to raise a child…believe me when I tell ya, it can be the same for songwriting.
Anyhow. I’d be more interested in the motivations of Richy in terms of why he’d want to record this cover more than anything else I suppose. Don’t get me wrong, it turned out well, and he should be proud of what he’s gotten out of this version he’s created – but in going into making it, who honestly says to themselves – “You know what would be a great idea? Let’s see if we can one-up Frank Sinatra!” But I get it…when you’re an apple that hasn’t fallen too far from the tree, it’d be an honor for a dude like Richy to be able to perform a song that his old man had written…that all checks out & makes sense to me. Well…sort of anyhow…my dad’s a musician too, and the last thing we’d ever do is collaborate in anything at all to do with music…we might share a beer on trivia night, but I don’t think that counts in the same way. But if you ARE one of those folks out there that are in a position to do that kind of thing, which comes along every so often and is much less “odd” than many would realize…I say, hey, right on, live your dreams out loud, honor the family, pay tribute to the past…all that good stuff is cool with me.
Where I’d imagine things get complicated, at least for Richy of course, would be that it’d be impossible to escape a comparison to Sinatra in 99% of the times people like myself are reviewing his cover version. Dude’s a notoriously tough act to follow and for plenty of good reasons…Frank was among the best when it came to his presence, confidence, and his charismatic charm…impossible to duplicate, really. So I’d imagine going into a track like “Strangers In The Night,” you don’t want to be too close to a carbon copy, but at the same time, it’s also not a style of music that people tend to make much of a deviation when they go to make a variation of it either…so it’s kind of a double-edge sword. You want to make it new – but not too new – newer than old, but with that old sound & style designed to make it new again – you follow? So what actually becomes the safest bet, is to just let it rip…to not overthink it, and let the writing maintain its classic vibe, without over-modernizing it…and that’s what Richy’s pretty much done here. It’s more than karaoke, but not that far removed from staying faithful to the original we know of.
Which in this particular case, given that it’s his father that wrote it…I mean…it just makes sense to have chosen to stick to a more traditional take in a situation like this. It worked out well – I’m not hearing any reasons to complain about it…the piano, bass, and guitar all sound spectacular and have that inviting, warm glow to it all…and Richy has no problem at all holding his own when it comes to the vocals here. All-in-all, credit where credit is due, Richy’s old man certainly helped write a timeless tune…and in that regard, the closer you play this cut to the original script is always gonna pay off well – you’ll find no complaints from me about this cover – I felt like Richy Snyder did the family proud with this version of “Strangers In The Night,” and in bringing it back again, introduces it to another generation of listeners.
Find out more about Richy Snyder at his official website at: http://www.alongcameasnyder.com
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