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A cappella group delivers silky smooth cover of 'The Longest Time' by Billy Joel
These kids nailed it!
Rozzette Cabrera
07.31.20

Not all artists are brave enough to sing a capella. It’s because this type of music serves as a true test for them to show their tonality, ear training, intonation, and overall talent as musicians.

A group of young men was brave enough to perform an acapella version of a Billy Joel classic.

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YouTube

Cory Blackmon, Chris Bandy, JP Stephens, John Frederick, Cooper Case, and Mark Denman decided to do a cover of The Longest Time. Before their performance, they only had 4 hours to learn the song and practice singing it together.

Wearing shirts with various shades of blue, the guys shot their video with no other help or advanced tools.

In fact, one of them had to get the camera recording before hurrying back to their formation. You can also hear a mellow finger-snapping in the background. It helped keep the tempo.

The singers harmonized really well.

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YouTube

It didn’t look like they had little time to prepare. They were able to deliver a mind-blowing performance.

They delivered wonderful solo parts.

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YouTube

The guys have unique voices. They sound really good during their solo parts. And the most impressive part? They were able to create an awesome harmony as one. Their voices blended really well.

The group couldn’t believe the success their video had.

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YouTube

They shot and uploaded the video sometime in 2016. They were amazed to find more than 2.5 million people were able to watch it when they got back to it.

The performance earned different reactions.

There are viewers who found the performance outstanding. There are also people who found flaws.

One viewer said:

“I really love the rendition of the song performed by you guys. The intonation was pretty much spot on. If there was anything I did not like was your timing was off. Other than that this video was fantastic. Nicely done.”

Another one shared:

“Considering you all only had 4 hours to learn this, I think you did a great job! Keeping in time together is not as easy as it seems and comes with practice. Well done!”

A viewer also commented:

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting such great quality. This actually blew me away. I love how strong the bassline is.”

The performance wasn’t meant to be perfect.

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YouTube

The group isn’t made of professional singers. They’re just a couple of guys who wanted to sing for fun.

If they were out of time at some points, there’s no problem with that. They shared the video out of love for music and singing. They simply wanted to share their talent.

To defend themselves, one of the guys posted:

“If it sounds like one of the soloists is out of time, it is NOT his fault. All of us are able to keep rhythm, but our time constraints kept us from learning this to the point where we could perform it straight through live. I posted this video, not because I thought it was perfect, but because we all enjoy music, and I wanted these hard-working and talented guys to see the fruits of their labor.”

The guys are clearly talented. Not everyone can sing the way they did. Plus, this was a capella. No digital corrections and modifications were made to make their voices sound better. It was just pure talent and love for music.

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