memphiz
07-30-2004, 09:14 PM
WAINWRIGHT, ALBERTA - The latest song from country artist Paul Brandt is a cover version of C.W. McCall's 1976 hit Convoy.
While it's sure to please fans of the original, the tune has got some Canadian soldiers feeling a little frustrated.
Paul Brandt on the set of his new video
That's because the soldiers were drafted to help Brandt make a video for his song – but they were ordered to disguise the fact that they're Canadian.
"I don't really like that. I thought it was supposed to be about the Canadian military, that's what they told us. Then we turned out to be Americans," said Pte.Derrick Ganney, one of the soldiers involved in the shoot, which took place on a training base in Wainwright, Alta.
The point of contention stems from the song's lyrics, which are partly C.B. lingo. In the original, the convoy of the title breaks through a barricade set up by the Illinois National Guard.
The new video recreates that moment with the soldiers in Alberta subbing for the Guardsmen.
Troopers like Ganney were told to cover up their red-and-white shoulder patches so the Canadian flag wouldn't be visible. This way, Brandt's rendition of the song could be faithful to the 1976 version.
"I don't like it. I think it's kind of misleading," said Pte. Jonathon Barren, another soldier who served as an extra. Barren said he felt kind of like a "second-hand soldier."
The makers of the video say they're just following the lyrics as they were written. According to producer Petros Danabassis, the Canadian military was "more than happy to be there and provide anything they could."
As for Brandt, who has played for military audiences around the world, he says the song is a way to show his appreciation to Canada's army – no matter how the soldiers are camouflaged.
When Convoy first came out, it was a No. 1 hit on both the pop and country charts. C.W. McCall was the brainchild of Bill Fries, an advertising executive who created the song as a commercial jingle before it became a pop number. It inspired the 1978 movie of the same name.
Brandt decided to record the song when he and his wife heard it while waiting in a theatre for a movie to start.
"She said 'You really oughta cut that one,'" Brandt told the Calgary Sun. "I remember hearing my dad sing that song around the house all the time."
It is the second single off his latest release, This Time Around.
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/photos/brandt_paul040730.jpg
Paul Brandt on the set of his new video
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/photos/canada_covered040730.jpg
Camouflage extends to the Canadian flag
While it's sure to please fans of the original, the tune has got some Canadian soldiers feeling a little frustrated.
Paul Brandt on the set of his new video
That's because the soldiers were drafted to help Brandt make a video for his song – but they were ordered to disguise the fact that they're Canadian.
"I don't really like that. I thought it was supposed to be about the Canadian military, that's what they told us. Then we turned out to be Americans," said Pte.Derrick Ganney, one of the soldiers involved in the shoot, which took place on a training base in Wainwright, Alta.
The point of contention stems from the song's lyrics, which are partly C.B. lingo. In the original, the convoy of the title breaks through a barricade set up by the Illinois National Guard.
The new video recreates that moment with the soldiers in Alberta subbing for the Guardsmen.
Troopers like Ganney were told to cover up their red-and-white shoulder patches so the Canadian flag wouldn't be visible. This way, Brandt's rendition of the song could be faithful to the 1976 version.
"I don't like it. I think it's kind of misleading," said Pte. Jonathon Barren, another soldier who served as an extra. Barren said he felt kind of like a "second-hand soldier."
The makers of the video say they're just following the lyrics as they were written. According to producer Petros Danabassis, the Canadian military was "more than happy to be there and provide anything they could."
As for Brandt, who has played for military audiences around the world, he says the song is a way to show his appreciation to Canada's army – no matter how the soldiers are camouflaged.
When Convoy first came out, it was a No. 1 hit on both the pop and country charts. C.W. McCall was the brainchild of Bill Fries, an advertising executive who created the song as a commercial jingle before it became a pop number. It inspired the 1978 movie of the same name.
Brandt decided to record the song when he and his wife heard it while waiting in a theatre for a movie to start.
"She said 'You really oughta cut that one,'" Brandt told the Calgary Sun. "I remember hearing my dad sing that song around the house all the time."
It is the second single off his latest release, This Time Around.
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/photos/brandt_paul040730.jpg
Paul Brandt on the set of his new video
http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/photos/canada_covered040730.jpg
Camouflage extends to the Canadian flag