"Same Mistakes" - Jon Brion Cover by John Torres
Same Mistakes - by Jon Brion
When I was in my twenties (many moons ago), I kept getting the same recommendation from a bunch of different music friends in L.A.. They all said pretty much the same thing. "You HAVE to go see Jon Brion at the Largo!"
At that time, Largo was a small little venue on Fairfax in Hollywood, across from Canter's Deli. At the time, you would show up at like 9 or 10 on Friday, and wait in line to get in. Most of the time you were able to, and for a mere twenty dollars you could have your mind blown by an array of high profile talent. On any given night, you might see a guest artist open for Jon. Some of the more noteworthy ones I saw included Beck, Fiona Apple, Amy Man, Jack Black, and Jacob Dylan.
But regardless of who opened, I was always most impressed by Brion himself. His shows most often included performances in which he would take random requests from the audience, and select two of the most opposite ideas or songs, and somehow combine them into an unreal mashup.
He used looping technology years before anyone else was doing it and would seamlessly create songs from scratch, often starting with a drum beat and then filling out the rest of the instrumentation, piece by piece. Though his voice could be quite grating, I absolutely loved it! :)
If you search for his music, you'll find a list of very impressive credits. However, they'll mostly be film scoring credits. Among my favorites: Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Punch Drunk Love, and Magnolia
But the only solo album I know of his is called "Meaningless", which came out in 2001. I fell in love with this record way back then, but it wasn't until last year, during the pandemic that I decided I wanted to learn a song from it.
"Same Mistakes" always stood out to me. It's a melancholy song but with a sweet message about wanting to get it right in romance and not fall into old patterns and bad habits. A topic that I'm quite familiar with. :)
Anyway, below is my version of the song! I hope you enjoy it.
J
Click the Image below to watch the video!
Altadena - 1.25.22 - 6:34PM
