Seeking a Very Specific Version of the Song "Over the Rainbow"
October 18, 2014 12:39 PM   Subscribe

Hi there. I'm looking for a very specific version of the song "Over the Rainbow." Details inside.

The version of "Over the Rainbow" I'm looking for is:

* a ukulele version; very, very similar to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World"
* sung by a woman
* professionally produced, not an amateur YouTube version
* NOT sung by any of the following: Aselin Debison, Jane Monheit, Jewel, Chloe Agnew, Celtic Woman, Patti LaBelle, Jane Horrocks, Katharine McPhee, Judy Garland, Liza Minelli, Drew Barrymore, Kristin Chenoweth or Kylie Minogue
* definitely real - I used to hear it all the time at a friend's house several years ago.

Can anybody help me? I've already spent three hours on Google and YouTube and it's driving me crazy!!!

Thanks!

PS - Please post a web link if at all possible.
posted by jack.brodey to Media & Arts (11 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Guitar, not ukelele, but Eva Cassidy?
posted by ChuraChura at 12:48 PM on October 18, 2014


Response by poster: Hi all. No, it's not Brittni Paiva or Eva Cassidy (although both were good guesses).

I should add that (like Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version), the version I'm looking for is very "simple" -- it may be just the singer's voice and ukulele...or if not, there's just a *little* additional instrumentation.

Also, the song I'm looking for is "Over the Rainbow" -- it's NOT the "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" medley that Kamakawiwo'ole popularized.

Please help!
posted by jack.brodey at 12:55 PM on October 18, 2014


Ingrid Michaelson?
posted by NormieP at 1:19 PM on October 18, 2014


Response by poster: No, not Ingrid Michaelson, either. :(
posted by jack.brodey at 1:34 PM on October 18, 2014


Pamela Polland?
posted by the webmistress at 1:56 PM on October 18, 2014


Response by poster: No, it wasn't Pamela Polland, but that version is quite close to the one I'm looking for. The one I'm looking for is...mellower, however. Good try, though -- I hadn't found this version in my searches.
posted by jack.brodey at 2:02 PM on October 18, 2014


Jake Shimabukuro with Angelique Kidjo. It's very much in the style that Iz did it. If you poke around Jake's youtube postings, you'll see he did a solo version of the song that's completely different, FWIW.
posted by adamrice at 3:20 PM on October 18, 2014 [1 favorite]


Well, I don't think it's a ukulele version, but I'm terrible at picking out individual instruments. So just to help with the process of elimination, here's Melody Gardot.
posted by diamondsky at 3:47 PM on October 18, 2014




Response by poster: Hi again. First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who contributed an answer here, as I'm looking for this particular track to play at my wedding! When I started this search, I was under the impression that (1) the song was sung by a woman, (2) the song was solely "Over the Rainbow" and (3) the song was a studio version, not a "live" version. I've now figured out several things...

(i) I was mistaken on point (1) -- the version I remember *was* sung by Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwoʻole (a man) after all.

(ii) What confused me most is that Iz is famous for a version of this song that is a mix of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World," and I *knew* that that was not the version I remembered. There *is* a version on YouTube labeled "OFFICIAL" that is just "Over the Rainbow," but there's live crowd noise in it starting at 2:40, and there wasn't in the version I remembered.

(iii) I finally, finally found the version I remembered -- it's from an album called "Alone in Iz World" and is a clean, studio-recorded version of just "Over the Rainbow." (I couldn't find a version of it on YouTube.)

So that's the whole long story. Thanks again, Ask Metafilter! :)
posted by jack.brodey at 9:47 AM on October 19, 2014


Best answer: Just found it online. Thanks again!
posted by jack.brodey at 10:06 AM on October 19, 2014


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