Beyonce is getting dragged over the coals for singing with a guide track at the Inaugural swearing in. But listen, kids, she was not lip synching. The pre-tapes are done by all live shows just in case something goes wrong. Today I spoke with the pastor from the Brooklyn Tabernacle and guess what?
The choir–300 strong– had help during their number from their CD. “It’s impossible to get 300 voices blended in the wind and cold like that,” says Pastor Jim about his amazing group. “They sang live, but they had some help from a track.”
Who didn’t have a pre-record? Pastor Jim’s wonderful soloist, Alicia Olatuja. Also, James Taylor and Kelly Clarkson. But “The Star Spangled Banner” is notoriously tough, and Beyonce wasn’t wrong to have a guide track. You can hear her singing live at the beginning of the song, too. Alicia, by the way, comes from St. Louis, home of great singers like the late Fontella Bass.
Pastor Jim says, “She’s been getting calls from the media all the time since Monday.”
Meanwhile, local Brooklynites and New Yorkers of all kinds are invited to come over at 3pm this Sunday to hear Alicia and the whole Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir perform “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” live, with no recordings, and indoors where it’s nice and warm. The Tabernacle is very easy to find, just over the Brooklyn Bridge or Manhattan Bridge, on Smith Street in Flatbush.
