Karaoke Forums

I would love it if somebody could help me find a shorter version of "The Last Resort" by the Eagles that I could give to my local KJ who has a Compuhost system.

I love the Eagles song "The Last Resort". I know that this song at over 7 minutes long would be a bad idea to sing as karaoke. But I think that you could cut the song significantly and not harm the integrity of it. The verses are repetitive and you could cut out much of the middle section and still have a beautiful song to sing.

I am a relative karaoke newbie but I have always loved to sing. Many of you probably understand. My dream would be to be a singer in a band, but life and its many obligations somehow get in the way. There's a place next to my house that has karaoke on Friday nights and I go there and have a lot of fun. I have asked the host if he has "The Last Resort" but he doesn't, and frankly even if he did, I could understand him not letting me sing it. The song is over 7 minutes long and a slow ballad at that. I would love to create a 4 minute version of the song that I could copy to a thumb drive and give to him. His system is Compuhost.

But I have no idea how to start. I am pretty technically savvy. Google turns up all sorts of results about how to delete the vocals from songs using programs like Audacity or Garage band. I'm pretty sure that I could do that and shorten the song using one of those programs. But there is not a lot of information that I can find about how to make this into a song that would be compatible with Compuhost. Can anybody point me in the right direction? I'd be willing to pay a service for the song and then cut it down to an appropriate length. In fact I'd prefer that, since I don't know the policies of the bar or the host regarding pirated music.

This would really be a dream come true for me.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

If the song is for your own personal use, you can google many KJ music creators that offer to make the song for you free for personal use.

Nice way to promote piracy.

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Dougie,

The Eagles are quite possibly the most anti-karaoke band in the world, and adamantly DO NOT licence their music for karaoke in the United States. Short of owning an original Soundchoice disk 8125, which was a very limited run and sells for a good $100-200 these days, you should consider any Eagles karaoke to be unlicensed and therefore illegal. Sorry for the bad news!

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C Mc
KJ, FL

http://www.karaoke-version.com/ has a music version. Note that this is not the same as a karaoke version with the difference being this will not have the display graphics.

But you wouldn't need that for what I am about to propose. You could always purchase the audio version without vocals (and even make one with vocals if need be) then edit them in an audio editing program to your liking. Audacity is free and would work just fine for this. You could then use a program that was able to create the graphic file for you or just learn the song and have them play it without the graphics. We can provide more info on these steps if it's something you want to try. It's work but it can be well worth it. Many here have been doing these kinds of things for years.

I'll also add that while this is a long song, it's a song that people would sit through if they like it. The musical arrangement and flow are wonderful in this song and I would feel a little cheated if my ears were ready for something only to find it was left out. Granted, I love the song so I may (or may not) be the minority on this. I like the full version of Stairway to Heaven as well..

You may want to feel the folks out at your bar to see who knows the song. If it gets strong support, just do the full version. Once.. or every now and then if it's a hit.. I do this one at home often when I am in an Eagles mood.

Agree with MrBoo! Sunfly version song length: 7:15
Music start @ 00:10
Tell the kj to fade out at 6:00 mark (it’s outro instrumental 1:08)
You’re approx time on stage - 6min. ‘test the waters’ & see how it goes.

You probably heard the following songs played there before (unless the kj pulled it out)
Who - Won’t Get Fooled Again
Lynrd Skynrd - Freebird (long version)
Don McLean - American Pie
Meatloaf – Couldn’t Have Said It Better & Pbtdl
And many more!

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

There you go!
I'll tell you though... I have three versions of Free Bird. A full version, the radio version and the full version with the outro removed. That's the one I usually picked. Every single time everyone would be geared up for the Outro then it was gone. Every time the crowd would get mad at me.

Have the KJ on Outro fade standby and fade it if the crowd isn't into it.

I have that SF version as well and it's pretty good so ask for it and see if he has it.

Thanks, that explains a lot. I was surprised by how sparse the VJ's collection of Eagles songs is. Especially since the Eagles is right in his wheelhouse. I'm still learning how this business works. I had no idea.

$100-200????????????? I think not... more like $300-400.
There's also the 2 CDGs of The Eagles which ZOOM produced (if you can find it anymore) at a much more REASONABLE price.

If you ever get in the area, come out to my show, I have like 46 Eagles songs for over the years.

Even the Zoom discs are really hard to find anymore. Legends put out an Eagles disc but like the others pretty sparse in availablility. Backstage is the most common and readily available even on e-bay. But it does not have 'The Last Resort"

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LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Thanks to all who posted to offer advice and support. It looks like I've got my work cut out for me. I downloaded an instrumental version of the song from Karaoke Version. I'll work on it in audacity and bring it with me the next time I go to sing.

To all of you who love the song as I do... I know right? "You call someplace paradise, kiss it goodbye." That says it all.

Listen to the mid solo and listen for decent pauses. There are several. I suggest making two cuts. One on a decent pause early in the solo and one on a decent pause later in the solo. Bring the two remaining sections together and listen to the flow to see if it makes sense. I suggest during the early piano and the late piano. Doing it this way should save you from having to fade.

That outro is too complex to cut in my opinion. I would just fade it out when it makes sense to you. I don't use Audacity so I don't know its process for fading out. Keep in mind that Henley does his own vocals along with the outro. If you want to do some of that, leave a little more in. At least you aren't standing on stage with nothing to do.

You can create a second version of the song at Karaoke-Version that HAS the vocals for free. You could make this so you can better understand how vocals work with the version. If they have the vocals in the outro, you could add that part in at a lower level and make it a vocal outro duet.

You have all kinds of possibilities! Try a few things and have fun with it.