a thread for Unusual Musical Collaborations

Now I wouldn't really call this a "collaboration" as much as a sit-in (I picture a collaboration being more of a partnership of equals that share equal time onstage, than a sit in, which is more obviously a guest temporarily joining a main act) but the article calls it one and it was unusual at the time:

"On February 13, 1999, Weir was joined by the boys of Hanson in the middle of his set with Rob Wasserman and Jay Lane for renditions of “All Along the Watchtower,” “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad,” “Wang Dang Doodle” and “One More Saturday Night.” It was the last show of a three-night run celebrating the tenth anniversary of 90s NYC jamband haven The Wetlands, and the collaboration was the brainchild of the club’s proprietor (and current Relix publisher) Peter Shapiro."

https://youtu.be/rz3bcS4WDNY

[ I guess this was a Lockin prototype.}

<This has to be one of the weirdest music videos of all time:>

Ken, this wins so far as the most disturbing unusual collaboration. Good job.

Snoop Dogg  & Willie Nelson

My Medicine (Official Video):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWCa3GvbNUE

Superman (Live on Letterman):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXac5jzNUIc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUUdcEhSmmg

Frank Zappa & The Monkees

"Yes, the man who made an album called We’re Only in It for the Money to poke fun at The Beatles made guest appearances on two Monkees projects. The first instance, and the most iconic instance, was in the episode “The Monkees Blow Their Minds.” It is the penultimate episode of the show, and the main plot involves a mentalist gaining control of Peter Tork’s mind to use him in his nightclub act. That is not a particularly weird story for The Monkees. However, before they get into that action, there is a cold open involving Mr. Zappa and Mike Nesmith.

The cold open is, ostensibly, an interview between Nesmith and Zappa, but they decided to weird it up a bit, with great results. Zappa portrayed Nesmith, while Nesmith played Zappa. Zappa wears Nesmith’s iconic clothing, including his hat. Nesmith, meanwhile, dons a cheap wig, and cheaper nose, to play Zappa. His fake nose keeps falling off. The interview is awkward and stilted. Then Zappa, the actual Zappa, “plays” a car by smashing it and lighting it on fire and stuff while Nesmith conducts."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=111kk3b6Qfw

Clip from The Monkees "Head" - Frank Zappa Cameo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOI-SDYGviM

Tom Jones & Janis Joplin

This the is stuff  that was on tv when I was young and impressionable. 

(I love how the kids are all sitting down all nice at the beginning of the song, and by the end of it they are all crazed dancing maniacs, except for two girls stil sitting quietly in the middle of the mayhem.)

Raise Your Hand - This is Tom Jones TV Show - 1969

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZmiefQ5y4U

Monty Python &  George Harrison (producer)

Lumberjack Song - 1975

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FshU58nI0Ts

I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK
I sleep all night and I work all day

I cut down trees, I skip and jump
I like to press wild flowers
I put on women's clothing and hang around in bars

He cuts down trees, he skips and jumps
He likes to press wild flowers
He puts on women's clothing and hangs around in bars

I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK
I sleep all night and I work all day

I cut down trees, I wear high heels
Suspendies and a bra
I wish I'd been a girlie, just like my dear Papa

James Taylor /  Paul McCartney (plays bass on original 1968 Apple Records recording)

Carolina in My Mind - 1968  [I find it sorta interesting that the lyrics include the phrase "Dark Side of the Moon")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXmgkvIgc0w&list=RDsXmgkvIgc0w&start_rad...

(concert footage from BBC  Nov 1970)

"Taylor appears to have been something of a troubled soul. In a nutshell he basically had some form of mental breakdown during his final years of schooling and ended up at The McLean Hospital in Belmont where he was treated with Thorazine and deemed psychologically unsuitable for Vietnam.

After checking himself out of the institute he formed a band called The Flying Machine... they actually released 'Brighten Your Night With My Day' backed with 'Night Owl' as a single in 1966, Taylor fell in with a bad crowd and quickly became addicted to heroin... Taylor then descended into busking in Washington State Park where he would allegedly regularly pass out. He was then abandoned by his manager before eventually being rescued by his father and taken back to Carolina where he ended up having a throat operation to fix his damaged vocal chords.

....After inheriting some money he relocated to London and had the good fortune to be introduced to Paul McCartney who took an instant liking to Taylor's material. Following this meeting Taylor became the first non English act signed to the Apple label. Apparently during this period Taylor... wrote the rest of the songs for this album before going into Trident Studios in July 1968 to lay it all down on tape. The recording sessions were typical of the time and Taylor quickly fell back into his heroin habit.

McCartney and George Harrison both guested on the album and music folklore suggests that 'Something In the Way She Moves' gave Harrison the starting point for his own similarly titled classic. ...It was also at the suggestion of McCartney and producer Peter Asher that Richard Hewson was brought in to add orchestrations to some of the songs. Released in England in late 1968 and in America the following February despite some good reviews 'James Taylor' sold poorly and received very little promotion due mainly to Taylor's drug addiction.

The Doors & John Lee Hooker

Roadhouse Blues - Nov 1969

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GujHV-IA39Q

Except: "The song took two days to record (November 4--5, 1969) with the producer Paul A. Rothchild striving for perfection. Rothchild can be heard instructing the band members on their musicianship, notably when he exclaims to Robby Krieger about his introductory guitar riff that "we're going to the roadhouse, Robby, not the bathroom!"

Surprisingly, he does not comment on Morrison, who is apparently intoxicated, "going into full blues singer mode" in the words of engineer Bruce Botnick, improvising and simultaneously flubbing several lyrics and repeating the blues phrase "Money beats soul every time"....

The sessions only took off on the second day, when resident Elektra guitarist Lonnie Mack joined in on bass and harmonicist John Sebastian (appearing under the pseudonym G. Puglese out of loyalty to his recording contract or to avoid affiliation with The Doors after the Miami controversy) joined in on the sessions and Manzarek switched from his Wurlitzer electric piano to a tack piano.

Mack also played the lead guitar solo on the track, but was only credited as bassist, so as to not embarrass Krieger. Krieger copied some of Mack's lines in later takes. It is unknown which take of "Roadhouse" made the final cut.

A studio version of the song with John Lee Hooker sharing vocals with Jim can be found on the Stoned Immaculate: The Music of The Doors album.