They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse In Your Soul (The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 04/03/1990)

There's another copy of this on youtube but it seems to be of slightly lower quality. This is ripped straight from the Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns DVD. This is my favorite live performance of all time. Enjoy!

[@GoldenGodDennisReynolds]

“Before we appeared on the Johnny Carson show, the scrupulous bandleader made us rehearse it several times using a metronome, but for the actual performance the count had somehow been set 10 beats-per-minute faster. It was hard to sing that fast, but it gave it a nervous energy.”

[@louiseprice7755]

Great performance! I always loved this song ❤️

[@TheWingus]

I guess that’s why you can hear JL yell “DOC!!!” before the words actually kick in

[@samguberman2288]

Great info. Great performance, amazing song.

[@Burritomouth]

That would leave me untethered, and my rage would know no bounds!

[@seandeltano3104]

Missed you guys in RI 12/30/22, hope you come back around next year, my brother and I love your live shows

[@bradpreston7779]

John and John (61) are now about the same age Doc Severinsen was here (62). And now you’re older still…

[@RobChristianson]

hahaa i see what you did there

[@jtolson]

And NOW [they're] even older...

[@bradpreston7779]

@@jtolson Tiiiiiiiime…

[@Vileplume87]

​@@bradpreston7779Is marching ooonnnnnn

[@mike04574]

And doc is still alive

[@NxDoyle]

I love when the house band's clearly enjoy playing along with the guests. You can tell Doc enjoyed himself.

[@MichaelPuterbaugh]

The brass section dug it. The saxes didn't.

[@JJhugganstuff]

No doubt, man! That was so cool to see. It seemed to flatter TMBG while they played to me.

[@contrabbasso76]

@@MichaelPuterbaugh The saxes probably did, they're just old school. And counting rests haha

[@greenwave819]

So true. Everyone is having a great time

[@siractionslacks890]

@@MichaelPuterbaugh the sax is a twisted instrument made by the unholy combination of woodwinds and brass. Play an oboe if you want wood and keys.

[@SRoode]

I don't think I have ever seen a drummer on the Tonight Show enjoy playing a song more than this. At this point the John's were still using drum machines for their percussion, so it must have been amazing for them to hear this performance with a real drummer and a full brass section. One of my favorite performances by them.

[@Krinkov]

Yeah his reaction at the end says it all. Just getting backed by a full band and Doc's solo took Birdhouse to a whole new level he probably never expected.

[@richsackett3423]

Shaughnessy is a legend.

[@HughMungus4655]

idk, i know a ton of drummers and they all just fucking love drumming lmao doesnt even matter what song not saying i dont think they might be giants arent fun to play with or to, i think everyone was having a good time, especially the bass and brass. but i think the drummer is a bad example cuz thats just what theyre like lol

[@bralph82]

If you enjoy Shaughnessy look up his video with buddy rich.

[@kornobi_3165]

This might be the best ever performance of this song.

[@finscontingencyplan7005]

Kornobi Starcatcher completely agree. The tempo is pushed and the band is cooking. The horn section + drummer’s four-floor-snare-backbeat is my favourite take on the tune I’ve heard yet

[@Krinkov]

yeah you can see it in John Linnell's face, they had never been backed up by a band like Doc Severinsen's before like that and it really brought out this huge sound the song deserves. Definitely my favorite performance of this track!

[@the_gas_mask_man1527]

I might agree with that

[@shayneoneill1506]

Apparently the fast pace wasn't planned and resulted from a goof up by the house band. But it sounded so awesome the band ended up deciding thats how it was going to be performed live from now on.

[@kornobi_3165]

Shayne O'Neill Thanks for the Info, that’s interesting. That tonight show band was legendary and you can see how excited the Johns are. It’s a very cool slice of Americana.

[@bralph82]

Little known fact, this is the coolest video on the internet.

[@nedkelly8553]

That full on Tonight Show horn section sounds incredible on the bridge when there's no vocal part to worry about drowning out or competing with and they can just blast away for a bit. Love it.

[@GlennTillema]

The Tonight Show band must have loved it, imagine getting told there's a guest host and when you preview the song the brass section is expected to just crank it up to 11? Plus, Doc gets a spotlight moment!

[@davidmansell5986]

Sounds fantastic, doesn't it?

[@DrumsTheWord]

That was VERY special indeed. The band was on fire...and my boys REALLY enjoyed that!

[@raskinblog]

they really were on fire!

[@Turnabout]

@@raskinblog combustible head and all

[@AndySalinger33]

Doc Severenson playing a mad solo! This is an excellent performance!

[@meestermole2412]

Yes! I got chills! This is a sick version!

[@AndySalinger33]

@@meestermole2412 right on! L-I-T-E. 😉

[@victoria7t]

You know he probably lived for this! I mean how many chances did he have to show his full Talent like this with their guests.

[@matthewweber3904]

That's a concert E6 at the end, no? Impressive!

[@AndySalinger33]

@@matthewweber3904 🎯 indeed!

[@scootermacaroni9837]

This special episode where Carson morphs into Jay Leno

[@PinkJazzTrancers]

Dirty Harry I addressed that in another comment. It was still Carson’s show at the time but The Crimson Chin was filling in.

[@scootermacaroni9837]

Dover7544 ahhh

[@neonatalpenguin]

Carson had a yak on his chest that week.

[@NxDoyle]

@@neonatalpenguin Hiyoooooo!

[@mrcydonia]

From Wikipedia: " As part of the appearance, Linnell and Flansburgh performed 'Birdhouse in Your Soul' with Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band. Severinsen's unusually fast count-in resulted in a performance with a noticeably higher tempo than the album recording. The band adopted a similar tempo for subsequent live performances."

[@GeeAre]

"I think we were actually masking our dark terror .... It was very thrilling, but that show was always a very terrifying experience...we had practiced the song a bunch of times with Doc and his band, and once the show was live, he counted it off like, about ten beats faster than we had ever rehearsed it. And I don't know why because in practice, he was being very scrupulous about it. So maybe that's why it sounds so much more like a Gilbert and Sullivan rendition than what we intended to perform, or what our fans were used to." www.newtownbee.com/04052018/concert-preview-giants-promising-massive-retrospective-new-tunes-and-a-t/

[@77fonebone]

It really added a nice tension to the performance. I doubt you could really replicate that on purpose.

[@billcobaugh4234]

I was listening to this while in the shower. Didn’t know what was going on but this is the pace I request when I karaoke this tune. Get me on and off ASAP.

[@greenwave819]

@@77fonebone I've always thought that myself. The tension is about as tangible as tension can be. Also, nice to meet you cousin Quinn. I'm John William Irwin

[@striatic]

I love how when the song is done the drummer can’t help but do a little extra drumming out of nowhere, such is the power that tempo throws behind the song in the live studio.

[@jameskaihatu6209]

Doc or whoever arranged the hell out of those horns, and Ed pounding the toms like a tour drummer. That was titanic.

[@EdDunkle]

Popular music needs more horns

[@C4103]

Young John Linnell looks like Abed from Community lol

[@FirstnameLastname-kn5sw]

Abed or Dennis from "It's Always Sunny".

[@garrisonwhaley-sharp7676]

I was about to say

[@romanprice9824]

@@FirstnameLastname-kn5sw SEIZE THE GODDAMN GAP

[@christiangibbs8534]

There will never be another "They Might Be Giants," nor will we ever see another Doc Severenson. This is music history. It's awesome.

[@hemmefatale1]

Genuinely one of my favourite ever live performances by anyone of anything

[@mgabrysSF]

The enthusiasm is infectious between the Johns and the Band - really amps up the energy.

[@lonniethomas2649]

Doc just blows all other trumpet players away, doesn’t he?! That solo riff is so clean!

[@deerami84]

I cannot unhear this, it’s the only version my brain wants to accept 😆

[@OMGicantwayyyyyyyyyy]

The backing vocals melt my brain.

[@RobChristianson]

your brain knows what's up. ;)

[@mintakamothkind]

Woah! Old man playing trumpet blasts! My favorite kind of thing!

[@petejayhawk]

Not just any "old man." Doc Severinsen, a legend.

[@theice-nineproject9275]

Rock Chalk...

[@HKKRAMER]

@@petejayhawk You are so right. Doc often played the fool/foil but he was a superb musician and bandleader. More people should know that and I appreciate you bringing that up.

[@meestermole2412]

@@petejayhawk i wonder if Doc and Buddy Rich ever jammed together

[@otmq]

@@HKKRAMER “was”? IS! Still going strong in his mid 90’s!

[@BojoPigeon]

TMBG should have at least one tour with a Big Band

[@bltvd]

BojoPigeon they did! It was the Apollo 18 tour and was unreal!

[@freebird3581]

@@bltvd Also the John Henry tour.

[@NxDoyle]

They have.

[@danbrockettDOP]

@@NxDoyle Damn! I would LOVE to have seen them with a big band with a ton of brass! Maybe again someday?

[@rocketsalad]

@@freebird3581 also some one-off shows, like I remember a 13-piece horn section at a Bowery Ballroon show around maybe 1999, 2000? All your TMBG horn section favorites were there, and Mark Pender fron Conan's band would bust-out to the front of stage and rip a solo on nearly every song 😂

[@DJChrist2006]

The grins on the Johns's faces as Doc Severinsen completes his trumpet solo gets me every time

[@davidwiley4953]

The people who disliked this video were all from the rival band "We Should be Gnomes"

[@powerpopaholic876]

LOL!

[@joshuamasonseight-bitbasta2451]

They Certainly Are Dwarves

[@davidwiley4953]

@@joshuamasonseight-bitbasta2451 She Could be a Pixie.

[@meestermole2412]

We Once Were Hobbits

[@ScaryMason]

Those Must Be Gnats

[@leifdude407]

He looks like Dennis from it's always sunny

[@OMGicantwayyyyyyyyyy]

He is a Golden God.

[@lauriep5214]

I watched this the night it happened and have never forgotten this impressive performance of this favorite song.

[@Nevets1073]

Until today I had no idea that the Johnny Carson band had a ONE EYED TROMBONIST. This performance is awesome on so many levels: TMBG's energy is high, offset by the band who are totally relaxed Doc's amazing solo, which was awesome even without the mute which makes the original so great Great performance that really shows how much a big band would fit into a TMBG show.

[@danbrockettDOP]

Wow, thought I knew this song. The faster tempo and metric ton of brass really bring this song up a notch. Excellent! I'm sure the Johns must have really dug playing with such a large group of A list musicians! This is just epic! When I saw them for the first time live a few decades ago, it was just the two Js and a drum machine and they still rocked but I would have loved to have seen this performance live.

[@vistalite]

Real musicians... every one of them.

[@danbrockettDOP]

Before everything degenerated into loops, samples and sequencing. NOTHING like hearing A list pros do it live.

[@laural.enright4780]

I LOVE this version. There's something epic about having them backed up by the Tonight Show orchestra. And it was on my birthday, so win/win for me. :)

[@M3au]

Who couldn’t possible feel just a little more positive about life after listening to this?

[@petra5979]

those _cheekbones_ ... did that man eat?

[@dontrockwobble]

In college, I always made it home in time for Letterman but not always Carson so I am just now catching this amazing collab for the first time. Seeing the NBC Orchestra rock out this hard is like watching Lawrence Welk back Jimi Hendrix.

[@PorcelainRequiem]

Who knew a song about a nightlight would be so good? What a gem of a song!

[@audiotinker]

Holy crap this is fast. Nerves lol 😂

[@bagofgroceries]

John has stated this was a happy accident from the bandleaders countoff. It’s his favorite live version of the song.

[@georgecampbellvideos3517]

@@bagofgroceries which John?

[@bagofgroceries]

@@georgecampbellvideos3517 Linell.

[@glamazon6172]

Linnell is a steely-eyed missile man.

[@GeeAre]

just read this: "we had practiced the song a bunch of times with Doc and his band, and once the show was live, he counted it off like, about ten beats faster than we had ever rehearsed it. And I don't know why because in practice, he was being very scrupulous about it. So maybe that's why it sounds so much more like a Gilbert and Sullivan rendition than what we intended to perform, or what our fans were used to." www.newtownbee.com/04052018/concert-preview-giants-promising-massive-retrospective-new-tunes-and-a-t/

[@BenjaminRecchie]

Holy shit, this is my new favorite version of this song.

[@demonicsweaters]

Wow, this is so amazing they got to play with Ed Shaughnessy! What a killer performance!

[@Gruntman441]

I would love it if TMBG released an album of their live performances on TV shows

[@zelda781]

I love how when the camera angle switches you can see linnell at first look at the other camera for the red light but then switch to the other camera when he doesn’t see it 😭 i also love flansburghs jumping about! they’re so cute

[@kerrykrishna]

I can never watch this clip and not tear up. IT's a fav!

[@davidmansfield4192]

My very favorite

[@divinemrsq]

I just watched it twice in a row, teared up at the same exact moment both times. John L shyly giving me the side eye makes me swoon 😉🥰

[@bunebone]

TWO JOHNS BE ROCKING

[@vikkiperry4990]

I saw Doc in 2017. He was fabulous!!

[@jimboc7249]

Not making fun, but the trombonist with the eyepatch and the Prince Valiant haircut is, besides the brass punch in the mouth, one of the best things about this. Fine, fine piece of video.

[@jeffirwin7862]

Dr. Worm is looking unsettlingly humanoid on the drums back there.

[@Mr__Joe]

FUNNY! ORIGNAL! HAH!

[@scowell]

Big Ed Shaughnessy... cool that Flans gives him the nod there at the end. Epic!

[@whodathunkitwhodathunkit8532]

I think a lot of people never recognized what a great band Doc had.

[@GFHanks]

They were the epitome of "professional". Most likely, they cut their musical teeth doing "swing" and "big band" music in the 50's and 60's. Yet, they stepped up to the plate with each and every musical "twist" that the modern pop / rock era threw at them. We will probably never see the likes of this again. I grew up in the 60's and 70's. My Grandmother, on occasion, would let me stay up late, and watch Carson with her. I was always mesmerized by the musical acts. Actually, everything about the show was first class.

[@jfc4798]

Wow amazing performance, turning it into some big band funky nastiness

[@favoritemustard3542]

거ey кids ͎ this is a ✚℘osi†ivℯ✚ comment; 👍ḷ

[@KingfisherTalkingPictures]

Doc: “So this is what the kids are listening to nowadays?” Jay: “Well, the weird kids…”

[@PokeAndDestroy]

by far my favorite live performance of this song, i especially love 1:49 and 2:32 flans just adds so much to this version

[@wh023]

He sounds like Jay Leno doing an impression of Jay Leno.

[@grendlsma]

This is an overlap of eras. Too cool.

[@DJ_DKBGD]

John and John really rehearsed the song really well with Doc Severinsen and his band. TMBG was my very first show. I saw them on Thanksgiving Night 1989 at The Bottom Line in Greenwich Village a couple of months before "Flood" was released. I love those offbeat, witty and progressive guys! Nice one!

[@mabelldesigns6394]

Think of the core strength to play the accordion at that time signature

[@cathysmithson4275]

The coolest thing that ever happened on Jay Leno tonight show by far!

[@buckminsterfullerene11]

This is an absolute gem of a video! I was 2 months away from graduating high school when this song popped out. My closest friends and family thought I was weird for liking this song lol.Thank you PinkJazzTrancers!

[@bralph82]

The beauty of this video is everyone seems to be having such a great time.

[@bd9299292]

Can we go back in time and get this lineup to do Dr. Worm?

[@exerciserelax8719]

Loved watching the trombone player grooving in the background.

[@andywatts2407]

John Linnell said the metronome was set 10bpm faster than the rehearsal for some reason; hence the excitable delivery.

[@jakewheeler114]

Oh wow the big band adds so much to this song! Love it!

[@gayrambo4529]

.75 speed is album speed.

[@jinak2904]

Woohoo 🙌. Watching this in 2021… it got in my head this morning and I’ve been listening off n on all day… fun to see others listening this year too per other comments… woohoo 🎉 TMBG!!! 90s music lover here :)

[@danwages409]

"Doc" really killed it.

[@TheLogicBeast]

Love that bridge. Shows the true power of a big band.

[@richardmichael1277]

But that Flood CD, one of the most original albums I have ever heard, great irony, tunes you will sing forever.

[@xmariner]

It was a very good year even if I didn't see this when I was out at sea. Thank you, Interwebs!

[@imnotsmartbutimtryin]

orgasmic trumpet....thank you:)

[@xmariner]

People this is where They Might Be Giants became legendary.

[@joecoool100]

So my wife and I were talking about TMBG….and I asked if she ever saw the Tonight show when they were on…..I had not seen this clip since the original time it aired…..I remembered the band and Doc Severson killed on this version…..I wasn’t wrong! Thanks for posting a classic

[@stooge35]

Awesome. Full classic Tonight Show Band too.

[@LukeHennisch]

I think this performance and the one on STD are the best live versions of this song.

[@ThreadBomb]

What is STD?

[@0okamino]

@@ThreadBomb Some might think that it's Sexually Transmitted Disease, but, in this case, it's _Severe Tire Damage._

[@Krinkov]

Thank you SOOO much for uploading this! This is the best quality version of their Tonight Show clip on KZbin!

[@ThePsho]

I think, right after that performance, TMBG was like "damn, that was awesome" and the house band was like "damn, that was awesome"

[@matthewpaul526]

Absolutely nail it, even with that sped up tempo.

[@Davidjagoartist]

Thanks for uploading this, I was obsessed with this song at the time and had it multiple times recorded on the same cassette, sounds amazing with the brass.

[@lukegethins135]

WOW! They played with DR🤘

[@mobius273]

He's not a real doctor but he's an actual worm!

[@0okamino]

He is an actual Severinsen.

[@NickJohnCoop]

This the greatest version of this song.

[@apollion888]

A staple on Doctor Dimento. I miss being 20, sometimes anyway

[@pvshka]

I love that they're rushing an already pretty fast song 😍

[@RobChristianson]

i will NEVER stop loving this song. Thank you, Little Blue Friend.

[@Plusse]

Praise you for uploading this, truly.

[@johnnytimestamp8224]

I had no idea, thanks.

[@jonathanlevine8497]

Holy shit - that goes to show you what Doc and a band of "old farts" bring to a riot. Outstanding.

[@lydiadroege1395]

Omg this song is so great

[@johnvelghe757]

What a scorching version of this. I love it.

[@meatbyproducts]

I love this so much. It brings me to a good place always.

[@Dean03200]

I really like this song heard he a few times over the years im 33crish moyles played it recently in his platinum hour on radio x as I was driving to work and I really listened to I love the song

[@MasterOfKnowledge.]

I remember watching this performance back around the time the original was uploaded on YT. Good to see it again after all this time, it's even better than I remember

[@tom7530]

Doc amplified the hell out of this. Such a great bandleader

[@mangsmoof]

That started out weird and awkward and evolved into something incredible

[@KINGKURT14]

They MIGHT be Giants...amazing, simply amazing

[@saladspoonami4563]

The drummer rockin hard The horns are so lively

[@aaronelya]

Doc is a BEAST.

[@trroland1248]

That big band arrangement really worked with the song.

[@mr.drearygiraffe6005]

0:35 : "ᴶᵒᵒʰⁿ!"

[@BillPeschel]

Wow, just saw this for the first time. Love the fast count-in (see the discussion below about why). It may have caught them off-guard, but they couldn't do anything but see it through and not screw up, and the exchange of energy between the band, Doc and the boys ratchett it up to 11.

[@blainemorris1888]

This is an awesome song. -Lily

[@lycanthropej]

That is a damn fine flat top. They don't make 'em that way anymore.

[@tuxedobike4067]

I have a strange urge to balance a plate, or a stack of pancakes on it.

[@RIVEXNGLE]

Brings a smile to my face every time.

[@Avantimusicprojects]

haha what a great fun playin' with session guys is very bizarre I love it!!

[@markmartin6365]

Never watched tonight show. Was more of a Letterman fan. But I tuned in for this one. Epic

[@gregchamberlin1968]

One of the first albums I owned as a kid was Flood by They Might Be Giants💚. I owned it on n cassette and played it incessantly. I still love these guys, amazing unique songs😃.

[@kennethbrady]

This has just made me unbelievably happy :)