Sunday, May 11, 2008

And Remember -- Mom Upside Down is Wow

From the album Unusual Matricides.



I kid, I kid.

Seriously -- I don't quite know what I think about that, except that I'm not sure John Lennon wrote it as a vocal exercise/American Idol auditon piece for a graduate of the Mickey Mouse Club.

13 comments:

Who Am Us Anyway? said...

Man. Those Mothers really DO got love that’ll drive ya mad

TJWood said...
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TJWood said...

This was actually from the Amnesty International John Lennon tribute CD from a year ago. This is actually one of the few performances I've heard from Christina where she's more interested in singing the song than doing vocal calisthenics. I expected this to be far, far worse than it turned out to be. The same cannot be said, unfortunately, of her performance of "Live With Me" with the Rolling Stones in Shine A Light. Yikes!

Who Am Us Anyway? said...

Is the tribute CD worth tracking down? I do think this particular cover kinda sucked, especially the last minute or so, but i sure like the idea of a Lennon tribute CD and I haven't ever given it a listen.

steve simels said...

TJWood said...
This is actually one of the few performances I've heard from Christina where she's more interested in singing the song than doing vocal calisthenics. I expected this to be far, far worse than it turned out to be. The same cannot be said, unfortunately, of her performance of "Live With Me" with the Rolling Stones in Shine A Light. Yikes!


Totally agree...the Lennon cover is almost...not bad.

She was astoundingly awful in the Stones movie, though. Hadn't a clue what she was doing....

Who Am Us Anyway? said...
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Who Am Us Anyway? said...

Ya'll made me give it another couple listens -- yeah OK, it's better than I allowed myself to hear on first listen.

TJWood said...

Who Am Us Anyway?:

Is the tribute CD worth tracking down?

On the whole, more for the cause than for the value of the actual music. There are actually two versions out there: The original, with about 20 tracks, and the expanded one, with 66 tracks. I haven't heard everything on it, so there probably are some worthy things on it I'm not aware of. What I have heard is a mixed bag: Regina Spektor's take on "Real Love" is the best thing I remember hearing, R.E.M.'s #9 Dream, is OK, but not essential. On the other hand, U2's "Instant Karma" won't change the prevailing knock against them as a covers band, Green Day's "Working Class Hero" does nothing for me, and Aerosmith doing a dancehall reggae version of "Give Peace A Chance"? Oh well...

There were a couple of Lennon tribute CD's done a decade or so ago. One was called Working Class Hero and featured The Flaming Lips, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Minus 5, and others. I don't think it's still in print, but I could be wrong.

steve simels said...

The Regina Spektor version of "Real Love" is very nice...I haven't heard the rest of the album (except for the above, obviously....)

Who Am Us Anyway? said...

Thanks guys!

Wendy said...

The same cannot be said, unfortunately, of her performance of "Live With Me" with the Rolling Stones in Shine A Light. Yikes!

I agree with both your statements ... I actually like this, but her performance in "Shine A Light" was painful, both to watch and to listen to.

Anonymous said...

for a killer cover of 'mother,' check out shelby lynne's version. on her otherwise untouted 'second' album, 'love, shelby.'

TMink said...

Of all the Lennon songs that I would be a bit hesitant about covering, Mother is the mother. John was doing the rolfing, primal scream stuff at the time, and was really raw (even for him) emotionally. And damn, is there a more personal song?

Sometimes you are too smart to cover a song, sometimes you are too dumb not to.

Trey