Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental manservant Hop-Sing and I are off to join outgoing Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend at a tribute to the President hosted by the You Are Such a Man Foundation. Not exactly sure what the occasion is, but I think it has something to do with Washington's Birthday.
So posting by moi will be necessarily sporadic for a while.
But in my absence, here's a fun project for you all to contemplate:
Best Rock Era Version of a Pre-Rock Pop Standard!!!
You know -- the most surprising, the most original, the most faithful, the most ironic...however you define it.
Okay -- here's my reasonably well considered Top Ten.
10. Elvis Costello - My Funny Valentine
9. Billy Stewart -- Summertime
8. Big Brother and the Holding Company -- Summertime
7. The Fifth Estate -- Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead
6. The Platters -- Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
5. The Flamingos -- I Only Have Eyes For You
4. The Four Seasons -- I've Got You Under My Skin
3. The Beatles -- Till There Was You
2. Eva Cassidy -- Over the Rainbow
[I should note that I agonized over making this one Number One -- partly because Cassidy died so tragically young, but mostly because there are times I think she may well have been the single greatest pop singer in any of our lifetimes. Nevertheless -- largely because of the harmonies and the barely discernible but delicious irony of it .....]
...the number one all time best cover is --
1. The Byrds -- We'll Meet Again.
Honorable mention (no video available): Joe Piscopo's heavy metal version of Sinatra's "Witchcraft" with Great White.
Okay -- what are your faves?
I've been mastering 'Something Stupid.' I'll get back to you when I've got a video!
ReplyDeleteWG:
ReplyDeleteI will so post that!!!
:-)
I've got:
ReplyDeleteTry A Little Tenderness" - Otis Redding
Mack The Knife - Bobby Darin
Blue Moon - Elvis Presley (this just may barely qualify)
Lost In The Stars - Elvis Costello with the Brodsky Quartet
Dream A Little Dream - Cass Elliott
Lullaby Of Broadway - Bram Tchaikovsky (no video, but trust me, it's a corker)
I cannot believe this wasn't first outta the box (or that steve forgot it)...
ReplyDeleteIstanbul (Not Constantinople)!
Also, and there's not a youtube, but Phranc, the Jewish lesbian folksinger, did a kickass version of "I Enjoy Being a Girl."
I've always liked Rundgren's version of "Never Never Land" but Peter Pan opened in '54, so that may be outside the time limits. Nonetheless, it's a great version.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites is a fluke UK hit by Australian folkie Gary Shearston. His version of I Get A Kick Out Of You almost always manages to cheer me up; there's something about the mid-'70s pop-folk (over?)production that works for me.
ReplyDeleteI first heard it on this record, a label sampler with the price - 99 cents - printed on the album cover. Brit-rock, Brit-folk, Japanese jazz, bluegrass, experimental, African, Tibetan, Cajun - all for less than a buck.
"I'll See You In My Dreams" by Joe Brown
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mu8D69uxA0
If girl group era counts as pre-rock, then
ReplyDeletekd and the reclines, Johnny Get Angry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4uXmF8mHKU
if not, it's merely ironic.
see also:
Nirvana-Leadbelly's Where did you Sleep Last Night?
Rickie Lee Jones: One Hand/One Heart
Yo La Tengo-My Little Corner of the World (Gilmore Girls association notwithstanding)
I can't believe I forgot Otis and
ReplyDeleteBobby Darin....
And that Rickie Lee Jones is great...
Fools Rush In - Ricky Nelson
ReplyDeleteFools Rush In - Bow Wow Wow
John Hardy - Billy Childish & the Blackhands
Wild is the Wind - David Bowie
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
I'm Henry VIII I Am - Herman's Hermits
Death Don't Have No Mercy - Hot Tuna
Death Don't Have No Mercy - Grateful Dead
The Thrill is Gone - Jerry Garcia & David Grisman
Shine on Harvest Moon - Leon Redbone
Oh, there's all kinds of this stuff scattered across various tribute albums. I adore "Stay Awake" - particularly NRBQ's "Whistle While You Work" and Tom Waits" "Heigh-Ho."
ReplyDelete"Miss Otis Regrets/Just One of Those Things" - Kirstie MacColl & Les Pogues, from "Red, Hot, and Blue."
And - God help me - I REALLY like Lou Reed's "September Song," from "Lost in the Stars."
- bill buckner
The Kenosha Kid said...
ReplyDeleteMoor proof that Steve is a Friend of Dorothy?
Okay, your No-Prize is on its way.
Incidentally, I was gonna include the Ricky Nelson "Fools Rush In" but I had posted the video earlier for the hot guitar licks list.
Also -- "House of the Rising Sun" is a folk song, not a pop standard, as are some of the others you listed.
BTW -- Bow Wow Wow did "Fools" too?
Wow.
:-)
OMG - How could I forget "Danny Boy" by Elvis Fucking Presley? :)
ReplyDeleteZombies - Summertime (might as well add a third version)
ReplyDeleteMarcels - Blue Moon
Dion & the Belmonts - Where or When
George Harrison - True Love
George Harrison - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
(with Baltimore Oriole and Hong Kong Blues also under his belt, he should have released an album of pop standard covers)
Flamin' Groovies - Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime
Beatles - Red Sails in the Sunset
Jim
Oh yeah, and Rolling Stones - Route 66
ReplyDeleteJim
HGF:
ReplyDeleteThe Marcels and Dion were my next two choices.
And I think the Zombies "Summertime" is the definitive version by anybody.
And Route 66 is another great call -- I forgot that was written in the 40s...
Capt. Sensible: Nobody's Sweetheart
ReplyDeleteLou Reed: One for My Baby (from Rob Wasserman's album 'Duets')
and for complete-lack-of- faithfulness (even though it's a cover of a '59 song, but then "Till There was You is from '57) ...
Bonzo Dog Band: "The Sound of Music" off of 'Gorilla'
Syd Straw: Hard Times
ReplyDeleteFairport Convention: Matty Groves
Steve gave us one in this list for Eva Cassidy, I'll add two more: "What a Wonderful World" and "God Bless The Child". (I'll leave it to others to nominate the Joey Ramone version of the former). Really, one of the best singers you'll hear in any musical genre--her voice reportedly brought Ozzy Osbourne to tears when he heard it.
ReplyDeleteAlso: Can't argue with your choice of the Byrds cover as your number 1, but I checked the video, and what song are they actually playing? Because it doesn't sync up with "We'll Meet Again"
ReplyDeleteI know the Byrds aren't synched...I didn't care. I just wanted the audio...
ReplyDelete"What a Wonderful World"... (I'll leave it to others to nominate the Joey Ramone version of the former).
ReplyDeleteCompletely forgot about that one. I know I've said it before, but hearing that song sung by someone who knew his days were numbered never fails to give me a lift.
Jim
The 4 Seasons one is one of my favorites as well. It's just great!
ReplyDelete