All shook up

Today’s duel is between Elvis Presley and the Jeff Beck Group. The song is All shook up.

All shook up was written in 1956. It has three different stories regarding its origin. The first story, as told by Elvis in a 1957 interview, is: “I went to bed one night, had quite a dream, and woke up all shook up. I phoned a pal and told him about it. By morning, he had a new song, 'All Shook Up'." The second story is from a book called "Last Train to Memphis" by Peter Guralnick. In the book he wrote that Elvis thought that the phrase all shook up would make a good refrain.  Those two are probably the same story from different perspectives, and are likely the truest, but the third story is my favorite:  Otis Blackwell the co-writer of the song wrote it after Al Stanton one of the owners of Shalimar Music suggested writing a song called all shook up while shaking up a bottle of Pepsi. According to that story is pretty much a song about getting soda on yourself. How great is that?

Elvis’s version was pretty successful. It was number 1 on the US Pop chart for eight weeks, number 4 on the R&B chart for four weeks, and reached number 3 on the Country chart. It’s certified Double Platinum, and is ranked number 352 on Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest songs of all time.

The Jeff Beck Group recorded it for their second studio album Beck-Ola, which was released in 1969. Rod Stewart and Ron Wood left the group shortly after the album was release due to internal conflict. The album reached number 15 on the billboard top 200 and number 39 on the British album chart.

Elvis Presley:

Jeff Beck Group:

I really like both versions of this song. I keep saying that over and over. Don’t worry I’ll eventually get to songs with covers I don’t like. There are just so many I do like, and I’d like to wear down that list (It’s pretty long) before I get to some of the good songs versus bad covers. There are probably a few bad songs out there that have been improved by covers, so I’ll probably get to some of those too. Eventually.

Anyway, I totally like the Jeff Beck Group’s version better. This is probably one of those personal taste ones, because Elvis’s version is really good. It has a specific style that really makes it stand out. It’s instantly recognizable. He’s a good singer, and the way he pauses before he says I’m all shook up both add to what makes the song good. The drumming sounds like it’s just a hand slapping the side of a guitar (I’m assuming that’s what it is) and it’s timed so well. It’s a really good song. It’s just that I think what the Jeff Beck Group brought to the table is better.  The Jeff Beck group is pretty much an all star team, and I feel like the internal conflict and competition brought the best out of everyone in the band.  Jeff Beck on guitar is Jeff Beck on Guitar. Rod Stuart is arguably at his best. The way he repeats Love me over and over before he says I’m all shook up is fantastic.  I mean come on, you listened to it. That cover is solid.

Zombies and Mortuary Science?

I really like this song featured in this edition this cover comparison thing I've been doing. I still haven't figured out a clever name for it yet. So I'll just continue to refer to it using a few different awkward descriptive phrases.

This is another case where I heard the cover before the original. The song is Can't Nobody Love You by Solomon Burke and covered by the Zombies. I already know this one is going to be close.  If I had to rank both of these versions by a number out of ten, they’d both be 9.5's. Will the Zombies be able to overrun the good Dr. of Soul? You’ll have to read on to find out.

Solomon Burke is the singer who coined the term "Soul Music." Before him all music in that genre was classified as Rhythm and Blues. Because of Solomon's religious upbringing, he considered Rhythm and Blues to be the devil's music, and didn't want his music associated with that name. Solomon was also an ordained Bishop, and a Doctor of Mortuary Science. He was once described by Jerry Wexler, an executive at Atlantic Records as "the greatest male soul singer of all time.” Despite this he was only ranked number 89 on Rolling Stone’s 100 greatest singers of all time. Solomon recorded Can't Nobody Love You on his 1964 album Rock 'n' Soul. It reached number 66 on the Billboard Top 100. (It was written by James Mitchell. I can’t really find much information on who he was or is. Just that he wrote it and Solomon recorded it. I've also found it credited to a Phillip Mitchell, so I'm not really too sure about that. If anyone knows for sure feel free to clear it up in the comments.)

The Zombies are an English rock band formed in 1962. They're best known for three songs: She's Not There, Tell Her No, and probably the most well known Time of the Season. Their 1968 album Odessey and Oracle (the designers of the album cover spelled Odyssey wrong) is ranked number 100 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. It's a good album. Can't Nobody Love You was recorded for the Zombies self titled Debut album.

Solomon Burke:

The Zombies:

Now that we've listened to both it's time to make a decision. I really like both versions of this song. In their own right each are excellent. However Solomon Burke wins. He has to. The Zombies just can't compete with the power of his voice. It knocks down all the walls and supports the roof.  The Zombies cover is great. They do everything right, but it's just not enough to dethrone King Solomon.

Mercy Mercy

This post is coming a little later than I expected. I got pretty busy for a while there and didn't get a chance to finish writing it. I finally got a few hours to myself, and finished it off.

This time Don Covay's Mercy Mercy is going up against The Rolling Stones Cover. I heard the Stones' cover before hearing Covay's, but the first time I ever heard the song referenced was in the song Soul Meeting by The Soul Clan, which featured Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Don Covay, Ben E. King, and Joe Tex. That song is probably better than both the versions of this one, but that's neither here nor there.

Mercy Mercy was written by Don Covay and Ronald Miller in 1964 it reached number 35 on the Billboard Top 100 and it reached number 1 on the Cash Box R&B chart.

The Rolling Stones recorded the song for their album Out of Our Heads. It was the second track on the UK release and the first Track on the American release. The album reached number 2 in the UK, second to the Beatles Help. It was their first number 1 album in the US.

Don Covay:

The Rolling Stones:

This is another paring that's pretty close. Both versions are fairly similar. I think the Stones use an extra guitar. The Stones just put more energy into the song overall. I really like the drumming in Covay's version, but Charlie Watts's drumming is also very good. The Stones' version stands out a little more just because there is more going on in the mix, and because of that I'm giving this one to them.

Here comes the Third Pairing

I took me a little while to decide which song to use for this post. I thought about four or five different pairings. After thinking about it, I decided on Please Mr. Post Man by the Marvelettes and covered by the Beatles. Both versions of this song are really good. This will probably be the closest pair yet.

The Marvelettes version was released in 1961. It was the first Motown song to reach number 1 on the Billboard Top 100.

The Beatles started preforming the song in 1962 at the Cavern Club. Near the end of 1963, they recorded it for their second album With the Beatles.

The Marvelettes:

The Beatles:

Okay, so now we've listened to both back to back, and this one still isn't an easy decision. The arrangements on both songs sound great. It’s really close.

Gladys Horton’s lead vocal on the Marvelettes version is killer. And Marvin Gaye’s drumming is sick. Yeah, it’s that Marvin Gaye. I think I like his drumming better than Ringo’s.

John’s double tracked vocal is great, and Paul and George singing the background harmonies makes the whole thing sound even better. Paul’s bass line really stands out as well. I’m going to have to listen again before I decide.

After listening to them both a couple more times, I've decided. It’s got to be the Beatles. Both versions are so good, but it comes down to the harmonies. The way John, Paul and George sing together just pulls you right into the song. The background vocals in the Marvelettes version aren't quite as good, and with everything else being so close, the Beatles Harmonies put them over the top.

This is probably going to start a Flame War.

It appears that I've already got the next installment of this cover version verses original version thing posted. I didn't think I would be so soon. I’m sure no one else did. There’s probably going to be barely any consistency with this thing. I’m going to end up either post too often or not often enough. The honest reason why, is because my whole life is pretty much like that part of the supermarket by the checkout where they keep all the impulse buys. I think of something I like and then I can’t leave it alone.  I never buy anything from the impulse isle though; it’s all junk. I usually just get offended by magazine headlines while I’m waiting in line. Sorry, I just wasted like 122 words of your time. Let’s get to the substance of the post.

This pairing is probably going to be a bit controversial. The song is Hey Joe, and the artists are, (you guessed it) Jimi Hendrix and Wilson Pickett. Hey Joe is the first of the songs where an original version won’t be used for he purposes of this comparison. The more I've researched this, the more I've found there seems to be a lot of confusion about the origins this song. Like most people I thought it was a traditional song, but it was apparently registered for copyright by Billy Roberts in 1962. And it was recorded by a band called The Leaves in 1965, but apparently some people think that the Byrds’ very own David Crosby popularized the song before The Leaves recorded their version. Between 65 and 66 six or seven bands did versions.  That’s a lot, and I can only pick two. That’s why I’m comparing Hendrix and Wicked Pickett.

Hendrix released his version with the Jimi Hendrix Experience in 1966. It was their debut single. Not too shabby. It’s also kind of neat that it seems that he was discovered while preforming the song at this place called the Café wha? Hendrix’s version reached number 6 in the UK but didn't chart in the US.

Wilson Pickett recorded Hey Joe some time in between 1968 and 1969 at Fame Studios. Duane Allman is featured playing guitar. His version reached number 59 on the US top 100, but didn't chart in the UK.

Jimi Hendrix: (Note: this might look live, but it's totally the studio version playing.)

Wilson Pickett:

Okay, so now that we've had the chance to listen to both, let’s pick a winner. This is where the controversy is going to come in. I totally like Wilson Pickett’s version better. I know, I know, I just started a flame war. But c'mon you listened to them. Hendrix is version is awesome. It’s all groovy, the guitar is nutty, and he’s got the Experience backing him up. But, Pickett’s version rocks so hard, and he’s wailing like only Wicked Pickett can wail. Plus Duane is no slouch on the guitar, and they got the horns happening. They take the song to the moon and back and they didn't even use a Saturn V. Listen to it again, you’ll see what I’m talking about, or just write something mean in the comments. I’ll be happy with either. 

Back in Blog

Holy smokes! I'm blogging again. I bet you guys didn't expect that.

It's been a little while, and this thing has totally changed how it works, well kinda.It looks like I'm going to have to figure it out again. Don't worry, I won't let it slow me down. I'm just gonna blog even if I don't know what's up. I'll figure it out as I go. I probably do that too much. (Since you guys totally don't get to experience the figuring out part in real time like I do, let me just point out that embedding the videos was a little weird. There's like a little CSS YouTube search engine thing now. It's kinda neat. I also spent some time playing with the font. Aren't you glad I put this here in parentheses?)

Okay, I better get down to business. So knowing me I'm still going to ramble on for a bit and come at this from a half-backwards direction. Everyone knows I don't have much to say, and because of that they might ask why I would even want to blog. Well, I had one and didn't for like a year. Actually, even longer. But here's the thing. I totally got this stupid idea when I was spamming everyone on my Facebook friends list with YouTube videos of songs they probably didn't care about. I was looking at all these different songs, and thinking about how a bunch of them have been covered. I'm sure as most of you know, some covers totally suck, and some are totally good. So then I got to thinking that I should do a blog about originals versions versus cover versions. I'll post two versions of a song, talk about both, and then pick a winner. Then if you guys care, you can comment and be like, "no A.J., you're wrong, the Wallflowers do a way better version of Heroes than Bowie." And I'll just be happy you commented. So basically that's whats going to happen. You can also suggest songs, and maybe I'll include them in posts. If I haven't heard them, I'll listen to them before I give my opinion and stuff. 

One quick note, it's not always going to be the original versions, just because some older songs like House of the Rising Sun, for example, have been done many times. I don't know if anyone knows who first wrote it. I'm also going to try to just use studio versions, but I already have a feeling I won't be able to avoid using at least some live versions.

Another quick note, I'm not sure what the blogging schedule is going to be like. I'm thinking maybe once a week, or maybe more, but I don't really know if I'll be that consistent. There's a chance the whole thing will seize up and fall apart after this post. If I'm lucky no one will care, and it won't really matter. I'll try my best though. I have quite a few ideas right now, so I've got that going for me, but what if I run out? Now I'm getting ahead of myself. Time to focus.

I don't really know why I chose the song picked for the first new post of this blog. I Think It was just because I was listening to it when I actually decided to go ahead with it. I've been thinking about doing this for like a month. I think it's kind of fitting too, because for some reason I like to be unpredictable, and even I wouldn't have predicted hallelujah as the song I would have started with.

Okay, I'm going to putting Leonard Cohen's original version up against Jeff Buckley's cover.

I guess I should give you guys some info on the songs:

Leonard Cohen wrote this song for his 1984 album Various Positions. That's a pretty racy album title for a guy in suit and tie wearing slippers and a hat. Apparently he wrote 80 verses originally, but cut it down. I think he mixes it up a lot and does different versions in concert. I know there's at least one alternative version. I guess if he wanted he could probably do a whole show just preforming this one song if he preformed all 80 verses at once. Also, he apparently wrote it while sitting on a hotel room floor in his underwear. That's a pretty solid back story for a song. And, there's apparently 300 cover versions. Good thing I only have to do two for this blog. 

Jeff Buckley Covered it in 1994 on his album Grace. It's kinda neat that it was ten years apart. It's also kinda funny that he was inspired to cover the song because of a different cover version. Buckley's version is ranked number 259 on Rolling Stone's 500 greatest songs of all time. So that's pretty neat too.

In case you're wondering I just got all this information from Wikipedia. I'm not really this smart. I just figured you deserved a bit of background on them. So I did a little research.

Leonard Cohen:

Jeff Buckley:

Okay, so now that we've had a chance to listen to both versions, it's time to pick the winner. Now in this case both versions of the song are really good. (Sometimes I'm probably going to tear one of the versions apart, and call it an abomination or something like that. It'll be fun. And remember, I also encourage you to tell me I'm wrong.) But we have to pick a winner. And I'm totally going with Jeff Buckley on this one. I just think his version is incredibly haunting, especially Buckley's voice. I also really like how he adds the alternate verses. I'm also not a huge fan of the background vocals in Cohen's version, but don't get me wrong I still think it's really good. The arrangement is great. For me this one is really close, but Buckley gets the nod.

Well, that was fun. Here's hoping it happens again.

This isn't really a top anything list

So I had surgery today, and now I can't sleep. After coming up here to write this post, I realized due to discomfort, that I won't be able to make it really long. My nose keeps bleeding or oozing or yuck right? Anyway here are some songs that are kind of about surgery, well not really all of them, or maybe some are. who knows. It's kinda hard to tell right? I dunno, I may or may not be under the effect of painkillers. I'm not in a suitable state to confirm or deny that so I'll let you decide. Does that make sense? I feel like it may have been clever, but I can't tell. All I really know is that I can't sleep. Anyway here are the songs. It's hard to find songs about surgery. If you know of any post them, that'll be a fun way to get involved. 1. Tommy got his tonsils out - the Replacements 2. Sister morphine - the Rolling Stones 3. Lady Godiva's operation - the Velvet Underground 4. Dear doctor - the rolling stones That's pretty much all I got. Also, my surgeon was really nice. And also, Google if you read this you should make blogger better. this whole "I don't recognize returns so if you embed videos between text it looks awful" thing is really not cool. I noticed you've been working on it, so while you're at it why not sort that out too. Thanks!