Turn Around

It came to my attention a few days ago that Alan Myers, the drummer of Devo passed away recently. It reminded me of the Devo song Turn Around. There is also a cover version by Nirvana. I thought it would be timely so I decided to do this blog post about it.

Turn around was the B side to the 1980 single Whip It. Nirvana’s cover was included on the 1992 rarities collection Incesticide.

Devo:

Nirvana:

The Devo version has a pretty recognizable 80s new wave sound.  They’re using synth and what not. The guitar has a distinct 80s, and the drums share that. Despite that it doesn’t really sound dated.  Or at least if it does it sounds dated in a good way.

Nirvana really applied their bands sound to the song. Kurt is really good at making cool feedback noises with his guitar, and there’s a bit of that. As you’d expect Dave Grohl’s drumming is solid. Their version really sounds like what you’d expect from the 90s alternative sound.

Both versions sound pretty similar despite all the differences, if that makes sense. The Nirvana cover is really good, but I do like the Devo version better. It’s got that “Booooo” synth sound after the intro and between the verses. That’s my favorite part of the song.

Chimes of Freedom

This time I’m doing Chimes of Freedom by Bob Dylan, verses Chimes of Freedom by the Byrds.

I’m totally going to keep this one short because I’m kind of tired and I don’t want to spend a long time working on it, but I still want to make a post. Also the Dylan version is like 7 minutes long, so if you’re going to sit through that, I might as not make you read a whole bunch.

Dylan’s version is on the 1964 album Another side of Bob Dylan. It’s really good. It’s my favorite non-electric Dylan album.

The Byrds covered it on their 1964 debut album Mr. Tambourine Man. The Byrds do a lot of Dylan covers. A lot. Anyway, their version is sort of different. They really Byrds it up, it’s got harmonies and it’s only half as long.

Bob Dylan:

Byrds:

 I really like both versions of this song. I totally want Dylan to win, because he’s got all the extra verses and his version is just so epically poetic. But I also want the Byrds to win, because their version is shorter and it’s got all the good Byrds harmonies. And it just has the folky rock sound the Byrds perfected. What happens if both win? That’s not a tie right? I wasn’t going to do ties…

Also here is a link to the Wikipedia page about the song. I kind of feel like I left out some neat stuff by trying to keep this brief so if you want to read more about both versions I suggest skimming over it.

I was made to Love her

I finished my move, well it’s actually not really finished, but my computer is set up. And that means you get to read a new blog post. Hooray! This is already the eighth post since I started blogging again. Okay, so that’s not really so many, but it is more than none.

This time the song is I was made to Love her by Stevie Wonder and covered by the Beach Boys. It turns out this song was covered pretty often.  Here’s a list: Jimi Hendrix, The Jackson 5, Tom Jones, Whitney Houston, and Boyz II Men.

 Stevie Wonder recorded this song in 1967 it was included on his 1967 album of the same name. It peaked at number 2 on the billboard chart. Light my Fire by doors kept it from reaching number 1. It was number 1 on the R&B chart for 4 non-consecutive weeks. In an interview Stevie once said that I was made to Love her, is a true song. But according to Wikipedia, Stevie was born in Saginaw, Michigan, not Little Rock, Arkansas like he says in the song. I guess he didn’t think I’d check.

The Beach Boys covered I was made to Love her for their 1967 album Wild Honey. This is another case of a song where I heard the cover before hearing the original. The album wasn’t really that successful and it was viewed by most critics as inconsequential. However, it has received some good reviews. Producer Tony Visconti ranks it as one of his 13 favorite albums. I really like it too. Spencer Owen from Pitchfork Media burns Carl Wilson for his vocal on I was made to Love her saying, “[it’s] sung with as much faux-soul as Carl Wilson could have possibly mustered." Harsh.

Anyway give them a listen and decide for yourself.

Stevie Wonder:

The Beach Boys

Now that you’ve listened, hopefully you’re wondering what I think. Well, I’ll tell you. I like Stevie’s version better. But c’mon, there’s a reason why his last name is Wonder. If musical talent was a card game that guy was dealt 5 aces.

I like the Beach Boys version. I even like Carl Wilson’s vocals. It’s not my favorite song on the album, (but I think that album is solid. It has some serious songs. Check out: Wild Honey, Aren’t you Glad, Darlin’, and How she Boogalooed it. Trust me).  Anyway, I like the backing vocals and I like the instrumental portion of the song. Overall I think it’s really good. I just think Stevie’s version is better. It just seems so much more refined. There’s the little intro followed by Stevie doing a harmonic solo. After that I don’t even know what to say. It’s Stevie Wonder at his best.  That’s hard to beat.

My Girl

So I’ve pretty much given up on clever titles and have instead resorted to just naming each post after the song featured in it. It makes sense to me and it’s easier than being clever all the time.

Today it’s going to be the Temptations versus Otis Redding, and the song is My Girl. Even though they are both good versions, to me this one is a no contest. One version is clearly better. I won’t say which just yet though.

My girl was written in 1964 by Smokey Robinson and Ronald White of the Miracles. It became a number 1 hit in 1965 and was the Temptations first number 1 single. The song was actually going to be a Miracles single, but Smokey was persuaded by members of the Temptations to let them record it instead.

Otis Redding covered My Girl on his 1965 album Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul. The song wasn’t released as a single in the US, but Atlantic UK released it as one in England. It reached number 11 on the UK charts. The album Otis Blue was quite successful. It reached number 6 on the UK album charts and number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. It was critically acclaimed, and has been included on several best album lists. It was number 74 on Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums, and NME (New Music Express) ranked it number 35 on their list the greatest albums of all time.

The Temptations:

Otis Redding:

See, I told you it was an easy decision. Don’t get me wrong, the Temptations’ version is good. But Otis Killed it. He had an all star band, including: Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson Jr., Isaac Hayes, and a horn section consisting of members of the Mar-Keys and the Memphis Horns. The band, the amazing arrangement, and the way Otis changes up the words all add up to take a really good song, and turn it into a perfect song.

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.