More Covers That Beat The Originals
You asked, we answered — the first installment of “Covers That Beat the Originals” was so successful, we decided to dive back into the crates and unearth a few more. In this installment, hip-hop is born, Cristina gets nihilistic and the Bee Gees get soulful. These are More Covers that Beat the Originals.
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In most cases, adding in an unrelated EP, a second unrelated three-song EP, and a couple of random live tracks to an artist's album would make for a disorganized and confusing set, but Alex Chilton's 1979 album Like Flies on Sherbert was already a chaotic mess by most people's standards in the first place, so adding in the Feudalist Tarts EP from 1985 and the three songs from 1986's No Sex 12" EP from 1986 plus live versions of "The Letter" and "No Sex" simply expands the chaos to something closer to epic proportions. In retrospect, Flies isn't quite the car wreck it once appeared to be, and this two-disc package from Last Call has a strange coherence to it, full of loose, ragged deconstructive noise experiments, gutbucket R&B, and deliberately torpedoed pop and country songs. All of this is a far cry from the impressive power pop of Big Star, to be sure, but Flies and its various trailing EPs still seem to have a sense of purpose, even if that sense may have only been clear to Chilton. If love of Chilton's Big Star work brings you to this, well, be prepared to be shocked, but give it all a second listen. Songs like "My Rival" and its mirror cousin, "Like Flies on Sherbert," have fascinatingly bristling junkyard exteriors that mask a powerfully inverted pop sense, while tracks like "Boogie Shoes" and "Lost My Job" have a refreshing country-R&B shuffle feel, and "No Sex" may well be the most direct and honest song about sex in the postmodern world ever recorded. None of this is pop music trying to get over -- which is what one is used to -- but is instead pop music trying to get away from any perceived boundaries. What photo best captures the look and feel of the aftermath of a huge blowout party, one that is clear, in focus, and perfectly posed, or one that is blurred at the edges, tilted off axis, and has no obvious center point? The party's over, Chilton seems to be saying, and I don't have to look pretty anymore.
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Nina Simone was not a rock singer per se, and indeed, not readily classified within any popular music style. But she did record quite a few covers of rock, folk-rock, and pop/rock songs during her stint with RCA in the late '60s and early '70s. This thematic compilation has 14 of them (though one stray track, "My Father," was actually recorded for CTI in 1978), including versions of songs by several of the era's most successful rock composers (Bob Dylan, George Harrison, the Bee Gees) and noteworthy emerging singer/songwriters (Randy Newman, Judy Collins, Sandy Denny, Hoyt Axton, and Jerry Jeff Walker). "House of the Rising Sun" (which Simone had first recorded in the early '60s, about half-a-dozen years before she cut the 1967 version featured on this disc) and Pete Seeger's "Turn! Turn! Turn!" were folk songs in their original incarnations, but they qualify too, having been made into chart-topping rock smashes by the Animals and the Byrds. It would be a mistake to regard this anthology as wholly representative of Simone's RCA recordings, or as a sampling of her best work from this or any other era; she recorded a wide swathe of material, including some of her own songs, from numerous genres. Still, these do testify to her abilities as an interpreter in this particular arena, though there are just a few songs (Axton's "The Pusher," Collins' "My Father," Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes") that are relatively off the beaten track. Varying from solo-piano-and-vocal numbers to orchestrated arrangements, the production and performance are usually on the straightforward and restrained side, even if overall the results are somewhat more subdued, jazzy, adult pop-oriented, and tamer than the originals (or the most famous covers of the songs). Here's guessing that Judy Collins' late-'60s albums were a substantial influence on the approach Simone took to this sort of material, since Collins had covered a few of the tunes (Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," Denny's "Who Knows Where the Time Goes," Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today") not long before Simone did. Don't by any means restrict yourself to this disc if you like what you hear here, since Simone made a lot of other fine recordings with different mindsets for RCA and other labels, though this does offer a reasonably original and consistent slant on well-known songs of the '60s.
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Bob Marley may have been the man who took reggae to the international audience and became Jamaica's greatest musical star, but it was Toots Hibbert who gave reggae music its name (so what if he spelled it "reggay"), and he led one of the tightest and most soulful bands the music has ever known. Even more important, Toots has a voice that's nothing short of a force of nature, radiating passion, conviction, and pure joy on even the most banal material (if you never believed that John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" could be soulful, listen to Toots' version of it and prepare to be amazed). In their prime, Toots & the Maytals may well have been reggae's greatest act (at the very least they're in the top ten), and the intense, soulful groove of their finest performances is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Funky Kingston is arguably their best album, featuring a handful of the band's best (and best-known) songs (including "Pomp and Pride," "Time Tough," and the still astounding "Pressure Drop") and a cover of "Louie, Louie" that must be heard to be believed. Tough, vital music that contains some of the most powerful, hypnotic grooves ever committed to tape; if you think reggae is all aimless ganja-fueled noodling, you really need to hear this.
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A woman both very much of her times and several years ahead of them, Cristina Monet did Madonna before Madonna had the chance. More an actress of aural dramas than an actual singer, there's rarely a note that Cristina doesn't miss. But her typically acidic delivery speaks clearly of her smarts (she's a Harvard grad), although her songwriting contributions on her debut album (originally titled Cristina upon its initial 1980 release) are minimal. This is essentially an August Darnell album replete with lavish, swing-influenced arrangements and Cristina functioning as a bizarre, Brechtian centerpiece.
more »Although its rhythmic foundation is unabashedly more disco than what Darnell would achieve in his actual dancefloor hits with both Dr. Buzzard and Kid Creole (DJ and remix pioneer Tom Savarese supplies a typically vibrant mix), there's plenty of his trademark subversion — "Jungle Love" nimbly takes on the topic of miscegenation (an implicit disco theme rarely made explicit by anyone besides Darnell, a mulatto), while "Blame It on Disco" brings together swooning big-band horns and a throbbing reggae bass line that points in the direction of Sly & Robbie's future productions with Grace Jones.
Although the album disappeared with nary a trace, the follow-up single "Is That All There Is" (included as a particularly welcome bonus track) generated unwanted heat: Cristina's lyrical adjustments to Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's Peggy Lee-sung classic of jaded existentialism so mortified its songwriters (typical line: "He'd beat me black and blue and I loved it!") that they demanded the record be recalled, although not without both Debbie Harry and Siouxsie Sioux championing it first.
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Maxwell is a gifted record-maker, which isn't necessarily the same thing as a gifted songwriter. He has a nice, sweet voice, a healthy love for classic soul from Marvin to Prince, an appealing arty streak largely missing from contemporary R&B, and he can arrange his self-recorded productions quite alluringly, balancing the guitars, synths, drum machines, and horns nimbly, often coming up with fresh songs. If only his songs were as memorable as his sounds! True, Now is more song-centric than his previous releases, barring possibly his debut, but this is still well-crafted mood music in which the overall seductive sound matters more than what he's saying specifically. That's part of the reason why his cover of Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work" (revived here after being debuted on his MTV Unplugged) is so startling -- it's not just that he's picked an unlikely source for a great cover, but it's the one time that he marries his sumptuous sound to a song with substance. That's not to say that Now is a bad record -- it's hard to call anything that sounds this good a bad album -- but it's held back by Maxwell's emphasis on sound over song. If he were just making mood music, that would be acceptable, but he's trying to live up to the tradition of Marvin and Prince, and while his productions often live up to that legacy, he has yet to write songs memorable enough to truly justify those comparisons.
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In an interview in 1980, John Lydon was asked to name his favorite new bands. His answer, polemic and angry, was to call rock "dismal," with the exception of just one band: The Raincoats, an all-girl post-punk group with a very unique sound.
more »The Raincoats were formed when Ana da Silva and Gina Birch, two art school students from London, picked up a few secondhand instruments, bonded over Patti Smith and formed a band of their own. After a year of playing local spots, they recorded their 1979 debut for pioneering U.K. label Rough Trade. Since then, that album has gained something along the lines of cult status. Kurt Cobain famously wrote about his sheepish quest to acquire a new copy in the liner notes of Incestiside, and later used his influence to have all three of the group's records reissued by major label behemoth, Geffen.
All the praise is well-deserved: The Raincoats have been held in high regard for more than 30 years for their DIY attitude and the ability to develop a unique and radical voice out of — or, some would say, in spite of — their amateurism.
The sound on this album has no timestamp — it's punk, folk-punk or post-punk, sure, but it's also none of the above. The recording of this album included the group's four original members: Birch on vocals/bass, Da Silva on vocals/guitar, Vicky Aspinall on violin and Palmolive, former member of the Slits, on drums. Thanks largely to Palmolive, Raincoats is a very rhythmic affair, especially on "Fairytale in The Supermarket" and "Black and White," where each of Birch's and Da Silva's vocal howls is complimented by either a pound of the bass or a snare roll. Aspinall provides a violin sound way out of the comfort zone of her classical training, mixing it with Da Silva's clean guitar riffs. On "No Side to Fall In," the violin is more like a fiddle, playing somewhere between country and folk.
Although the whole album is a classic, standouts "In Love" and "Fairytale in The Supermarket" are practically required listening. Raincoats remains as it was when it was first released: effortlessly intimate and creative.
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A Man and a Half: The Best of Wilson Pickett is a double-disc set that collects the absolute cream of Pickett's early sides with The Falcons and all the highlights of his successful alliance with the Atlantic label. With "Mustang Sally," "In the Midnight Hour," "Ninety Nine & a Half," "Hey Jude," "Land of 1000 Dances," "You're So Fine," and "634-5789" all included, this excellent compilation should be one of the cornerstones of anybody's soul collection.
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Despite their affinity for the studio, the Who's glory is that they are a live powerhouse. Their gig sheet in the middle '60s saw them playing every extant town in England, increasingly traveling overseas, and always making sure they retained their stage exuberance. Performance was a cathartic release for the band, especially for the tending-to-cerebral Townshend, and their lusty rhythmic improvisations and extended jams and explosive covers — "Summertime Blues," "Shakin' All Over," "Young Man Blues" — provided a counterpoint to Tommy's more formal place-setting.
more »The gem of Live At Leeds, recorded on February 14, 1970 at the university of a West Yorkshire town known more for woolgathering than headbanging, is the group's extended workout on "Magic Bus," a hit single from 1968 that seemed to fall between albums (despite its cash-in on the mystifying The Who On Tour, which gathered b-sides and random tracks in a haphazard compilation). With Daltrey joining on harmonica, the group creates a maelstrom of interlock, and the medley surrounding "My Generation" is a retrospective of the Who's many guises, from snippets of Tommy to "Driving Four," all falling within what Pete refers to in his spoken introduction as "more or less our hymn." Originally confined to a single disc, the album has been expanded over various editions to include many outtakes from the Leeds show, as well as the next night's stopover in Hull, which had technical problems now able to be digitally corrected. This is the Who at the crossroads between their roots as a local band and the arenas to come; an intimate, highly-charged set by the greatest live band of their generation.
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This two-fer from country-rock legends the Flying Burrito Brothers includes 1969's Gilded Palace of Sin and 1970's Burrito Deluxe on a single disc. Both albums dutifully represent the band at its peak, making it a great entry point for newbies and a hassle-free treat for longtime fans.
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For the last few years before his tragically early death at age 38 in 1997, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (or "Iz" to his numerous fans) was Hawaii's best-selling musician. His legend lives on through the use of his music for countless ad campaigns and TV series as well as several posthumous releases, but this was his first solo album, released in 1990 after a decade and a half of success with the traditional group M?kaha Sons of Ni'ihau.
more »Despite its title, Ka'Ano'i only features two songs in Hawaiian, and has a more mainstream sound than his previous work, featuring an early, reggae-flavored version of his biggest hit, the medley "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World." Those looking for the more folkloric side of Hawaiian music won't find any mele chants, or even slack key guitar, here.
"You Don't Know Me" sounds more like something you'd hear in a Honolulu karaoke bar, and the vibraphone-backed ballad "Kainoa" borders on Hula show hokum. "Coney Island Washboard Woman" is the strangest item, with its New Orleans skiffle flavor, while "Margarita," "Men Who Ride Mountains" and "Sea of Love" all find Iz in a Hawaiian reggae comfort zone.
The 1993 follow-up Facing Future would take him in a more rootsy direction and become his biggest hit, but Ka'Ano'i has a strong sense of place and it's a brief but engaging snapshot of an artist on the cusp of greatness. Iz sings every word like he means it in his gentle, laidback croon and he has an almost child-like glee at making music comes across clearly. Plus, the man plays a mean ukulele to boot.
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Arranger Gil Evans was one of Miles Davis's key allies throughout his career. Starting in 1957 they collaborated on four projects for trumpet and orchestra, beginning with the fine Miles Ahead and ending with the problematic but still rewarding Quiet Nights. The series 'middle volumes are Porgy and Bess, where Gershwin's music inspires some of Miles's most poignant trumpeting, and the exquisite Sketches of Spain. Its long flagship number recasts a slow movement from a 1939 guitar concerto by Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo; it's enlivened by Evans 'gorgeous dissonances for flutes and massed brass, and flamenco echoes from rattling castanets. But the album's real marvels are a pair of shorter pieces derived from field recordings, which push Miles into previously uncharted territory. "The Pied Piper" is based on a Peruvian Indian pennywhistle melody, played by a pig castrator to advertise his services as he makes his rounds. Miles imbues it with such deep feeling, it's as if he empathizes with the pigs. "Saeta" draws on music for a Spanish Holy Week procession, right down to the sound of a brass band advancing from and then retreating into the distance, like something out of Charles Ives; the dire, wounded sound of Davis's trumpet is unforgettably stark.
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In 1972, MGM Records executive Michael Viner assembled a group of musicians to record music for a chase scene for the B-movie soundtrack The Thing with Two Heads. Dubbed the Incredible Bongo Band, this ad hoc combo, which included drummer Jim Gordon (of Derek and the Dominos) and percussionist King Errisson, recorded "Bongo Rock" and "Bongolia." Released together as a seven-inch single on MGM's Pride imprint, it went on to sell over two million copies. The album Bongo Rock featured other funky standouts like "Apache" and a remake of Sandy Nelson's 1961 proto-surf hit "Let There Be Drums"; the former would have the biggest impact, if accidentally.
more »In the mid-'70s Bronx, DJ Kool Herc began testing his "merry-go-round" theory using the record. "The breaks came out of an experiment," he told Fresh Air's Terry Gross in 2004. "I was noticing people used to wait for the particular parts of the record, to dance to, just to do their special little moves." With its intensive bongo workout, "Apache" was just what Herc and his dancers were looking for. Utilizing two copies, Herc began repeating the percussion breakdown for the crowd. "When I [played] that, that experiment went out the window," he told Gross. In essence, "Apache" is the cornerstone of hip-hop. It has gone on to become the quintessential b-boy anthem, and would be sampled countless times over the ensuing decades.
A year after Bongo Rock, the Incredible Bongo Band released The Return of the Incredible Bongo Band before calling it a day. But the popularity of Viner and company's grooves continues unabated. This 2006 release combines the best of both Bongo Band albums into a solid package. It's a must-have for anyone looking to track the sonic foundation of hip-hop, and features some of the funkiest grooves ever recorded.
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The most acclaimed jazz singer of her time gets back to her Mississippi roots on this 2002 outing, recorded in a train station (and boxcar) in bluestown Clarksdale. The dusky-voiced contralto has the laid-back, sultry thing down — few jazz or pop singers ooze through a tune like her. For local color, Wilson does Mississippi Fred McDowell's "You Got to Move," like a work song, and 1932's sentimental "Darkness on the Delta," effectively straight. It's the lone piano-based track on an album thick with guitars and hand drums. Wilson pulls tunes from all over — a Robert Johnson street cry, James Taylor, middle Dylan, "The Weight," and a mesmerizing, earthbound "Wichita Lineman" — very slow, from his woman's point of view. "Justice" is her artfully constructed bid for slavery reparations, and "Drunk as Cooter Brown" a sharp character sketch. And on Jobim's "Waters of March," she takes an epic run over its elusive lyric.
