Happy Memorial Day 2010

Best Cover Songs of the 60's

If you follow American Idol each week like I do, you'll remember Simon saying that he wanted the contestants to redo songs with their own style. He didn't want them to completely butcher the original, but instead do an interesting take on it. Also, take a look at the hit show Glee. Each week you have several covers of famous songs done by the cast. And go figure, some of their remakes are now outselling the originals!

A great site to check out who really made that song is Second Hand Songs. I go there a lot to fact check. They have an extensive list of who has covered the song, and who was the original artist.

This got me thinking about writing my top 6 favorite covers of the 60's. There were lots of them as people tried to cash in on other people's success. (i.e. The Beatles) So, I know you may or may not agree with my picks, but here's what I think are the cream of the crop:

1. All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix, 1968 (Bob Dylan, 1967)

(Not sung by Bob Dylan. Couldn't find a video available.)

2. You Keep Me Hanging On - Vanilla Fudge, 1967 (The Supremes, 1966)




3. Telstar - Ventures, 1963 (The Tornados, 1962)




4. Light My Fire - Jose Feliciano, 1968 (The Doors, 1967)




5. Please Mr. Postman - The Beatles, 1963 (The Marvelettes, 1961)





6. With A Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker, 1968 (The Beatles, 1967)





And some terribly awful attempts...

Beatle Barkers: Seriously? You made a record of dogs barking to the Beatles? Oh. My. God.

Tommy Sands & Annette Funicello - Let's Get Together: I'm sorry, I like Annette and all, but the Hailey Mills version was the best. Tommy Sands with his "ye ye yeahhh" makes me sick each time I hear it. No wonder his career ended. (Or was that due to ol' blue eyes cutting off his cash & fame?)

Mrs. Miller - When I first heard this lady, I couldn't believe myself. Be sure to get her CD, Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits. Yikes!

What the hell was Georgy Girl about?!?!

Just watched Georgy Girl from 1966 and I'm just not too sure what I saw. One moment she's teaching kids to be silly, then she's dancing and singing like a mental patient, finally she's macking with a married James Mason, who's like 40 years older! I don't know what that was. If I do find out one day, I'll be sure to let you know. Honestly though, I had never heard of this movie. Heard the song about a million times and just absolutely love it, but I didn't know there was a movie.

Also, just wanted to say RIP Lynn Redgrave, who just died recently due to cancer. She was the 22 year old star of the movie. She's sister to Vanessa Redgrave and aunt to Natasha Richardson, who also just passed.

Rent the movie, try not to get lost and tell me what you think. ;)


Here's my fave scene and probably the most memorable from the film:


Other 'Georgy Girl' versions that don't even come close:

Lightnin' Strikes Video

Just found this on YouTube and thought I'd pass it along. Watch for the little snippet of Lou Christie in the video. Oh, and don't forget to sing along as well. :P

Enlightnin'ment: All About Lou Christie

Over the past couple of weeks, I've just been enthralled by Lou Christie. Yeah, I'd heard of him before when I was introduced to such songs as "Two Faces Have I", "Lightnin' Strikes" and "The Gypsy Cried". I liked how high his voice got on all of the songs...it reminded me of Frankie Valli a lot. On YouTube, I came across this old music video for "I'm Gonna Make You Mine", which I'll admit I had heard before, somewhere, but it wasn't that familiar to me. So I watched it, didn't think much of it and went on with my life. Next day, I found myself humming the stupid song!

So I watched it some more and more. Present day, and I'm hooked. I just love the simplicity of the "music video". The video quality is very poor. They're dancing in front of a hotel pool, not moving from their spots. He's wearing tight pants, obviously lip-synching really awfully, and there's a crazy lady over to the far left of the screen. Who she is, I don't know. Someone posted on the YouTube page an apparent funny story about her, but I could never find it. (Anyone, if you find it, send it my way!)

This second video is a promo for the song made by the record company. It's also poorly made, but Lou isn't too bad to look at. First off, the setting of the video: a scrap yard? Thinking of the lyrics, what does a scrap yard have to do with anything? Secondly, Lou's lip synching is out of synch, several times. But oh well, just go with it.


So the latest thing I'm obsessed with about him is his dirty song "Rhapsody in the Rain". I heard it on the XM 60's channel the other day and since then I've looked all over the place trying to download it. (iTunes only carries the live version where Lou talks about the controversy of the song.) Thank you library!

So, what's the controversy you say?

According to Christie, the original lyrics were changed from: "We were makin' out in the rain" to "We fell in love in the rain" and "In this car, we went too far" to "Our love came like a falling star."

The Catholic Church helped get this banned on many radio stations, which only made people want to hear it more (You'd think they'd have learned after banning Gary U.S. Bonds' "Quarter To Three"). It's mild by today's standards, but a hot topic back when you didn't sing about "Makin' love in the storm" with a teenage girl.

Christie (in Goldmine magazine): "I had priests and nuns calling to complain. Even Time magazine did an article on it, saying I was corrupting the youth."

The music was based on Tchaikovsky's "Romeo And Juliet."

Another interesting note about this song is that The Tammys, who did the background vocals on this and most Lou Christie songs, had a sexually suggestive song of their own in 1964, two years prior to this song, called Egyptian Shumba, which had lines like "Lets lie on the Nile, and dance Egyptian-style.

Released in the spring of 1966, "Rhapsody In The Rain" told of a teenager's regret over his sexual experience in the back seat of a car during a rainstorm as the windshield wipers made a rhythmic sound of "together, together". Later after the romance ends, the wipers seem to say "never, never". Many radio stations banned the song, and MGM insisted on a re-recorded version that toned down the lyrical content. Despite the edited version, many stations instead played two older songs re-released by other labels Christie had once recorded for: "Outside the Gates of Heaven" (on Co & Ce Records, a successor to C&C) peaked at #45, while "Big Time" (on Colpix Records) managed to hit #95. All three singles hit the U.S. charts within three weeks of one another, in March 1966. Whether it was the controversial lyrics or competition from the other singles released simultaneously, "Rhapsody" only managed to hit #16 in the U.S. and #37 in the UK.

Okay, so you wanna hear it?

The Beatles: Rock Band

Click this link to watch a trailer for The Beatles: Rock Band



Release Date: 9/9/09

Fanthology

BEST MOTOWN SONG OF ALL TIME?

According to the Motown website, "My Girl" was voted by fans as their all-time favorite song on the Motown label. A poll was held over the summer to see which song would take the prize. This event was just publicity for their Motown 50 Fanthology CD set, which is dropping September 1.

Here are the other winners:
1. “My Girl” – The Temptations
2. “What’s Going On” – Marvin Gaye
3. “Let’s Get It On” – Marvin Gaye
4. “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” – The Temptations
5. “The Tracks Of My Tears” – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
6. “Superstition” – Stevie Wonder
7. “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” – Marvin Gaye
8. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
9. “ABC” – Jackson 5
10. “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” – The Temptations

And if you're interested in the special CD set coming out soon, here are the track listings:

Disc 1
1. “My Girl” – The Temptations
2. “What’s Going On” – Marvin Gaye
3. “Let’s Get It On” – Marvin Gaye
4. “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)” – The Temptations
5. “The Tracks Of My Tears” – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
6. “Superstition” – Stevie Wonder
7. “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” – Marvin Gaye
8. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
9. “ABC” – Jackson 5
10. “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” – The Temptations
11. “I’ll Be There” - Jackson 5
12. “I Want You Back” – Jackson 5
13. “Ain’t To Proud To Beg” – The Temptations
14. “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” – Four Tops
15. “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted” – Jimmy Ruffin
16. “Ooo Baby Baby” – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
17. “Brick House” - Commodores
18. “The Tears Of A Clown” – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
19. “Dancing In The Street” – Martha & The Vandellas
20. “Got To Be There” – Michael Jackson
21. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Diana Ross
22. “Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)” – Gladys Knight & The Pips

Disc 2
1. “Reach Out I’ll Be There” – Four Tops
2. “Never Can Say Goodbye” – Jackson 5
3. “Stop! In The Name Of Love” – The Supremes
4. “Baby I Need Your Loving” – Four Tops
5. “My Cherie Amour” – Stevie Wonder
6. “This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)” – The Isley Brothers
7. “Easy” – Commodores
8. “Someday We’ll Be Together” – Diana Ross & The Supremes
9. “I Can’t Get Next To You” – The Temptations
10. “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday” – Boyz II Men
11. “Hello” – Lionel Richie
12. “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” – Stevie Wonder
13. “(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” – Martha & The Vandellas
14. “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” – Gladys Knight & The Pips
15. “Super Freak” – Rick James
16. “Fire & Desire” – Rick James & Teena Marie
17. “You’re All I Need To Get By” – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
18. “Cruisin’” – Smokey Robinson
19. “Got To Give It Up (Part 1)” – Marvin Gaye
20. “I’ll Make Love To You” – Boyz II Men
21. “Endless Love” – Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
22. “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)” – Jr. Walker & The All Stars
23. “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing” – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell


What do you think about the Motown poll results?
Cast your vote on the blog sidebar.