Tag Archive for Cover

Amy Winehouse – Valerie

CjK Guest Post – Summer Cover #8

My youngest son complains that he is woken at 3 in the morning by Northern Ireland supporters tunelessly singing Valerie.

Valerie is a song by the English indie rock band The Zutons from the band’s second studio album. I suspect not many had heard of the Zutons until Amy chose to do this cover, which is now very well known and you would have to say that Amy brings her trademark style to it, which many impromptu Karaoke versions do not…

The Late, Great Amy Winehouse:

Amy Winehouse/CjK

The Stepkids – Suit & Tie (Justin Timberlake Jazz Cover)

CjK Guest Post – Summer Cover #6

Ok you’re invited to a wedding and the ‘Bridzilla” has stipulated a strict dress code. These 3 piece jazz musicians provide a perfect backdrop to a warm summers’ evening wedding, where you might be going  slightly better dressed than usual, and uncomfortable with a tie on. Something of a wedding band themselves this trio are letting it rip.  Anyway Rob would never post Justin Timberlake…

The Step Kids:

The Step Kids/CjK

*Artist #701

REM – Wichita Lineman

CjK Guest Post – Summer Cover #3

Let’s be clear, Glen Campbell nailed the definitive version of “Wichita Lineman” a song written by American songwriter Jimmy Webb when he recorded it in 1968. It was much played, covered and has entered adult easy listening heaven.British music journalist Stuart Maconie called it “the greatest pop song ever composed”.

It is not clear why REM recorded this version but it was probably homage to Jimmy Webb, who was inspired by lost love to write this classic.

R.E.M.:

R.E.M.

/CjK

The Stranglers – Walk On By

CjK Guest Post – Summer Cover #2

Punk was at its height in 1978 when The Stranglers released the  ‘Black and White‘ album. Anarchy was the order of the day. Here the Stranglers were thumbing there noses at Burt Bacharach and Hal David syrupy love songs, and turned it into a guitar driven rant, with an admittedly a long slightly indulgent solo.

Of course they also recorded ‘Golden Brown’ a syrupy love song to heroin. It is not recorded what Burt Bacharach made of this version but I suspect its not going into his desert island discs…

The Stranglers:

The Stranglers/CjK

Bronski Beat – It Ain’t Necessarily So

CjK Guest Post – Summer Cover #1

Summertime from Gershwin’s Porgy and Best, which has been covered on a number of occasions, might have been the obvious choice for a summer time cover to kick off ‘summer covers’.

Jimmy Somerville’s reedy voice, recorded in 1984, seems to nail this version of It Ain’t Necessarily So from the same musical. The song was controversial in appearing to openly challenge biblical stories. The video could not be farther from the stage version of the show.

Bronski Beat:

Bronski Beat/CjK

Toploader* – Dancing in the moonlight | (GPF)

Five points if you can remember when this was released. It’s a real blast from the past for me anyway. I have been meaning to post it since revisiting Pumping on Your Stereo a few Fridays ago. They both evoke memories of carefree school days and generally make me smile which aren’t bad traits for a song.

For those of you playing at home Dancing in the Moonlight was released in 1999 and is taken from the uniquely titled Onka’s Big Moka (extra points if you remembered the name of the album).

My suspicion was that Toploader where a one hit wonder but according to Wikipedia they reformed a few years ago so maybe there’s still hope…

Toploader:

Toploader/RjK

*Artist #608

Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah

Today finds me in a rather sombre mood and so the late, great Jeff Buckley seems a fitting choice. This is a cover of a Leonard Cohen classic and is taken from his startling debut album Grace.

It’s not a cry you can hear at night, it’s not somebody who has seen the light, it’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah…

Jeff Buckley – Grace:

Grace

/RjK

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Baby


This is off Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti’s recently released Mature Themes album. APHG were a blog favourite last year and their track Round and Round made it to number 12 in my Top 30 of 2011. Pretty special video too – John Travolta doing aerobics!

This track is a cover of a 70’s track by Donnie and Joe Emerson. Strangely I have already posted another cover version of exactly the same song earlier in the year, this time by Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland AKA Hype Williams. I love each of the versions, they are all really mellow and languid, which is exactly what I need this week!

/RjK

14th October 2012

Nina Simone – Mr. Bojangles

Some more mellow Sunday night listening. There are several versions of this track but this is my favourite (Nina is hard to beat). There is a wisfulness to it that feels heartfelt and I find it rather moving. I guess that is the test of any good music, that it makes you feel something.

/RjK