Any Major Dude With Half A Heart

The story goes that Jim Morrison hated Light My Fire, The Doors’ great breakthrough hit. Recorded in August 1966, it was released in January 1967, at the dawn of the so-called Summer of Love. If it was true that Morrison disliked it, I’d sort of concur with his judgment. In fact, he didn’t hate the song, but resented that he had only a small part in writing his band’s signature hit (most of it was written by guitarist Robby Krieger).

I don’t like The Doors much, and have more respect than affection for their version of Light My Fire. No, let me rephrase it. I dislike Jim Morrison and hate his mannered vocals on the song (as opposed to Ray Manzarek’s magnificent keyboard line). It is a great song that has been covered hundreds of times, usually to good effect. It is the mark of a fine song when it is difficult to fuck it up. And when a song is interpreted in so many different ways as Light My Fire is here, it incontrovertibly is a truly great song. I predict that the reader who will listen to all versions offered here in one go won’t get bored with it.

Of the 38 versions collated here, only one is gratingly bad: that by Train, which appeared, of all things, on a Doors tribute album (I have refrained from throwing Will Young’s chart-topping karaoke effort into the mix). I include Train’s version for the sake of curiosity, but the most curious interpretation here is that of Mae West, by then 79 years old. Clearly aiming for the gerontophile market, Mae purrs and pouts and outsexes Jim Morrision himself. The backing track, apparently by an outfit called The Hot Rockers, is quite good. I know nothing more about them, alas.

Some versions here take The Doors’ original as their template; more follow the path created by José Felicianio’s superior cover. The best of these, Minnie Riperton’s posthumously released take, sees Feliciano guesting (he turns up again later on a DVD rip of a Ricky Martin concert, when the somg morphs into Santana’s Oye Como Va)

Feliciano provided the blueprint for the pop and jazz vocalists, with Julie London’s flutey take and Shirley Bassey’s interpretation (which sounds much like a Bond theme) especially good. An early adopter was soul/jazz singer Spanky Wilson. I suspect that her version was as influential as Feliciano’s in attracting the many soul covers. Jackie Wilson, Clarence Carter, Rhetta Hughes (inspiring), Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (surprisingly understated), Erma Franklin, Stevie Wonder (gloriously overproduced) and the Four Tops (“sizzle, sizzle, sizzle me, baby”) all recorded their covers in 1969; Al Green and Isaac Hayes did so in 1971 and ’73. A few years later Carol Douglas and Amii Stewart issued disco versions. So did Baccara, whom I hold close to my heart, but not for their horrible 1978 version which I decline to inflict upon the kind reader.

Light My Fire has lent itself to instrumental coverage. Some of it is quite excellent (Young Holt Unlimited; Booker T. and the MG’s slower interpretation; Ananda Shankar’s Indian take), some veer into easy listening territory (Edmundo Ros’ cha cha cha flavoured version; Helmut Zacharias’ bizarre violin-dominated James Last-goes-psychedelic job). The Ebony Rhythm Band in 2004 recorded a quite splendid psychedelic retro soul version. And then there is English violinist Nigel Kennedy giving it a classical twist, with the arranging help of former Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman.

Bringing the threads of these different versions together is Mike Flower Pops, the outfit that specialised in recreating the sounds of the 1960s, having been invented for that purpose by restyling Oasis’ Wonderwall, scratchy vinyl and all, as a gag on allegations of the Mancunians’ alleged plagiariasm.

It is fitting, I think, that the mix should end with two recent songs from the Latin genre – Tahta Menezes’ bossa nova take and Uruguayan singer/actress Natalia Oreiro’s moody rendition – signalling that Light My Fire is indeed Feliciano’s song. Can you spot whose version is missing?

The first Song Swarm covered By The Time I Get To Phoenix. Interestingly, five of the 23 performers on that mix return here: Erma Franklin, the Four Tops, Johnny Mathis, Isaac Hayes and, of course, José Feliciano.

TRACKLISTING
1. José Feliciano – Light My Fire
2. Spanky Wilson – Light My Fire
3. Johnny Mathis – Light My Fire
4. BJ Thomas – Light My Fire
5. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity – Light My Fire
6. Julie London – Light My Fire
7. Jackie Wilson – Light My Fire
8. Clarence Carter – Light My Fire
9. Rhetta Hughes – Light My Fire
10. The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band – Light My Fire
11. Erma Franklin – Light My Fire
12. Booker T. and the MG’s – Light My Fire
13. Young Holt Unlimited – Light My Fire
14. Nancy Sinatra – Light My Fire
15. Astrud Gilberto – Light My Fire
16. Stevie Wonder – Light My Fire
17. The Four Tops – Light My Fire
18. Edmundo Ros – Light My Fire
19. Ananda Shankar – Light My Fire
20. Shirley Bassey – Light My Fire
21. Larry Page Orchestra – Light My Fire
22. Al Green - Light My Fire
23. Free Design – Light My Fire
24. Helmut Zacharias – Light My Fire
25. Mae West – Light My Fire
26. Isaac Hayes – Light My Fire
27. Carol Douglas – Light My Fire
28. Amii Stewart – Light My Fire
29. Minnie Riperton feat José Feliciano – Light My Fire
30. Massive Attack – Light My Fire
31. Mike Flowers Pops – Light My Fire
32. Ricky Martin with José Feliciano & Carlos Santana – Light My Fire/Oye Como Va
33. Nigel Kennedy & Jaz Coleman – Light My Fire
34. Train - Light My Fire
35. Cibo Matto – Light My Fire
36. Ebony Rhythm Band – Light My Fire
37. Tahta Menezes - Light My Fire
38. Natalia Oreiro – Light My Fire

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(Mirror 1 Mirror 2 Mirror 3)

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More Mixes
Song Swarms

The second mix of Beatles covers comprises songs from the group’s 1967-68 period, ending rather abruptly in the middle of the White Album selection. So the third mix will carry on with songs from that double album (leading with the Beach Boys doing Back In The USSR).

There are some quite unexpected covers. Ella Fitzgerald singing Savoy Truffle? Soul group The Moments singing Rocky Racoon, of all songs? Some performers are also surprising. Bill Cosby, for example. The stand-up comic did an album of covers in 1969, including Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It’s not mugging for comedic effect either, though it is fairly bizarre. Backing Cosby is the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band.

Elvis Costello’s performance of “an English folk song” was a minor highlight at Wembley’s Live Aid, not because Costello is doing it very well, but because the crowd is filling in the horn bits, thereby proving Costello’s introduction right. McCartney has attributed inspiration for the sound of Lady Madonna, particularly the piano, to Fats Domino, so it is apt that Domino’s cover, recorded soon after the Beatles released it, should feature here.

Some inclusions are entirely obvious: Pickett’s Hey Jude is the best version of that song, and Spooky Tooth’s cover of I Am The Walrus is masterful. I also particularly like Richie Haven’s take on Strawberry Fields and John Denver’s Mother Nature’s Son.

Part 3, covering 1968-70 will be posted next week.

TRACKLISTING
1. Richie Havens – Strawberry Fields Forever (1969)
2. Kenny Rankin – Penny Lane (1970)
3. Bill Cosby – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1968)
4. The Undisputed Truth – With A Little Help From My Friends (1973)
5. Syreeta - She’s Leaving Home (1972)
6. Gabor Szabo – Lucy In The Sky With Diamond (1967)
7. The Wedding Present - Getting Better (1988)
8. Big Daddy – Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite (1992)
9. Claudine Longet - When I’m Sixty-Four (1967)
10. José Feliciano – A Day In The Life (live) (1969)
11. Elvis Costello – All You Need Is Love (live) (1985)
12. The Impressions – Fool On The Hill (1969)
13. Spooky Tooth - I Am The Walrus (1970)
14. Ambrosia - Magical Mystery Tour (1976)
15. Fats Domino - Lady Madonna (1968)
16. Wilson Pickett – Hey Jude (1969)
17. Bobby Bryant – Happiness Is A Warm Gun (1969)
18. The Moments – Rocky Raccoon (1970)
19. The Five Stairsteps – Dear Prudence (1970)
20. Ella Fitzgerald – Savoy Truffle (1969)
21. John Denver – Mother Nature’s Son (1972)
22. Paul Weller - Sexy Sadie (1994)
23. Siouxsie & the Banshees – Helter Skelter (1978)

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Any Major Beatles Covers: 1962-66

More mixes

More Beatles stuff

By The Time I Get To Phoenix is not even my favourite Jimmy Webb song, much as I love it, but I cannot think of many other songs in pop music that traverse interpretations and genres as effortlessly as this. Here I am offering a bunch of versions that cover pop, country, soul, jazz and easy listening.

By The Time I Get To Phoenix sounds like it belongs in any of these genres. And even when interpreted by artists from the same genre, it is an immensely flexible a song. Just compare the versions by the Four Tops, Erma Franklin, Isaac Hayes, the Intruders, the Mad Lads, Wayne McGhie and New York City. So I think one can listen to all 23 versions here without necessarily getting bored.

The first version of the song was recorded by Webb’s mentor, Johnny Rivers, in 1966. Since then it has been covered many time. I’ve managed to date 50 versions released within five years of Rivers’ inaugural recording. Apparently there are more than a thousand versions of it.

Rivers’ version made no impact, nor did a cover by Pat Boone. The guitarist on Boone’s version, however, picked up on the song and released it in 1967. Glen Campbell scored a massive hit with the song, even winning two Grammies for it. In quick succession, Campbell completed a trilogy of geographically-themed songs by Webb, with the gorgeous Wichita Lineman (written especially for Campbell) and the similarly wonderful Galveston.

Another seasoned session musician took Phoenix into a completely different direction (if you will pardon the unintended pun). Isaac Hayes had heard the song, and decided to perform it as the Bar-Keys’ guest performer at Memphis’ Tiki Club, a soul venue. He started with a spontaneous spoken prologue, explaining in some detail why this man is on his unlikely journey (apparently it is physically impossible to complete the song’s itinerary — Phoenix, Albuquerque, Oklahoma — in a day). At first the patrons weren’t sure what Hayes was doing rapping over a repetitive chord loop. After a while, according to Hayes, they started to listen. At the end of the song, he said, there was not a dry eye in the house (“I’m gonna moan now…”). As it appeared on Ike’s 1968 Hot Buttered Soul album, the thing went on for 18 glorious minutes.

So, apart from Isaac Hayes’, which version is your favourite? I think I like Al Wilson’s best. Or the Four Tops’. Or Erma Franklin’s. Or Nick Cave’s…

TRACKLISTING
1. Johnny Rivers – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1966)
2. Glen Campbell – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1967)
3. Ace Cannon – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
4. Al Wilson – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
5. Bobby Goldsboro – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
6. Engelbert Humperdinck – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
7. Four Tops – By the Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
8. Frank Sinatra – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
9. Johnny Mathis – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
10. Marty Robbins – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
11. The Intruders – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
12. The Lettermen – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1968)
13. A.J. Marshall – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
14. Dorothy Ashby – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
15. Erma Franklin – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
16. Isaac Hayes – By the Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
17. José Feliciano - By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
18. The Mad Lads – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1969)
19. Wayne McGhie & the Sounds of Joy – By the Time I Get To Phoenix (1970)
20. Fabulous Souls – By The Time I Get to Phoenix (1971)
21. New York City – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1973)
22. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1986)
23. Reba McEntire – By The Time I Get To Phoenix (1995)

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More Mixes

As a Beatles fan, I would be quite happy to display all their album covers on my wall, if decorating my humble abode with LP sleeves was my thing (the putative notion of such interior design innovation, of course, being the premise for this series). I imagine the Beatles would appreciate the pun in my song selection: Beatles songs sung by others… Read more…

When in the introduction for the 1970 instalment I said that I had become interested in music that year, by 1971 I was showing the first signs of the devotion to popular music which today finds expression on this blog. I attribute that to three events. Firstly, I began to catch a greater number of music programmes on TV, especially the ZDF Hitparade (about which more later) and Disco, presented by the rather absurd Illja Richter and featuring German and international acts. Secondly, for my fifth birthday in April I was presented with a portable record player (the type where the lid doubles as a speaker). Thirdly, I bought my first record. As always, inclusion of a song here does not imply my endorsement (especially not with all that Schlager dross in this lot; trust me, things will get better after 1977). Read more…

It has been a long time since I’ve celebrated the work of my fellow bloggers. So long, in fact, that some which I might have featured along the way have given up (or hopefully just suspended) their endeavours. So, whatever happened to The Urban Woo? Will Catholick Tastes ever blog again? Got The Fever, the mercury is running much too low!

Oh, and if your blog doesn’t feature here, it doesn’t mean I don’t love you. And at this point, I should express my gratitude to all the blogs that link to me, and especially to those that do so in their posts (with special props to Rock God Cred and its sibling blog Retro Music Snob). Click on the heading to visit the blogs reviewed.

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The Vinyl District

This may look like reciprocation after The Vinyl District (TVD) chose your humble servant to kick off a new series in which that blog visits other blogs, asking them to tell about themselves and offer up a few tunes. Of course I sounded like an idiot, referring to this blog in the third person. TVD, on the other hand, astutely evades exhibitions of idiocy in its bid to promote the delights of trusty vinyl, which is sustaining something of a comeback. In doing so, the blog revisits old records and flags new vinyl releases. Periodically, TVD runs competitions, usually calling on readers to exercise their wit to win a t-shirt, a concert ticket or a deluxe vinyl edition of Jenny Lewis’ fine Acid Tongue album (I can never muster the required with, I’m afraid). And I love the website design: the vinyl LP coming out of the album cover. Brilkliant. It seems logical that the song dedication for TVD should be my vinyl rip of a hard-to-find song, a very beautiful 1982 track in the James Taylor vein by the Australian singer Richard Clapton.
Richard Clapton – Walk On The Water.mp3

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Another Nickel In The Machine

This blog is an absolute gem. Taking as its subject London in the 20th century, it is a cultural multimedia journey through eras, from the London which still had the murders of Jack the Ripper fresh in its collective mind to the pre-WW2 years to the Swinging Sixties to the brief punk period. Some posts include music, others photos or videos. The essays are beautifully written and invariably fascinating, even (or especially) for non-Londoners. Along the way we meet eccentrics, gangsters and musicians, read about “the Duchess of Argyll and the Headless Man polaroids” and visit Harry Nilsson’s cursed flat in which first Cass Elliott and then Keith Moon died, or take a look inside “the hippy squat at 144 Piccadilly”, which was guarded by a trio of fey looking Hell’s Angels.
The Smiths – Half A Person.mp3

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Oreo Cookie Blues

I like a blog with great pictures and great music. One such blog is Dane’s All Eyes And Ears, which showcases her marvellous photography (which has influenced the way I look for subject matter in my own photographic endeavours) and fine music to illustrate the illustration. Oreo Cookie Blues is another fusion of sound and images, mostly photos taken by the blogger, from Toronto, himself. Some of the photos are utterly exquisite, and so is the music — for all you Ring Of Fire cover needs, Oreo Cookie Blues’ got ’em. I must run the all-too obvious song dedication, of course. Any Minor Dude, now 14, recently told me that, when he was small, he thought I was the Cookie Monster because I sounded exactly like him when singing C Is For Cookie. But to compensate for the novelty value of a Sesame Street classic, I also offer an early girl-group soul classic (with a weird spoken bit) from 1956 by a group which we will soon encounter again in the Originals series.
Cookie Monster – C is for Cookie.mp3
The Cookies – In Paradise.mp3

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The Cheese Does Not Wear Me

I remember my university days with some affection; so much so that when I visit the campus, as I do when I am showing overseas visitors around, I get agonisingly nostalgic. Perhaps I just feel reminded of my rapidly receding youth. So I read Liz’s blog of life on campus in Winnipeg, Canada, with a certain empathy. It helps that Liz (who frequently comments on this blog, for which I love her) is engaging and witty as she shares the minutae of college life. She is at her best when she directs her bile at her more brainless peers. Liz recently completed her Bachelor of Arts degree (hurrah!) and will leave the site of her brainless peers. Happily for us, she is not going to enter the world of gainful employment (other than a summer job), but will continue her studies, post-grad style, at the University of Minnesota, home state of at least three bloggers previously featured in this series. As we know from the film Fargo, Minnesota has its share of dim people, so Liz doubtless will find fertile grounds from which to reap instances of brainlessness on which to comment. In Purple Rain, the objectionable side of Minnesotans was represented by the gloriously preening Morris Day. This is one of the songs Day and his group (which once included future producers Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam) performed in the film. It’s outrageous!
Morris Day & the Time – The Bird.mp3

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Groover’s Paradise

I’m not certain I am convinced of the merits of collaborative blogs. Of course, the benefit of pooling expertise and talent is a potential consistency of quality, but somehow I miss the one-on-one relationship between blogger and reader. This is not intended to deprecate such blogs, of course. There are many whose fused work I admire. One of them is Groover’s Paradise, among whose contributors are the always wonderful Gentlebear and the very impressive Setting The Woods On Fire, one of my favourite site for classic country fixes. Groover’s Paradise styles itself as a place “where we celebrate our favorite 20th Century rock, country, and soul music”. Which is as good a description as I might come up with.
Peaches & Herb – Shake Your Groove Thing (Original 12″ Mix).mp3

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Geezer Music Club

The title stakes out this blog’s intended audiences: if you are looking for Kelly Clarkson’s latest single, you probably won’t find it here. And, just in case you need to be reassured that Kelly does not live here, it says: “A special place for SEASONED music lovers.” What one will find is thoughtfully selected music with well researched and written articles of just the right length (in other words, the Big Geez does not waffle as prodigiously as your present interlocutor). I’m not sure at what point one becomes a “seasoned” music lover; I suspect it has to do less with age but with the extent to which one has been immersed in music. Read this way, following this blog can – should – be inter-generational.
John Prine – Hello In There.mp3

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Beatles Anecdotes

Can one ever know enough about the Beatles? Beatles Anecdotes offers a fresh nugget of information every day. That is quite an incredible effort: finding something to post, writing it up, logging in, posting…every day. That is dedication. And the information is very entertaining indeed. I didn’t know that Lovely Rita, the meter maid, was a real person called, of all things, Meta, whom McCartney met in St John’s Wood (and 20 years later didn’t recognise even after hearing her name). And I didn’t know that John Lennon gave the band Hot Chocolate their name, or that Ringo was briefly a Beach Boy. And here’s the kicker, all three nuggets of extravagant trivia appeared on consecutive days. This is a blog to visit for a daily fix of trivia, and to dip into the archives on a slow day. In tribute, José Feliciano’s fantastic live acoustic version of A Day In The Life from his 1969 Alive Alive-o! Live At London Palladium album (another vinyl rip of mine).
José Feliciano – A Day In The Life.mp3

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Number One In Heaven

And finally not a blog, but those who dabble on Facebook will find at least one group very useful indeed: Number One In Heaven sends out monthly messages notifying subscribers of the latest deaths in the world of pop. I did not know that soul songstress Viola Wills and former Delfonic Randy Cain had died until I received my update earlier this week. The group promotes Jeremy Simmonds book Number One in Heaven: The Heroes Who Died for Rock ‘n’ Roll (retitled in the US The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns and Ham Sandwiches). I haven’t read it yet (seeing as I live in a backwater where the music section in even the best bookshops offers a range of a dozen books, half of them about U2 and Nirvana, and Amazon don’t deliver to South Africa), but it looks like a fantastic work. The reviews certainly seem to suggest so.

And while you are on Facebook, become this blog’s friend (it’s OK, you won’t go to Guantanamo Bay for being friends with something called Amd Whah any longer). Apart from being alerted to new posts – and sometimes posts I’m working on – you’ll also learn such fascinating things about me as which West Wing character I am, my five favourite brands of ketchup and how well (or not) I perform in quizzes about Pauly Shore’s cinematic artistry. The sort of stuff that will enrich your reading experiences of Any Major Dude With Half A Heart. The song dedication is a bit obvious, though the song belongs in every collection that reserves a special place for spectacularly bad songs, such as this glorious cash-in on the death of Elvis, released within a couple of weeks of 16 August 1977.
Danny Mirror – I Remember Elvis Presley.mp3 (reuploaded)

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Previously featured in Music for Bloggers