5 February 2020 - Shawn Colvin - Crazy

I first heard this amazingly understated cover several years ago.... but I forgot about it......

3 February 2020 - Dana Williams and Leighton Meester - Dreams

Let's not bury the lede.  Yes.  That's Blair Waldorf singing a Fleetwood Mac cover.  And playing a guitar.  We're having some trouble reconciling that with the thing she did with Cobra Starship and especially the thing she did with Robin Thicke, but this is really good

We kid.  We know Leighton Meester can sing.  Anyone who saw Country Strong knows this.

I also don't want to ignore Dana Williams, who is equally strong on this track.  She's not as well known as her co-singer (having been in an Apple commercial and the reality show Rising Star) but that's not a reflection of her talent, as the two ladies harmonize quite well.

1 February 2020 - R.E.M. - Wichita Lineman

I know, it's been awhile.  I'm glad to be back at this.

Many of you know my favorite song is "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell.  I said as much here.  It's become more meaningful to me as I have aged. 

"Wichita Lineman" was a song by Jimmy Webb, written for Campbell but also recorded by Webb.  This version, for an R.E.M. concert film, is a beautiful and haunting version of an already beautiful and haunting song.  This version captures the simplicity of the song as well. 

23 September 2019 - Emmylou Harris - If I Could Only Win Your Love

This is a song that a lot of people probably think is all Emmylou, because she owned this song like no other. 

But it was a cover of a song by The Louvin Brothers in 1958.  Emmylou's version, unlike the original, charted and became her first hit in 1975.  She went on from there, of course, to become THE Emmylou Harris.

6 June 2019 - Kiesza - Prayer in C

Sure, it doesn't sound like the song you know.

Which means you didn't read my "Prayer in C" post that explains that.  The explanation is, of course, that Robin Schulz didn't remix this.

But Kiesza is clearly familiar with and a fan of the unremixed version, because this performance is brilliant.

5 June 2019 - Conway Twitty - Slow Hand

Conway Twitty.

Covering the Pointer Sisters.

After a long hiatus here, you might not have expected that this would be our comeback choice.

And yet it makes a lot of sense.  The original was strongly country-themed.  With a few lyrical changes - because the original lyrics don't work for a heterosexual male.  And yet, I don't see that as his biggest alteration to the song.   The tempo is a lot faster - but that was appropriate for the genre at the time. 

16 August 2018 - Aretha Franklin - Repsect

Less a cover and more a reimagination of an Otis Redding classic, this song was unbelievably  Aretha's only Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit.  More importantly, it turned a song about a guy begging his girl for respect into a feminist anthem. 

Music really lost a legend in Aretha Franklin today, but her songs will endure for generations to come.