Posts tagged reverse cover

Leland - I’ve Got Some Happiness

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Japanese and insane, it’s Leland Yoshitsu, perhaps better known simply as ‘Leland’. Leland’s penchant for capes, tights, and black nail polish (providing style cues for Nuno Bettencourt, obvs.) might lead many to wonder if he were a Japanese superhero able to boil ramen with exceedingly narrow lasers emitted from his eyes, or perhaps dispense dirty pairs of panties to businessmen with heretofore unknown levels of efficiency, but no - he was just a regular dude, wandering the 1970’s Bay Area streets and taking weekly ads out in BAM! Magazine.

“I’ve Got Some Happiness”, taken from the album This Is My World (1976) features a somewhat jumpy, femme-tacular Leland playing all the instruments save for the drums, and includes a jangly, shred-tastic guitar solo. This is arguably the most tuneful offering from This Is My World, and would go on to be re discovered by a new generation of dickheads who read Pitchfork when it was covered by the notable band of ovary-havin’ menstruatin’ minstrels, Puro Instinct. They’re a girl group, is what I’m trying to say. I gave their version a listen for the purposes of science. Pitchfork labels it Dream Pop, which I take to mean that it sounds like they’re playing this in their fucking sleep. That’s a confirmed burn, FYI - but really it’s brutal. I’m not too familiar with their ouevre per se (that’s foreign; twice!) but I can say however that after reviewing some of their press stills that I would like to hug them while lying down; the singer in particular.

Leland is still pumping out quirky, fuzzy jams and even has a MySpace page, so perhaps he does indeed have superpowers and has travelled here from the year 2003. Check it out here. 

Fig 1.1: HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII YA!!! *guitar solo*

Dave Berry - The Crying Game

That’s right, “The Crying Game”. I would imagine this song was ruined for many of us by that Boy George… err, dude. Truth be told I found he had a way of ruining a lot of things. I can’t fucking stand chameleons and their fancy skin. My dream of professional tumbling and acrobatic gymnastics is out the proverbial window. I’ve basically stopped wearing make-up, and he flat out ruined androgyny for everyone! But whatever. I feel enough time has passed, 17 years is a long time, and I think we should re-explore the original ‘Crying Game. Life is about forgiveness™.

This track was originally released in 1964 by British pop star and teen idol Dave Berry. Berry didn’t garner much attention in the US but was something of a star in the UK during the mid 60’s — his biggest hit being the Ray Davies penned “This Strange Effect” (which The Kinks never properly recorded by the way, but can be found on their BBC Sessions discs). Berry’s version of The Crying Game features backing musicians Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, as well as a sweet lead part played by session cat Big Jim Sullivan. So sit back, enjoy, and take comfort in knowing this song wont reveal itself as a transgender-transwoman thingy at the end.. OR WILL IT?

Bob Dylan - I Can’t Leave Her Behind

Every now and again an artist jams out a song that is luckily captured, but never again quite properly recorded. This is at the same time both frustrating and rewarding, really not too unlike a discount lap dance, and such was the case in 1966 when Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson stretched their strings and gave us this beautiful moment. “I Can’t Leave Her Behind” was recorded in a Denver hotel room, March 13, 1966 while Dylan and Robertson, at the time of The Hawks, were working out new songs at 3 a.m. The Hawks were the backing group for Ronnie Hawkins in the late 50’s, early 60’s and Dylan would shortly after enter the studio with them in ‘67 to record, what amounted to, Dylan’s 1975 album The Basement Tapes. The studio in this story was ‘Big Pink’ and the band, of course, had since become, well,  The Band.

Anyway, there was a version of this tune recorded in 2006 by Stephen Malkmus and Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo, but that’s kinda crap really. We also have a slightly different version that appears in Eat The Document, a documentary following Dylan’s 1966 tour of the U.K. with The Hawks. And somewhat muddying the waters even further are Dylan’s own various workings of this song that exist; “On A Rainy Afternoon” and “Does She Need Me?” are both said to be early versions of this tune.

Timmy Thomas - Why Can’t We Live Together

…I’ll tell you why Tim, because you you dress like a creepoid, I’m not into dudes and your albums, as a whole, aren’t very good. In 1972 Thomas gave us this single “Why Can’t We Live Together”, which at the time was, I suppose, a fair question. But when the proper full album came out two years later… [insert foghorn emoticon here]. And the few LP’s that followed that? Yikesies!

That said, this track is a fantastic little jam that Thomas originally intended as a demo - using just a simple rhythm machine for percussion, Hammond organ and Thomas’s sweet, sweet vocals. Upon hearing this demo his producer wanted to re-cut the tune with a full band but then reconsidered and chose to leave the recording as is. A good thing I suppose as it went on to reach number one on the R&B chart in 1973. While this track is rumored to be one of the cheapest top ten hits ever made, and his suit was clearly made from some of the cheapest fabric ever sold, and his albums were complete ass, Thomas did spend time as an organ player and accompanist for Byrd and Cannonball Adderley, so a DDLD tip of the hat for that.

While this tune was covered by Sade in 1984, and Joan Osborne and Steve Winwood in 2005, what I find most interesting are the similarities, musically, between “Why Can’t We Live Together” and Yo La Tengo’s “Tired Hippo”, from 2000’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out. I’ll assume you have that album, so check it out.

Bill Withers - Use Me

How we’ve gone this long without dropping a little Bill Withers on y’all is a bit of a mystery. I suppose his somewhat lighter, almost folksy brand of soul doesn’t appeal to he who sits down at the other end of the hall here at DDLDHQ.

Internal politics aside, this track “Use Me” is from Withers 1972 sophomore album Still Bill. Lyrically right up my alley, Withers sings of friends who try to talk him out of a relationship with a woman because they feel she’s using him. But you know what? Bill don’t care. Getting used rules. If it feels that good to be used, then why stop? I mean, I suppose I’m being used in much the same way a cow being milked is being used - but in both cases, the poison has to leave so it’s pretty win/win in my opinion. Withers, on the other hand, lets himself be so used that it feels as if he’s using her! A classic switcheroo. But let me tell you what’s not classic; artists using “Use Me”. This track has been covered by such unawesome artists as Fiona Apple (who ironically, I would use), Better Than Ezra, Liza Minelli.. and yes, Hootie & the Blowfish. If I were Bill I’d yell rape.

Michael Jackson - I Wanna Be Where You Are

Yep, that Michael Jackson. Listen, I’m not going to take the easy way out here. There’s a lot that could be said about Michael Jackson, but that territory has been thoroughly strip-mined. How about you just insert your favorite Michael Jackson joke here, and then we can get on to the song. Ok, go!

“I Wanna Be Where You Are” was MJ’s second single as a solo artist, written by Diana Ross’ brother T-Boy Ross and Leon Ware, released in 1972 on a little label by the name of Motown. Though it’s far from his most recognizable song (in fact, maybe you’ve never heard it?) it is in fact his most covered - and has been reappropriated in inummerable hiphop songs.  In the last year alone, everyone’s favorite master of ceremonies DOOM lifted the opening verse in his track ‘That’s That’, MURS and 9th Wonder sampled it heavily on his track ‘Can It Be’, and that’s just what I have on my C:\ drive y’all. Ah fuck it. Suffice it to say that this beat has been lifted more times than Michael Jackson’s face. It’s been dropped more often that MJizzle’s pants in a children’s hospital. It’s been covered more often than Macaulay Culkin’s face with a pillow. OH YES I FUCKING DID!

Rotary Connection - I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun

Rotary Connection were a late 60’s psychedelic outfit in the style of the 5th Dimension, based in Chicago. There was no shortage of these kinds of bands at the time, because everybody was high and kept accidentally forming the same bands and making the same records over and over again. I’ve been there, man. One thing fairly unique about Rotary Connection, however, were their music industry connections. The idea to form the band was put forth by Marshall Chess, son of the legendary Chess Records impressario Leonard Chess. Marshall didn’t perform in the band, just thought up the idea of a psychedlic band in late 60’s Chicago. Just sorta dreamed it up. You have to admire his courage in making the daring choice to tap such untested ground. Marshall pulled members from various bands, mostly rock bands, and also tapped (on the shoulder) the receptionist at Chess records, one Minnie Ripperton, to provide backing vocals for the group.

Today’s song comes from their 1971 record ‘Hey, Love!’, and is perhaps better known for the cover of it performed by Nuyorican Soul in the late 90’s.  After experiencing some moderate success, The Rotary Connection split shortly after ‘Hey Love’ was released - and, as it would happen, the only member to go on and enjoy any success whatsoever was, as you might already know, Minnie Ripperton, whose ‘Lovin’ You’ is a song I love to play as I pull on my stockings slowly.