For the past two Januarys I have blogged about Motown artists covering other Motown artists. Since 2009 was the year of Motown 50 I thought I would go in another direction this January 2010 and talk about a non-Motown artist and her hit covers — The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin!
Many have covered her and sampled her but Franklin herself has done mostly covers throughout her career (as did Elvis). Songs have been written just for her by her sister(s) and others, but some of her biggest hits have been cover tunes — songs that she liked when she heard others perform them and then decided to interpret in her own style to make them her own!
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Bobby Womack wrote and recorded this sweet love song in 1967 but the Wicked Wicked Wilson Pickett recorded and released it first! It zoomed right up the charts and landed at #4 on the R&B charts and #45 on the Billboard Top 100 that same year.
Womack’s released, recorded with the same musicians at the same studio as Pickett’s, did not do as well. But The Queen laid it on us and her 1973 session won out reaching #1 on the R&B charts and #19 on the Billboard Top 100.
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Take a listen to the original and ReRe’s cover and let me know which you prefer and why after you vote below.
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – Songwriter and producer Ted Jarrett, whose 1957 hit “You Can Make It If You Try” turned him into a rhythm and blues icon, has died at 83, a hospice said on Monday.
Jarrett, who also numbered “Love Love Love” among his hits, died on Saturday of liver failure, officials at Nashville Alive Hospice said.
Jarrett wrote hits for singers Earl Gaines and Gene Allison and had No. 1 songs on both the country and R&B charts. “You Can Make It If You Try” crossed over to pop and wound up on the debut 1964 album by the Rolling Stones.
Jarrett was also credited as a writer, producer and label chief on songs from the Grammy-winning “Night Train to Nashville” album.
(Reporting by Pat Harris in Nashville; editing by Michael Conlon)
Here are two of the songs composed by the prolific songwriter Ted Jarrett.
[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/2402605_kxzwf/Allison-YouCanMakeItIfYouTry.mp3] “You Can Make It If You Try” performed by Gene Allison in 1958. #3 R&B , #38 Pop
[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/2402606_apvm4/FreddieWaters-ThisistheLife.mp3] “This Is The Life” performed by Freddie Waters & The Free Spirits in 2002
Bobby DeBarge playing congas on Soul Train with Switch
The Bobby DeBarge Tribute Page has received the third highest number of visits here at OSML since the blog’s inception. Since Bobby is loved so much and readers are curious about his music, I have updated the page again to include more music, photos and information.
Please enjoy the update and let me know what other additions you would like to see.
Also I wanted to let you know that a great place to discuss the music of Bobby DeBarge, Switch and all other things Debarge is the Yahoo Group “The DeBarge Family.” The group has been around since 1999 and the people are friendly and the moderator is superb. If you are a fan check it out at the link indicated above.
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/3561264_q3wjf/07.%20Ivory%20Joe%20Hunter%20-%20Since%20I%20Met%20You%20Baby.mp3] Ivory Joe Hunter – Since I Met You Baby (1956) I used to confuse Motown producer-songwriter Ivy Joe Hunter with the singer of this wonderful song — Ivory Joe Hunter — thinking that I was reading misspellings in print. It took me a while to figure out that they were two completely different [...]
Now this is one funky girl group! This group was formed in 1960 when lead Delores Johnson (Flora Williams), Eloise Hester, and Joshie Armstead sang backup for Tina Turner on her first recording, “A Fool in Love.” They cut “I’m Blue” on the Atco label the following year, with Tina singing background for them, and [...]
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]The Toys – A Lover’s Concerto (1965) #4 R&B, #2 Pop Composed by songwriters Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, “A Lover’s Concerto” was a big part of my youth. This was probably the first “Girl Group” I fell in love with. I have vivid memories of having my Barbie [...]
