Wednesday's Radio Show: On the Covers of the Rolling Stones

Here's the playlist from Wednesday's radio show. as always, underlined or highlighted links can be played and downloaded.

Jumpin' Jack Flash Aretha Franklin (1986)
Miss Amanda Jones The March Violets (1986)
Dandelion Miranda Lee Richards (2001)
Wild Horses Alicia Keys with Adam Levine (2005)
As Tears Go By Marianne Faithfull (1987)
Happy Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes (2005)
Miss You Etta James (2000)
Satisfaction Otis Redding (1966)
Honky Tonk Women Ike & Tina Turner (1971)
Street Fighting Man The Ramones (1985)
19th Nervous Breakdown Jason and The Scorchers (1986)
Start Me Up Toots & the Maytals (2002)
Beast Of Burden Buckwheat Zydeco (1990)
Gimme Shelter Angelique Kidjo (2007)
Tumbling Dice Linda Ronstadt (1977)
You Can't Always Get What You Want Neville Brothers (1994)

Almost made it: "Ruby Tuesday" Melanie,; "Angie" Tori Amos; "As Tears Go By", Marianne Faithfull; Paint It Black, U2 or Mighty Lemon Drops, "I'm Free," The Soup Dragons;
'Sympathy for the Devil/Symphony for the Devil,"Blood, Sweat & Tears

No way: Bette Midler, "Beast of Burden," David Bowie "Let's Spend The Night Together"

The genesis of this show derived from a painful admission that I made during this February post: The reason I am not a huge Stones fan has entirely to do with Mick's voice. The fact is, I am huge admirer of what the Stones have written. But due to a personal quirk or whatever, Jagger's voice just cuts through me like nails on a blackboard. The Alicia Keys and Southside Johnny covers really brought that home to me. They have become personal favorites in my collection.

In order to prove that point to myself, I decided to create this show to spotlight some of my favorite covers and highlight the diversity of artists who have made Stones' music part of their repertoire.

What struck me is how comfortable R&B artists are with the Stones. Which is no surprise, considering that the Stones are basically a band that made black music their own. Still, I get a certain sense of satisfaction (no pun intended) when I hear artists like Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Etta James rip into Stones songs with such gusto.

Here are a few notes:

• Some of you have heard this story before, but it bears repeating. Keith Richards always envisioned the key riff in "Satisfaction" being played by horns, instead of guitar. Therefore, he has always applauded Redding's version of the song – not only because Otis really sings the heck out of it, but he replaces the fuzz-box guitars with the great Muscle Shoals horn section.
• Marianne Faithfull actually recorded "As Tears Go By" as a teenager, before the Stones went into the recording studio with it. About 20 years later, she included a new version on her 1987 collaboration with Hal Willner, Strange Weather. One of the reasons it sounds so different is that the drug-ravaged vocalist recorded it a full octave lower than her original version.
• Some of the songs I included on today's show were completely new to me until this week. With the help of this excellent Rolling Stones cover songs web site, I was able to look up who recorded versions of my favorite Stones songs, then listen to snippets on iTunes to see if they were worth obtaining and including in the show. One of the most pleasant discoveries was Toots & the Maytals version of 1981's "Start Me Up," which really cooks. It's part of a 2002 album Paint It Black: A Reggae Tribute to the Rolling Stones. Not everything sounds like it works on this album, but I really like this track. And, of course, no one needs reminding that Mick and Keith really dig Reggae. So it's an appropriate inclusion.
• I didn't include a number of songs that are personal favorites, mainly because either I much prefer the original versions or didn't find a cover worth including. "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Paint It Black" were two examples. Blood Sweat & Tears certainly did original and interesting things with the former song, but it was still not something that merited more than seven minutes of precious radio time. Hey, I only have about 60-75 minutes to play music each week…
  

Wednesday's Radio Show – Steve Lillywhite

Because it's winter break week, I got a little extra time this week to spin a few tunes. Thus, the one-hour "Play It And Be Darned" radio show on music produced by Steve Lillywhite was more like 90 minutes this morning.

Which is a good thing. Because as I said yesterday, the 50-something producer has certainly been responsible for a lot of great work.

U2 –A Day Without Me (1980)
Simple Minds – Up on the Catwalk (1984)
Marshall Crenshaw – Hold It (1983)
Rolling Stones – One Hit (To The Body) (1986)
Thompson Twins – In the Name of Love (1981)
The La's–There She Goes (1991)
Talking Heads–(Nothing But) Flowers (1988)
The Pogues–If I Should Fall From Grace With God (1987)
Kirsty MacColl–They Don't Know(1995)
Peter Gabriel–No Self Control (1980)
Big Country–Wonderland (1984)
Phish–Free (1996)
Guster– All the Way Up To Heaven(1999)
Psychedelic Furs–Pretty in Pink (1981)
Joan Armatrading–The Weakness in Me (1981)
Jason Mraz –Wordplay (2005)
Counting Crows –Big Yellow Taxi (2002)
Chris Cornell–You Know My Name (2006)
U2–Beautiful Day (2000)
Big Country –The Storm (1983)

Edited on Thursday (so that the wrong information doesn't spread around the Internet): See Mr. Lillywhite's comments on this post. Though he produced releases from both Kirsty MacColl and Chris Cornell, the particular tracks listed above were not in fact produced by him. The Bond theme was done by Cornell and the movie's composer, David Arnold, while the original version of "They Don't Know" was released in 1979 – five years before the couple even met. Sorry about the confusion.

A few things of note:

•I find it interesting that other than a handful of bands (U2, Big Country, his ex-wife Kirsty MacColl, Dave Matthews Band) that he has become closely identified with, Lillywhite hasn't produced more than 1-2 albums with most artists. Most of the time, it's only a single album. Is it because his price is too high? Are his techniques too unsuited for anything more than a trial period with most artists? Is he too heavyhanded as a producer?

•Examples of the latter are both The La's (who disagreed vocally with what he did to their first and only album) and the Dave Matthews Band, whose members fired him before finishing their fourth album with him. I'd be interested in knowing how much of it is personality clashes and how much of it is their disagreement with his techniques.

•Or it could be simply a lack of time, particularly in the early days. Take a look at Lillywhite's dancecard in 1981. Among the albums to come out that year bearing his imprint: Joan Armatrading's Walk Under Ladders, The Brains' Electronic Eden, the Psychedelic Furs' Talk Talk Talk, and U2's October. In a hectic 1983 that already had included Lillywhite working with U2, Big Country and Marshall Crenshaw, Rush badly wanted him to helm Grace Under Pressure (1984), but he chose to work with Simple Minds instead.

•Lillywhite's best known for his heavy sonic layering, which is really the 80s equivalent of the Phil Spector Wall of Sound. Just listen to all those clamoring guitars on "Up on the Catwalk." On the other hand, there's the Guster tune, on the band's major label debut nine years ago. It's as gentle and simple as anything the band has done subsequently. So he's definitely not a one-trick pony in the way that Spector was.

•Though people most closely associate early U2 with "I Will Follow," the fact remains that "A Day Without Me" was the band's very first single off Boy. It was also the first song Lillywhite recorded with U2. I listen to it and I think A Flock of Seagulls, but it is actually a song Bono wrote about the suicide of former Joy Division vocalist Ian Curtis.

•A few weeks ago, I dissed the Rolling Stones as I talked about how Mick Jagger's voice grates on my nerves at times. But then I listen to something like "One Hit (To the Body)" and I do a little reconsidering. This is definitely Mick at his best. I love the stripped-down raw power and energy of this song, which Lillywhite is able to bring to the forefront.

•According to what I've read, Lillywhite met MacColl during Simple Minds' Sparkle in the Rain recording sessions. They married later that year and divorced in 1994. Still, Lillywhite produced her career-spanning compilation Galore the next year, which included her version of "They Don't Know" – a song of hers that Tracey Ullman had turned into a big hit. MacColl, who never was as popular as she should have been, was killed in a bizarre boating accident off Cozumel in 2000.

Cover of the Week – "Wild Horses" by Alicia Keys and Adam Levine

This song, from Keys Unplugged (2005) album, represented an important epiphany for me.

Yes, the Rolling Stones are an incredible band. And yes, they wrote some beautiful songs. But for some reason, I never got into them – the way I did the Beatles, the Who, Jimi Hendrix and Cream.

But while listening to this song, and wrapping my ears around its beauty, I was startled by this realization: The whole reason I never became a Stones fan was because of Mick Jagger's voice.

Now, I realize this is heresy in some circles. And I do respect everyone who can't get enough of Mick singing. But for me, it's a matter of personal preference. Everybody has those two or three singers that, despite their abilities, just hit them wrong. (Yes, I'm looking at you Michael Bolton) For me, Mick is one of them.

I'm wondering if anyone feels the same way. Because listening to Alicia and Adam croon this Richards/Jagger masterpiece has made me fall in love with this song in a new way. I'll admit I'm a big fan of Keys. And Levine (who some have said looks like my little brother) has some nice pipes for a pop singer. But for me, the biggest reason that this works is that it's a great song – and Mick's not singing it.

Play Wild Horses by Alicia Keys and Adam Levine

Here's the video



So... I throw it open to you guys. Any singers that you should like but just can't because of a personal quirk? Dylan? Janis Joplin? Bruce?