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Wednesday 12 February 2020

Soul Covers - Al Green does The Beatles



George writes:

Week 4 and still no country cover of a Beatles song, despite the inspiration of the series. Some might say this is deliberate, some might say it’s incompetence…………..Well, this week it’s a very very very famous song, it has sold twelve million copies. Man Alive that’s a lot. It had one million advance orders in the UK. I don’t think Mr Green sold that many, but this is simply splendid. It sounds like a Stax rather than a Hi! Recording, nevertheless it is on Hi!, and is on Al Green’s second album, Green Is Blues.




Did you know that Dollar covered I Want To Hold Your Hand? You do now, but for the sake of your wellbeing don’t go there. Did you know that two of Charity Chic’s friends like to dress up as Dollar? 
(see below - ed)


Oh, ok, here’s Dollar…..and watch the way Mrs Dollar sneaks up on Mr Dollar, she looks like she’s going to stab him………





And here’s your Portuguese version, which  translates as I Want to Love You, because “eu quero amar vocé” scans much better than “I quero agarrar seu mão” for “I want to hold your hand” The Fevers are Brasilian, and there’s a F***b**k page devoted to Brasilian covers of famous songs……




Another one next week.

CC writes:
Possibly the first (and last) time Dollar have graced these pages.
Still it gives me the opportunity to share the story that George alluded to of when a guy I know and his wife , both bottle blondes walked into the bar at Shawfield Greyhound Stadium in Glasgow. The barmaid looked up and uttered the classic line : "Bloody hell, here comes Dollar"

8 comments:

  1. If you want country-ish versions, Billy Bob Thornton can oblige. And Sparks did a rather nice version with a sort of Barry White/ Gamble & Huff musical arrangement.

    Billy Bob: https://youtu.be/YZSkC9IIoFY
    Sparks: https://youtu.be/3xYBcT6E98E

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    1. The Sparks version is a bit better than Dollar's. Billy Bob's in turn is a bit better. Not nearly as good as The Fevers' version though

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  2. Al Green,Dollar, The Fevers, Billy Bob Thornton and Sparks - what more do you want?

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  3. Just found out there that Sparks wanted Marianne Faithfull to sing on that cover. I would love to have heard that.

    Jamie

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  4. I didn't heed your warning. I watched the Dollar video. Dear God.

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    1. To be fair the first 23 seconds is OK, sounds all echoey but yes it's all downhill from there. Dollar of course did have a couple of really good singles Mirror Mirror and Hand Held In Black And White - thanks mainly to the production skills of Trevor Horn. Most things end badly though and David Van Day (is that his name?) became a Conservative Party candidate a couple of years back.

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  5. Sparks really did something with it...

    https://youtu.be/gkGTX24Yj98

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