Covers

David · Post by **David** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 3:10 am

Maybe we should cast votes for the WORST cover ever: I'd go for Neil Diamond's "Suzanne" ("Our lady of the hub-buh" indeed!) --

On the other hand, Tim Hardin's smacked-out but nonetheless devastatingly bleak "Bird On The Wire" was, in my opinion, one of the all-time best.

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 3:46 pm

I hate Joan Baez' Suzanne, Nick Cave's Tower Of Song, Elton John's I'm Your Man (a crime against humanity!), and I am not really impressed by Sting&The chieftains Sistes Of Mercy. Sting on autopilot indeed!
t.

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 7:28 pm

Tom,
May I ask why you hate Joan Baez' Suzanne ?

tom.d.stiller · Post by **tom.d.stiller** » Thu Mar 27, 2003 7:43 pm

Dear Kush,

though I am another Tom I can agree with Tom S. (I do not hate it, though...)

My reason: Joans voice, as so often, is very clear and distinct, but at the same time a bit lifeless, just slightly too exact. And "Suzanne" is a song that suffers more from this overprecision than most other songs.

Tom S will have to give his reasons himself.

Tom

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Fri Mar 28, 2003 7:06 pm

Hi Tom (Stiller),
Well, I would consider her version is one where it is actually sung - as opposed to tilting one's voice in one direction then another - but I can see that from certain perspective it may appear lifeless.
Ha.....it reminds me of what a friend once said about Pavarotti....words to the effect that he didn't like P's singing coz' he (Pav.) is too good. He couldnt relate to P's voice which could be called almost inhuman.

David · Post by **David** » Fri Mar 28, 2003 7:30 pm

Yeah... and good ol' St. Joan Approximately was so bloody-friggin' PRIM about that "perfect body with your mind" business.

Sheesh! Thank Jah she never tried to cover Robert Johnson or B.B. King!

David · Post by **David** » Fri Mar 28, 2003 7:34 pm

All that being said, though, Joanie sounds like Aretha Franklin herself next to Judy Colllins...

Tho' to give credit where it's due, I'm glad SOMEONE had the good taste to record "Priests" --

David

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 12:30 pm

I'm not going to tell anything about her voice, that's just someone's private taste, but she changed the lyrics in such way that she destroyed the whole song.
What's interesting, few days ago I found some statements about that particular cover (agreeing with my opinion), and about argument between Baez and Leonard, I think it was in Nadel's book. She disliked everythink connected with supernatural or religious, so she changed the lyrics. Few years later, she confessed that she finally got the song and sang it in original version, I think it was captured for Bob Dylan's movie "Renaldo and Clara".
I heard Baez singing Suzanne on some Italian disc, "Baez Live in Milano" I think.

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Tue Apr 01, 2003 12:32 pm

Anyway, about "hate". I don't hate anybody or anything, never, but I remember my shock when I heard her performance. It was really bad, and how she sang it, I was totally ashamed for her.

John the Shorts · Post by **John the Shorts** » Thu Apr 03, 2003 11:01 pm

Sorry folks,

As a fan of Sting and the Police (Fortunately not the Chieftains who just cash in on being Irish) the worst cover has to be "Sisters of Mercy" it is a betrayal of LC and nothing other than cheap commercialism.

JTS

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 1:55 am

Well Tom.....from the strong language that you use you obviously don't like her music. Suffice to say that I am diametrically and absolutely on the opposite side of that spectrum. Come to think there really isnt any music that I dislike....there may be some I like more than others at various times and some stay with me a little longer than others.
But I categorically disagree with your strong statement re' JB. I did'nt find it such a big deal that she changed a couple of words..perhaps I'm not that much a connosieur of LC's music as you are. And if it really is for the reason you mention then I have much in common with her.
And by the way, "lifeless" is a word generally more associated with LCs singing (sic) - obviously not on this site - rather than Baez.

tom.d.stiller · Post by **tom.d.stiller** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 11:21 am

Dear Kush,

there seems to be a misunderstanding. I actually like her (Joan's) voice, and I like her way of singing as well. My point is that she and "Suzanne" should never have met. JB is best when there is no twilight left, and everybody knows which side he or she or them or it is on...

Pavarotti is a great singer as long as he stays to the kind of music his voice is made and trained for, but if he started singing Robert Johnson, or Leonard Cohen, or Bob Dylan he'd be far off the track.

I won't comment on LC's singing being "lifeless"... and this doesn't depend on the site (or: side) I'm on. It's a matter of my well-trained politesse not to do so.

Cheers
Tom (still the stiller one)

tomsakic · Post by **tomsakic** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 12:27 pm

I got confused, thinking "When I said her voice is lifeless?"...

Anyway, we're both Tom S

OK; i will be Tom Sakic from now on.
I think Baez' singing is sometimes too academic, too straight, so it can be stated as "lifeless". About LC being lifeless, well, de gustibus...
I must say I don't like Baez, as you can see. I find her performances with Dylan on his Bootleg 4 (the recent one) very weak, and I really don't find anything special in her. But I DID like her "Gracias A La Vida" very much... This was in my phase of searching something produced by Henry Lewy, because I read that "Recent Songs" (his production) is his own famous ancient-strings producing style - I didn't find any Lewy's production of Jonni Mitchel still, but I run in this Baez-Lewy collaboration...
Tom Sakic

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 6:18 pm

Ok. it's no big deal...we all have individual likes & dislikes. I guess I overreacted. There is no accounting for taste, is there ?

linmag · Post by **linmag** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 11:15 pm

John, as another Sting fan, and one who has listened to the Chieftains from time to time, I downloaded Sisters of Mercy to see if the album might be worth getting. I don't think I have ever been so embarrassed on behalf of an artist. For an intelligent, usually sensitive artist, Sting sure messed that one up

Covers

Covers

Joan's version

P.S.