The other is telephones: New Edition's sweet "Mr. Telephone Man" conjures up, for yours truly, the famous 80s video, featuring a teenaged Bobby Brown and a very harried telephone repairman. Also here, Page France's surreal "Here's A Telephone".
Then, a couple songs that are featured a few times. "This Old Heart Of Mine" is originally by The Isley Brothers. The high singing and Holland/Dozier/Holland production make it easy to imagine as a Supremes song. But it was first intended for The Four Tops. I also have a BBC version by The Zombies and a reggae version featuring Delroy Wilson's impassioned vocal. "Save The Last Dance For Me" is a classic song by The Drifters that has borne even more numerous covers. Here, I've included Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra's pleasant countrified take and Ike & Tina Turner's working against Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound, as well as the original.
Also here: the catchy "Brooklyn Go Hard" by Jay-Z featuring Santogold, the brooding "I Don't Know About You" by 70s soul singer Wee, Mos Def's butt-shaking "Quiet Dog", Port O'Brien's cryptic "Tree Bones", the mellow groove of Digable Planets' "Pacifics", the swaggering "Whussup World" by Dudley Perkins, the plaintive Cat Stevens track "The Wind" and the sheer genius of Giorgio Moroder's production on Donna Summer's "Try Me, I Know We Can Make It".
"Don't Ask Me To Be Friends" by The Everly Brothers is a universal sentiment simply and beautifully expressed. I agree with it wholeheartedly. I found a nice cover by Bedsit Poets, with a male/female harmony brining the intimacy to another level. Speaking of intimate, "Midnight Lullabye" is the demo version of "Midnight Lullaby" off Tom Waits' debut album "Closing Time". I love this version; stripped of the horns, this piano demo sounds even more atmospheric.
Keith Richards typically get one song to sing lead on a given Rolling Stones album. Here, he gets two. The first one he ever sang lead, off 1969's Let It Bleed album is the countryish "You Got The Silver." I was excited to discover a rare outtake with Mick Jagger singing lead. Which is better?
I did include, with Keith's lead vocal on the raunchy "Little T & A", two Keith songs so I may have tipped my hand.
