Two series in two days, I'm not sure I have ever been this organised. It won't last.
After yesterday's Japanese jamboree, today sees the return of our long-running but infrequent Single Song Sunday series. And it is a bit of a corker if I say so myself - Barry and Robin Gibb's mighty "To Love Somebody".
You may think of it as a song that it is impossible to mess up. You would be wrong, as my extensive research for this column has found. Roberta Flack's decision to slow it down and get rid of the tune didn't really work for me, the less said about Jimmy Somerville's cod reggae effort the better. Also, both the Michaels (Bolton and Buble) have had a hack at it.
You'll find none of that stuff here. Instead we have pure pop from Gary Puckett and the Bee Gees themselves, soul from Nina Simone and James Carr, country from the Burritos and even a Mexican version! The Mandatory Reggae Version comes from Bunny "Rugs" Clarke, way back before he hit the big time with Third World.
"To Love Somebody" - Bee Gees
"To Love Somebody" - James Carr
"To Love Somebody" - The Flying Burrito Brothers
"To Love Somebody" - Nina Simone
"To Love Somebody" - Eric Burdon & The Animals
"To Love Somebody" - Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
"To Love Somebody" - Slobberbone
"To Love Somebody" - The Sweet Inspirations
"To Love Somebody" - Grupo Tolerados
"To Love Somebody" - Bunny Rugs & The Upsetters
That's it from me for a little while - I'm heading off on my travels in a few hours, back in ten days or so. Stay groovy in the meantime.
Of course the first thing I will do is not play any of your tracks but to search for the Roberta Flack and Jimmy Somerville versions
ReplyDeleteWhilst suffering the Ms Flack version I thought it sounded like the total nonsense to be expected from Nina Simone. So off I went to the Ms Simone version and it is surprisingly good.
DeleteMy 2nd favourite would be The Flying Burrito Brothers and the James Carr and Buddy Miller versions are very good, but I think the Bee Gees nailed it from the get-go - although I'd like to have heard Al Green cover it.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice break.
Agree with you about both the Bee Gees. According to some sources it was originally written with Ortis Redding in mind but he didn't live long enough to record it.
DeleteThat was meant to say "about both the Bee Gees and Al Green" but I go distracted and never finished the thought
DeleteI have discovered this version by a singer called Jimmy Barnes, whcih is well worth a listen
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHqkH3SQidM
James Carr kills it
ReplyDelete