Methuselah2
02-11-2013, 10:52 PM
Cover versions are always a dicey proposition, at best. On occasion, some have been able to reach their own acceptance and acclaim. But for well-known Motown songs, it seems that the cover needs to be by another Motown act in order for it to succeed, doesn't it?
Smokey Robinson's classic composition--as recorded by The Marvelettes, in 1966, with the tremendous vocal lead of Wanda Rogers--has long been considered one of the top renderings from Motown's catalogue. No one seems to have matched the level that The Marvelettes--with The Funk Bros. & The Andantes wonderfully stirred into the mix--accomplished with their stellar recording. Not Ella Fitzgerald, Barbara McNair, Candi Staton, Jerry Garcia, Blondie, Len Barry . . . not even Smokey & the Miracles. And the list goes on.
But I think someone gave it an awfully good shot in 1980. Her voice was a perfect fit for it. As was her intense, gorgeous persona. The re-imagined orchestration was also top-notch. It lost the great harmonica and found a tasty accordion. And it enjoyed--as you may well recall--its own popularity in dance clubs back in the day.
Perhaps it worked so well simply because the singer embodied the idea of 'Hunter' so fully, so completely, that it just couldn't be disputed. Or ignored.
Ladies & gents . . . Grace Jones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2XxcqOuok4
Plus a bonus:
From an Ian Levine production in the 1990s--Wanda Rogers doing a bit of prep before a take:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d_ktY6Q67c
Smokey Robinson's classic composition--as recorded by The Marvelettes, in 1966, with the tremendous vocal lead of Wanda Rogers--has long been considered one of the top renderings from Motown's catalogue. No one seems to have matched the level that The Marvelettes--with The Funk Bros. & The Andantes wonderfully stirred into the mix--accomplished with their stellar recording. Not Ella Fitzgerald, Barbara McNair, Candi Staton, Jerry Garcia, Blondie, Len Barry . . . not even Smokey & the Miracles. And the list goes on.
But I think someone gave it an awfully good shot in 1980. Her voice was a perfect fit for it. As was her intense, gorgeous persona. The re-imagined orchestration was also top-notch. It lost the great harmonica and found a tasty accordion. And it enjoyed--as you may well recall--its own popularity in dance clubs back in the day.
Perhaps it worked so well simply because the singer embodied the idea of 'Hunter' so fully, so completely, that it just couldn't be disputed. Or ignored.
Ladies & gents . . . Grace Jones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2XxcqOuok4
Plus a bonus:
From an Ian Levine production in the 1990s--Wanda Rogers doing a bit of prep before a take:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d_ktY6Q67c