You always have something to say that works on two levels, right on target and yet a quip that is funny as hell: "double digit years"- yeah, I'd say you definitely don't like this song.
And yet, funny that you mention this unreleased version from this unreleased album. I had the same reaction when I heard this studio version. I was pleasantly surprised. This version has some meat on its bones. Sure, it's a standard, but all the standards on this album have a quality that "rocks" in a way none of the standards on the "I Hear A Symphony" album did. These are along the lines of what Micky Stevenson did with Mary Wells on her "My Guy" album. I wish material from this album had been used on the "Symphony" album.
I don't know if these were done with the Funk Brothers, but I also notice there is none of the bathos [[look it up, I LOVE this word, and it FITS) and overblown histrionics in the music that often ended up on Motown's LA and New York recordings of standards. This version of "Rock-A-Bye" just SWINGS and has swagger.
And yes, you're right, it's one of Diana's most incredible performances. She sounds like she's singing more instinctively as opposed to doing a technically "right" way and that gives her performance an excitement.
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