Multiple Mondays: I Put A Spell On You: The Threequel

Hi, folks. Sorry about the lack of Stagger Lee over the weekend -- I had a family daytrip to go on, and forgot to prepare a post ahead of time. Why? Well, I was working on this:

It's October, and people all over the world will be listening to "I'll Put A Spell On You" in a few weeks. Last year, I put up a total of 19 versions of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' classic voodoo howl. I just reupped the zip, and you can find Volumes One and Two here. Now, here are ten more versions of the song.

As Volume Two was mostly concerned with late-60's garage versions of the song, Volume Three is predominantly bluesy, and at some points even really mellow. (I particularly recommend Robben Ford's lovely, quiet instrumental version.)

My original, disastrous attempt to put together a collection involved weeding out all the artists we'd heard from already in the previous collections, and I found that a lot of the other versions I have... aren't fantastic. (I'm looking at you, Diamanda Galas!) So we're hearing a remix of the Sonique version we heard in Volume One, and the Woodstock recording from Creedence, whose version I put up in Volume Two. We've also got a live version from Gov't Mule, and a menacing 1980 rerecording from Screamin' Jay himself, with one K. Richards on guitar (via How Marvellous -- thanks!).

Mr. Richards' friend Bill Wyman is here too, as Beverley Skeete takes the Simone-ish vocal duties for his Rhythm Kings. You'll also hear from Tab Benoit, Jimmy Barnes, Leslie West, and The Black Elevators (with a version which I think frequent commenter CD emailed me last year).

I have about seven more versions of the song, but as I mentioned some aren't great, so you'll have to wait till next October for another collection. I've zipped them all up, and I'd recommend that, but you can cherry pick too if you like.

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Screamin' Jay Hawkins feat. K. Richards 1 2
Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings 1 2
Robben Ford 1 2
Tab Benoit 1 2
Leslie West 1 2
Jimmy Barnes 1 2
The Black Elevators 1 2
CCR live at Woodstock 1 2
Sonique (Full Vocal Remix) 2
Gov't Mule (live Chattanooga TN) 1 2

Multiple Mondays: I Put A Spell On You Volume Two

Volume One is here.

This is Volume Two of our Multiple Mondays collection of ever-so-many versions of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' voodoo classic. (I'll only post Volume Three if someone specifically requests it.) Volume Two focuses on rockin' garage band covers (except for the Joe Cocker version), almost all from the 1960s. I haven't made any effort to arrange these in chronological order, since most of them were recorded within about five years of each other, and I can't hear any evidence that any of them inspired any of the others in any significant way.

The Animals' version is from 1966, after Alan Price had left the group to follow his solo muse -- one of his hit singles was his version of this song, also released in 1966. This entry marks two Mondays in a row with a CCR recording -- I don't think there'll be one next week, though. (Again this week I've passed up the opportunity for dueling live covers from Fogerty and his ex-bandmates, though both of them are good.)

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Multiple Mondays: I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Gladys Knight and The Pips weren't the first people to record this song, but they were the first to release it. Their release was soon eclipsed by Marvin Gaye's recording (actually completed before the Knight recording), but both versions have inspired a lot of love... and a lot of covers. Here are some of the best.

Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers (who toured with Gladys & The Pips) do a cover, and then The Rustix (the first white band signed to Motown) does a cover. Then Creedence Clearwater Revival present their extended, eleven-minute workout of the song. (There also exist dueling live versions I haven't included here -- to keep it under ten versions -- from John Fogerty and from Creedence Clearwater Revisited, the band with the other two surviving members in it.)
We have a bluegrass cover (from the best ripoff bargain-bin album I ever bought, Pickin' on Creedence Clearwater Revival), and then Barrett Strong, the song's co-writer, tells us what it was like to write songs at Motown, and sings a great, stripped-down version.
Finally, we close with a remix of the Pips' version.

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Happy birthday John Fogerty!

John Fogerty turns 63 today. And to celebrate his birthday, here are three files from my hard drive (no ripping or downloading is allowed, to keep it interesting).

John Fogerty is, of course, best known as the voice and guitarist and songwriter for Creedence Clearwater Revival, and as I found out in December, he is inCREDible live.

His first solo album was called The Blue Ridge Rangers, and from that I give you a Hank Williams cover, "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)." Then, we have two covers. (I have a lovely folk cover of "Lodi" I'm holding back for a compilation entitled "There's No Right Time To Be In The Wrong Place" -- stay tuned.) The Buckingham Group sings "Sweet Hitchhiker" in a recording from Argentinian TV. And, Bishop Allen sings and plays their favorite encore last year, "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?"

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