Strawberry Fields Forever / ATL this weekend
Yesterday's B&S covers post proved to be very popular. In fact, it set records here at C&T. Who knew the blogosphere was so hungry to hear a twee band cover The Bee Gees? Live and learn.
Today, I'm trying something different. Instead of offering a bunch of cover songs by a single band, I'm offering several covers of a single song. That song is The Beatles classic "Strawberry Fields Forever." Stylistically these are all over the map. XTC, Rundgren, and Gabriel cover the song in a mostly convential manner. Harper's is more soulful and funky than the original, but still doesn't veer far from the path set out by The Fab Four. The others here are more adventurous. The RPO offers an orchestral version (duh), while the jazz band here makes the song its own. The Swingle Sisters version is a cappella and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs (with Deborah Harry!) perform the song in reggae/ska fashion with a spattering of horns and Spanish lyrics. Give 'em a listen.XTC - Strawberry Fields Forever
Ben Harper - Strawberry Fields Forever
Todd Rundgren - Strawberry Fields Forever
Peter Gabriel - Strawberry Fields Forever
The Swingle Singers - Strawberry Fields Forever
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Strawberry Fields Forever
Otomo Yishihide's New Jazz Quintet - Strawberry Fields Forever
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs (with Deborah Harry) - Strawberry Fields Forever
I may post more of these over the weekend, so stay tuned.
I don't feel the need to post The Beatles version, as you should already have a copy of it in your possession. However, here's a video of sorts The Beatles did for "Strawberry Fields" back in 1967:
For the Atlanta-area audience, keep in mind that we have some good stuff in town this weekend:
Fri, 4/14 Neko Case/Kelly Hogan @ Variety Playhouse
Fri, 4/14 Wolfmother @ Drunken Unicorn
Fri, 4/14 Venice is Sinking @ 40 Watt (Athens)
Sat, 4/15 The Selmanaires/The Carbonas/The Flakes @ 1318 Ormewood Ave (house party, 3pm)
Sat, 4/15 The Selmanaires/Snowden/Shock Cinema @ Drunken Unicorn
Sat, 4/15 Two Gallants/Love Drunks @ The EARL
Sat, 4/15 Elf Power @ 40 Watt (Athens)
Sat, 4/15 Bunnygrunt, Cars Can be Blue, Russian Spy Camera @ Little Kings (Athens)
I'll be at Neko and I haven't decided yet about Selmanaires vs. Elf Power. Hmm...
posted by Rich at 12:16 AM
9 Comments:
Is that Peter Gabriel or Kermit the Frog?
10:15 AM
Ha! It's Peter Gabriel. It's from the the 1976 soundtrack to All This and World War II. The whole soundtrack was Beatles covers. More info here.
My dad had it on vinyl when I was a kid.
10:32 AM
Excellent post. Thank you.
11:20 AM
wow, i can't believe i've only just now found your site. i'll definitely be adding it to my blogroll over the weekend!
3:08 PM
i so wish i could go to the neko show, if we ever have drinks, rich, i will tell you my one embarrasing neko story. have fun.
6:33 PM
Wow - I'd kill to have that All This and World War II soundtrack. I love Beatles covers.
But you have to admit PG does sound a bit like Kermit.
8:22 PM
Great post! I haven't heard the Gabriel version in years. If you did feel a need to put a Beatles version up, you could always use one of the versions from Anthology 2.
11:27 PM
Great post! Note, however, that it's "The Swingle Singers" NOT "The Swingle Sisters". (Apparently that's a frequent typo, according to the FAQ at http://www.swinglesingers.com/) Anyway, I love The Swingle Singers but didn't realize they'd done a Beatles tribute album--very cool!
2:38 PM
OH! Thanks for the 411. I'll fix it.
3:43 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home