When you're smilin'

[venta]

It's Friday, it's about 3 o'clock. It's time to go underneath the covers (with the lights out).

I always recommend listening to a cover version without knowing what or who it is, so click on the link before reading ahead...

Today's cover version [mp3 download]

That was Joey Ramone covering What a Wonderful World, originally recorded by Louis Armstrong.

Now, this illustrates well a point I feel I've not been making very well on my cover-related posts. When I say "hey, this is a good cover" I'm not claiming that it's better than the original. There are cover versions which improve on their original (yes, there are) but they are pretty few and far between.

So, is this is as good as Louis Armstrong? According to me: no. It isn't. I think Louis Armstrong was brilliant, and his recording of What a Wonderful World is just fabulous[*].

Do I, however, think Joey Ramone's reinterpretation thereof is valid and interesting? Well, yes. I do. I imagine, however, some people will regard it as a massacre.

I remember hearing Joey Ramone's cover version for the first time on the day his death was announced. The album it comes from was released posthumously in 2002. I'm not actually sure that this single was released at the time of his death, so my memory may be collapsed by distance; perhaps I just heard it some time after his death.

It seemed a fitting tribute, and a good coda to the end of his life. I suspect a lot of my fondness for this cover is due to that context.

Note for ulfilias: sorry, I couldn't find something I thought would specifically appeal to you. Be warned, though: I have in my hand an album of 13 Cure cover versions performed by goth bands. It is not good. Trust me, it starts with Nosferatu and goes down hill from there. Too much lip and I'll start mailing them to you ;)

[*] Although I must admit that whenever I hear it, I see in my head the long, panning shots which accompany it in the closing scenes of Good Morning, Vietnam. Which is a film I really should see again. It sticks in my head as the best thing Robin Williams ever did, but I was about 15 when I saw it so may not have been a reliable witness.

Comments

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

No, good Robin Williams films are pretty much that and Dead Poet's Society (which I originally saw on a French exchange trip, with French subtitles. Very surreal experience!)

[ulfilias.livejournal.com]

Love him as a stand-up though. He really rocks at that.

World acording to garp has merit too.

[zotz]

Insomnia's very good. After seeing it I thought he should be banned from comedy to make him do more stuff like it. I want to see another serious one he did around the same time (One-Hour Photo?) to see if he's as good in that.

I'd like to see the original Norwegian version of Insomnia, too.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Er... are you telling me I watched Insomnia without noticing Robin Williams was in it?

Er... ?

Maybe I knew at the time, and have since forgotten...

Confused now.

[zotz]

Only if it's the one with Al Pacino.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yup, looks like the one.
I'll have to watch it again now.

(Slightly the same reaction caused by someone telling me David Bowie was in The Prestige. Obviously Christopher Nolan makes me faceblind.)

[zotz]

I'm told Meat Loaf gets that all the time. Lots of people have seen Fight Club without noticing him, which strikes me as quite a trick.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I can't remember if I noticed it was Meat Loaf.

In general, I don't give much thought to who the actor is playing the character at time of watching. Occasionally I vaguely recognise someone (usually in the sense of recogising that they were a particular character in a different film) and it quite bugs me. For example, Keanu Reeves constantly reminded me of Ted in everything until he went all short-haired (which really spoiled Dracula).

Most recently I spent all of Avatar wondering why one character looked familiar (the answer was that he played the alchemist-cum-busdriver in Inception, which I'd seen about a fortnight earlier).

[venta.livejournal.com]

which really spoiled Dracula

Actually, I dunno. If Mr Harker had leapt around yelling "Excellent" all the time it might have been an improvement...

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

Oh, I actually quite liked One Hour Photo, though it's a strange, sad and creepy little film.

[ulfilias.livejournal.com]

Damn....I Agree with you on this one. Good cover. Not better than the origional, but fun and interesting.

I have a habit of liking punky rocked up cover versions though. I love the Me First and Gimmie Gimmies. They do great versions of Science Fiction Double Feature, Goodbye Earl & Who put the Bomp...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvPEcX_wX9w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLjNGcd1whQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-lkTpf6GMA

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I think it is valid, but not especially interesting, because it is exactly what one'd expect it to be like. If you'd said "What about Joey Ramone covering What a Wonderful World?" I guess I'd have said "Yes, I can see how that would work," rather than "Yes, I must hear it!" Is that another dimension of demandingness that we can apply to the cover quality conundrum?

(Apart from the intro being the same as a Clash song that I can't think of which one it is; that's quite interesting I suppose.)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes, Joey Ramone is pretty much a one-trick pony :)

And yes, I think in general people should be more demanding of recorded covers. I don't mind punky thrash-throughs as one-off live efforts, but if you're going to put it down for posterity, put some thought into it!

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

Yes, Joey Ramone is pretty much a one-trick pony :)

And, according to Spotify's ratings at least, this particular cover is his best performance of that trick!

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Some combination of the popularity of the original, and the fact that compared with Ramones songs, this is practically chill-out. I'm sure it's been used in at least one soundtrack, too.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Not being familiar with Spotify, I don't know if it separates the popularity of his solo stuff from the popularity of the Ramones' output.

I wasn't in the least surprised at the idea it was his most popular solo track - I'd be quite surprised if the man on the Clapham omnibus could name a single other Joey Ramone track.

[zotz]

Pistols. Pretty Vacant.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Aha, oops, that would be why I couldn't remember what Clash song it was :-)

[ringbark.livejournal.com]

Yes. When I heard the beginning, I thought I was about to hear a cover of Pretty Vacant. So when it turned into What a Wonderful World, I was a little surprised.

And from another thread, I must say:

What? Meat Loaf was in Fight Club?

[zotz]

In quite a prominent rôle, too. But he vanished into it.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

He was the big fat guy.

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

Going the other way, I really like some of Nouvelle Vague's and the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain's covers of Sex Pistols songs.

[zotz]

Indeed. Not as good as the original, but lots of fun and entirely different.

I rather admire him for calling an album Don't Worry About Me while he was dying.

[phlebas.livejournal.com]

Is that more or less admirable than Warren Zevon's version of Knockin' on Heaven's Door?

[zotz]

More, I'd say, although Zevon's interviews during the last year or so were fantastic.

[ghoti.livejournal.com]

I did Red Cross duty at a Roy Castle gig a couple of weeks before he died. He introduced What a Wonderful World by talaking a little about his illness, and saying that "this next song is how cancer makes me feel".

[ulfilias.livejournal.com]

I have in my hand an album of 13 Cure cover versions performed by goth bands. It is not good. Trust me, it starts with Nosferatu and goes down hill from there. Too much lip and I'll start mailing them to you ;)

There are some good cure covers and some truely horrible ones. Nosferatu do nothing for my either.

I do have a old album of Sisters covers, most of which are pretty poor.