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

[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.