DrW

An entry not sung in English: Udo Lindenberg (artist) - Andrea Doria (song) In the German music scene of the late 1960s/early 1970s, we had the traditional "Schlager" (trivial pop in German), "Krautrock" (mostly experimental and often electronic-based), and some "Liedermacher" (songwriters; songs were folk-like, often funny and with a social comment). Lindenberg (who had been a jazz drummer; one of his bands had actually been called "Niagara") started something new, a more mainstream rock/pop approach, sung in German. The "Andrea Doria" in the linked song is actually an Italian luxury cruiser, named after a 16th century Genoese admiral, that sank in 1956. Thus, the complete title "All clear on the Andrea Doria" is ironic. The song also contains a line like "we celebrate Paula's birthday today and hope that she will ever get as old as she is looking already now".

Actually, back in Germany I had an LP with this song. I do not remember if it was this specific version. It came from a compilation album with US psychedelia (12 bands, 12 songs) that I had found in the bargain bin of a record store (5 marks instead of the 15 - 20 for a regular LP). And the LP was not black, but multicolored - I remember red, blue and clear patches. One band I remember was Harper's Bizarre. Thanks for the memories...

Fairport Convention - Matty Groves As the uploader said: An (almost) heavy metal version...

The Beatles - Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite!

Well, here are two more versions of the song. First, Dr John. Then, the Grateful Dead...

Ry Cooder - Goodnight Irene

Well, Elvis might be more of a sex symbol than the author of this song, Tony Joe White, but White's version is IMHO far superior...

Here is a (Scottish) interpretation of "Delilah" that IMHO better reflects the menacing character of the lyrics, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band...

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings - Caleb Meyer In retrospect, it is unbelievable that at the beginning of Gillian Welch's career some critics doubted that a Californian girl could play Appalachian folk.

Suzy, Mary, and some of their other girlfriends go to a new ice cream shop to sample their offerings. After tasting a few samples, Suzy exclaims: "Wow, this tastes like fireball!". Mary comments: "Well, we non-alcoholics call this flavor cinnamon".

Death of Samantha - Yoko Ono While Yoko's voice leaves a lot to be desired, she could certainly compose beautiful melodies. This is IMHO one of her best songs, and her backing band, "Elephant's Memory", is pretty competent.

Virginia Plain - Roxy Music This is now more than 50 years old...

Another one from 50 Foot Wave - Sally Is A Girl

50 Foot Wave - Clara Bow "Bones were meant to be broken". It is amazing how much energy a person looking as fragile and innocent as Kristin Hersh can provide.

Bongwater - David Bowie Wants Ideas

We had this on page 2. Do you know how to use the search function?

A double dose of Pink Floyd They could be funny and whimsical even without Syd Barrett...

Man - Brother Arnold's Red And White Striped Tent

Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles Here as a psychedelic cover version...

Does humor belong in music? Yes, yes, yes... Another shining example, Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway (before today, I had never heard of them) present an acoustic cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit". While the vocalist (I assume it is the eponymous Molly Tuttle) falls short of Grace Slick, their instrumental skills are obvious. Especially, the young lady on violin is impressive. Moreover, you get a one-minute banjo extension beyond the end of JA's version.

Another one of my favorites, "Pearls Before Swine". I especially like his older ones where Stephan Pastis made fun of fellow cartoonists (here, The Family Circus) and did not shy away from political themes.

Well. the A/V is not up to today's standards, but that is the only live version of Mountain's "Theme for an Imaginary Western" that I could find with Felix Pappalardi on vocals and bass.

Well, this was pretty daring. Converting one of the greatest movies of World Cinema, Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal, into a 5 minute pop song. I love this comment: "This is The Seventh Seal reimagined as a Spaghetti Western. I feel the spirit of Morricone in the bells, the Mariarchi guitar and trumpet and the choir. I love it." Another daring approach: Have a white guy front a black band (remember that this was more than 50 years ago). However, this works on every level...

A unique sound from more than 50 years ago: Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex (before they turned more commercial as T Rex). Marc died in a traffic accident in 1977, two weeks before his 30th birthday.

When I was a student back in Hannover in Germany in the mid-1970s, one of the student organizations had a weekly "Saturday Night Party" with on average more than 500 attendants. The crowd had two favorites, Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (which I find pretty boring) and Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water". Here is the earliest live version I could find... This version one has a better video and a beautiful guitar intro... And here is a cover version with a different approach to the guitar solos (sorry, no video)