Original - Marvin Gaye
Written by William "Mickey" Stevenson in 1965, this was simply an album track from 'How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You'. There's a lot going on, pretty classic smooth motown instrumentation from the time with strings and all, but somehow it remains totally funky with a sweet and soulful vocal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f88pGULut5w
Cover- The Birds
Ain't spelt it wrong, promise. The Birds were an early 60's West London group who put out a few singles on Decca. They released this at the end of their run, the same year as the original. The initial chords set the tone for what you think will be a heavy durge, but then they take it down a notch, and suddenly its just a sultry and understated plea. What I found so thoroughly interesting is that despite bringing a hard R n B edge to proceedings, they bring in backing vocals that are more Motown sounding than the original. In fact I heard this version first, knowing there was a Marvin Gaye original and fully expecting that the distinctive backing vocals were a straight mimic of the original. What makes them particularly charming is, unlike the clear Motown vocal style, there is more of a football crowd vibe about them. It's beautifully crafted, and innovative, and it actually takes the song to a different place, as a cover ideally should.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCd5hamfrpM
QI: Guess what? A young Ronnie Wood was a member of The Birds (front of pic).
Cover- Four Tops
Dear god, Levi Stubbs. So, usually I have silly arguments that lyric changes are unnecessary and disrespectful, or that one shouldn't cover a song in the same style unless you are going to improve it.... but Levi Stubbs is an exception to every rule I have. They are all tosh, and I'm a fool.
It's not that it's better than Marvin's, and it's not particularly different, but there is an inescapable Four Topsiness about it, basically it's vocally perfect. SO tight, so clean and so smooth, without ever being bland. There are definite similarities in the vocal harmonies to 'Baby I Need Your Lovin' and the strings are more prominent as is the FT way, and it's a delight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVTntbiM55k
Cover- Paddy Klaus and Gibson
Which brings me to this little number, also from 1965. Paddy, Klaus and Gibson were a Liverpool based trio with various Beatle connections (Klaus Voorman was originally a designer who had become friends with the boys back in Hamberg, he designed the Revolver cover), and although not particularly successful, the members crop up now and again in the annals of rock history. It's not that it's bad at all, it just suffers in comprison to the others. It has a great Northern Soul beat, and is pacier than the others, but somehow it lacks the energy that the others radiate so strongly even at a much slower tempo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CJHjjMD4NU
And.... it appears this song isn't famous enough to have youtube covers. So there.
