Let's go back (yet again) to the notion of cover songs. Sometimes, a writer comes up with something that just isn't quite "right" for the particular album they're working on. Or, they make friends with another artist and the two of them put something together.
There are dozens of examples of this, but today I'm going to put both versions up for your perusal. Most of you know Bruce Hornsby as a soft rock specialist that writes semi-autobiographical songs about the Tidelands area of Virginia, especially Norfolk and Newport News. People living in that area would scour lyrics of Hornsby's songs to figure out just who Bruce was singing about.
Bruce was "discovered" by Huey Lewis, and it was Lewis that helped Hornsby get a record deal. I'm always flabbergasted when I hear that band X was turned down by every record company in town when they were starting out.
Even the Beatles ran the gamut and got turned down before Brian Epstein got them a "trial". Regarding Hornsby, I would have signed him 3 bars into "The Way It Is", but somehow he sat waiting. Huey helped and the rest is history, as they say.
Today's Time Machine is running the "local" route--we'll make two stops: First, we'll hear Bruce's version of a song he wrote, then hear Huey's version. There are similarities, and which one you like probably depends on how you like your mid-tempo tunes. First up, here's Bruce:
A bit twangy, a bit more languid. But bear in mind Bruce wrote it, so this is his vision. Next, we hear Huey Lewis' version. More in line with Lewis' other songs of this time, a bit punchier, Your turn, Huey:
I like both of them, but then again I love Hornsby singing just about anything. I give it to Huey by a nose, just because the arrangement was so upbeat. Tough call. We'll visit this "who did it better?" thing from time to time because there are examples where the original is better, others where the second time is better. It's fun.
Enjoy the weekend. See you Monday (17).
Pete
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