#1020. Lineage of Song: “What’s Love Got to Do with It”

 

Tina Turner

Fat Joe, Ashanti, Ja Rule

The update is a different feel, but I still like it.

#1019. Lineage of Song: “Hold My Hand”

Hootie & the Blowfish

 

Scotty Mcreery, “Bottle Rockets”

Very glad to be able to include this one! Hootie has been inexplicably unpopular since the moment it became the most popular rock band of the modern era with its breakout first album cracked rear view, that exploded all over the charts. The backlash sent them into obscurity and cost rock all remaining mainstream credibility. But you wait long enough and…someone comes along and says, Hey! let’s incorporate one of their songs into mine! And so it comes full circle…

1018. Lineage of Song: “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)”

 

R.E.M.

Great Big Sea

Great Big Sea, “When I Am King”

Alan Doyle is such a treasure, it’s a shame he’s almost totally unknown in America. Being able to sing “It’s the End of the World” is cool enough, but then Great Big Sea goes and creates its own song in much the same vein…

1017. Lineage of Song: “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself”

Chuck Jackson

Tommy Hunt

Dusty Springfield 

Dionne Warwick

Marcia Hines

The White Stripes

Joss Stone and Burt Bacharach

I learned this song from the White Stripes. Then learned its lineage. 

#1016. Lineage of Song: “Barrett’s Privateers”

 

Stan Rogers

Schooner Fare

The Irish Descendants

Seth Staton Watkins

Stan Rogers created a whole new sea shanty that was another that took on a life of its own. There are many, many other takes to be found. Randomly I found a CD with the song included, and..I guess I love it now.

#1015. Lineage of Song: “Shallow”

 

Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper

Vitamin String Quartet

It’s kind of crazy, since I wasn’t as wild about the movie itself, but A Star Is Born Iteration #4 (people are fairly crazy concerning movie remakes, which is strange since we wouldn’t have what’re widely considered the best versions of The Maltese Falcon and The Ten Commandments without them) produced one of my all-time favorite songs in “Shallow.” I’m of the opinion Lady Gaga is best when she gets out of her own way (admittedly there’re a lot of pop stars whose careers were defined by chips on their shoulders), which thankfully she’s able to do now and then. Hilariously when I watched the movie the first time I thought she overdid it, but “Shallow” works so well because it’s a complete composition. Gaga and Bradley Cooper connected brilliantly; it got to the point where people honestly thought they were in love. So I don’t mind putting a spotlight on it here, with a string version.

#1014. Lineage of Song: “When You Wish Upon a Star”

Dion and the Belmonts

Sara Bareilles

Beach Boys, “Surfer Girl”

Close Encounters of the Third Kind, John Williams

Earth Wind & Fire, “Shining Star”

Here’s a fun one. “When You Wish Upon a Star” debuted in Pinocchio, sung by Jiminy Cricket, and just by Disney standards became iconic as part of its studio signature. The Dion and the Belmonts version inspired the Beach Boys song “Surfer Girl,” and in general is incorporated into the lyrics of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Shining Star.” John Williams also covers it in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Its legacy is well-assured.