Beech Tree News Network

Against The Grain by: Andy Sullivan

Are you ready to get under the covers? No, not like that.  I’m always listening to Underground Garage.  They play originals that I didn’t even know about.  Same goes with listening to channels like 60’s on 6, 70’s on 7, and yes, recently, 80’s on 8 and 90’s on 9.  For instance, the song “Last Kiss” is known by fans of the last two decades of pop music as a Pearl Jam song.  They released the song in 1998.  That, however, was a cover.  The original was released by Wayne Cochran in 1961 on the Galla label.  It failed to do well on the charts.  Cochran re-recorded the song for the King label in 1963.  It was revived by many.  Fans of Pearl Jam will remember their famous 1998 cover version. 

“Backdoor Man” is a song written by Willie Dixon and recorded by Howlin’ Wolf in 1960.  It was released in 1961 by Chess Records as the b-side to Wolf’s “Wang Dang Doodle”.  The song is considered a classic of Chicago blues.  The Doors recorded a blues-rock version of the song for their debut album.  The Doors’ drummer John Densmore described it as a song that is “deeply sexual and got everyone moving”. 

In 1966, J.J Jackson released a song he co-wrote called “But It’s Alright”.  The song, co-written with Pierre Tubbs, became a hit on both the pop and soul charts in both 1966 and 1969.  Described as being "driven by one of the catchiest guitar hooks in the history of rock & roll and a devastating vocal performance",^[1] the song was first released by Calla Records in 1966, as a single and on the album of the same name. Subsequent to acquiring the Calla Records catalogue, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts re-released the song in 1969, as a single and on the album The Great J.J. Jackson. 

The single was recorded in the United Kingdom, and was one of the first R & B hit singles to have been recorded in England.^[2] The song featured some of Britain's top jazz musicians of the day, including Terry Smith on guitar, Dick Morrissey on tenor sax and John Marshall on drums.

When first released in 1966, the song reached number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 4 on the Hot R&B singles chart . When re-released in May 1969, the reached number 45, and remained on the charts for nine weeks.  In 1994, Huey Lewis & The News recorded and released the song off their album Four Score and Several Years Ago.  Their cover reached #54 on Billboard Hot 100 and #5 on the Adult Contemporary chart. 

The final song I’ll review this week is “Red Red Wine”.  I always thought it was a UB40 original.  UB40 themselves didn’t know that Neil Diamond originally recorded the song.  Diamond released the song in 1967.  It was included on his second album.  Diamond’s version reached #62 on the Hot 100 charts.  The UB40 remake that they originally didn’t know was a remake reached #1 in the United States and #1 in their home country of the United Kingdom.  The cover was included on their Very Best of UB40 1980-2000 album. 

That’s the last of the covers for this week.  You all have permission to get out from under them.