Snapshots #369: A Top Twelve Songs covered by Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello is one of the foremost songwriters of his generation. But he's not averse to singing other people's songs too. 

Here are earlier versions (not always the originals) of those songs, and twelve Elvis covers...

12. Nathan is Best!

Nathan Jones & George Best...

George Jones - A Good Year For The Roses

Elvis Costello - A Good Year For The Roses

11. Ugly Kenny.

Ugly Betty meets Kenny Everett...

Betty Everett - Getting Mighty Crowded

Elvis Costello - Getting Mighty Crowded

10. Kaine, coded.

Anagram!

The song was written by Leon Payne but originally recorded by...

Eddie Noack - Psycho

Elvis Costello - Psycho

9. American sandwich in the automobile with George. 

The sandwich would be a hoagie, in a car, with Michael...

Hoagy Carmichael - My Resistance Is Low

Elvis Costello - My Resistance Is Low

8. James was outlawed from Arfur's Club.

Jesse James was an Outlaw; Arfur Daley's club was The Winchester.

Jesse Winchester - Payday

Elvis Costello - Payday

7.  Where you might get trapped by a preacher.

The Amen Corner - World of Broken Hearts

Elvis Costello - World of Broken Hearts

6. Father Christmas meets Quasi-Girl. 

OK, so Quasimodo's lady was Esmerelda, not Esmeralda. Sue me. 

Santa Esmeralda - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Yes, there were earlier versions of that tune, notably by Nina Simone and The Animals. But neither were quite as D-I-S-C-O.

Elvis Costello - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

5. Uncle, and resident of Dagenham.

Uncle Sam and Dagenham Dave...

Sam & Dave - I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down

Elvis Costello - I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down

4. Liverpudlian egg scramblers.

The Merseybeats - Really Mystified

Elvis Costello - Really Mystified

Or, you could have had...

The Merseybeats - I Stand Accused 

Which was originally by...

Tony Colton & The Big Boss Band - I Stand Accused

But neither is quite as in your face as this...

Elvis Costello - I Stand Accused

3. Night train.

Sleeper - What Do I Do Now?

Elvis Costello - What Do I Do Now?

2. Unsolve Zara Arch.

Anagram!

Charles Aznavour - She

Elvis Costello - She

1. Not Rod Stewart's baby.

Rod sang Oh No, Not My Baby. This is Oh no.

Oh yes it is!

Not the best song on the list today, but it's the first time Yoko has appeared on Snapshots... and well, I figured it would keep George happy.

Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice

More Elvis covers tomorrow.

More Snapshots next Saturday.

Snapshots #210: A Top Ten Courtroom Songs

Who's afraid of Saturday Snapshots? Not you guys, jumping around like a cat on a hot tin roof, solving even the trickiest clues.

Here's a round-up of this week's answers...

10. Scouse pounds.

Mersey... beats!

The Merseybeats - I Stand Accused

(Yes, I was more familiar with the Elvis Costello version, but he features here often enough.)

9. Fruity Hindu god.

Rama is a Hindu god. (An avatar of Vishnu, to be precise.)

Bananarama - Love In The First Degree

8. They sang songs for the lost and the lonely.

Pearl's a singer. She sings songs for the lost and the lonely.

The Pearls - Guilty

7. A Jock's newborn.

Anagram!

Jackson Browne - Lawyers In Love

6. London, Paris, Washington D.C.

Capital Cities - Kangaroo Court

5. Cowboy kid and Ethan's brother.

Billy the Kid and Joel Coen of the Coen Brothers makes former boxer...

Billy Joel - An Innocent Man

4. Measuring oxymoron.

Shorty Long - Here Comes The Judge

3. Cooke meets Godfather.

Sam Cooke meets James Brown... by way of Marvin Gaye.

Sam Brown - Can I Get A Witness?

2. Red furry dice me!

Anagram!

Freddie Mercury - In My Defence

1. Top of the charts, in (cod) German.

Zee v...one!

Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns & Money

More Snapshots, Taylor-made for you, next Saturday.

Elvis Fridays #5: Covers & Inspiration

My last week at work before the summer break... though I do have to back in for one day in a week's time for interviews. We normally get 3 or 4 applications when we advertise a job because we're not well known in the sector for paying people what they're worth... but this week we had 28 applicants. Sign of the times.

Bit of a traumatic day yesterday as our new kitten Cosmo decided to launch himself out of the bathroom window into the back garden, landing on the patio. A quick trip to the vets and a hundred and fifty quid check-up and x-ray later... he seems OK. One of his nine lives is definitely gone though.

I should be feeling happy today, but it's going to take more than just temporary release to cure this fug. I can already feel the end of August fast approaching...

Get Happy!! (with two exclamation marks - which grammarians everywhere will tell you is unnecessary) is what Elvis Costello told us to do on his fourth album, a collection of pithy bursts of soul, rock, ska pop punk and more, including some choice covers.

The big "hit", I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down was first recorded by Sam & Dave in 1967. If you're only familiar with Elvis's version, the original may sound like it's being played at the wrong speed. But give it a minute or two and it soon turns into a monster soul weepie.



Of course, Elvis made it his own. The video features some great dance moves from the Attractions, plus Elvis eating a plate of chips with a slice of lemon on the harbour side - not a seagull in sight.

I Stand Accused was originally recorded in 1965 by Tony Colton & The Big Boss Band...



I'd never heard that version before today, but I have to say I love it. Great trumpets. I'm not sure if Elvis had heard it when he recorded the song though... likely he was more familiar with the version by The Merseybeats, which is a lot closer to what he did with the song.



I did also check out the version by Isaac Hayes... although that turned out to be a different song entirely... but still worthy of your attention, if you've got a spare 11 1/2 minutes...



You still can't beat Elvis though...



However, my favourite cover on Get Happy!! is Getting Mighty Crowded, which was written by Van McCoy and originally recorded by Betty Everett...



That's pretty fine. Real Supremes vibe to the backing track there.

But is it better than Elvis...?



2 minutes and 9 seconds. That's the way to do it!

I bet Kevin Rowland was a fan of that too.

OK, what about that other Elvis?

The one pictured on the cover of Shoplifters Of The World Unite by The Smiths (and in the video).

Well, they didn't just steal his image, did they?

They also stole his tunes...



You can't blame Johnny too much.

The original is irresistible...