CW: Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever

Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever was released as a single and also appeared on The Four Tops 1966 album On Top. Though he’s never recorded a version of the song, Stevie Wonder gets the songwriting credit for this legendary Motown gem. The composition was a joint effort between Wonder and Ivy Jo Hunter, whose songwriting credits also include another smash hit - Dancing In The Street.

The Contestants:

The Band: It’s gotta be confidence-building for a lead singer tackling this song, in this case Rick Danko, knowing you’ve got a voice like that of Levon Helm to back you up. While poking around looking for information on these covers, I found a great interview that Peter Stone Brown did with Rick Danko in 1977. When asked why Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever was never on an official release from The Band, Danko answers that he thought it was on Rock Of Ages. It’s interesting just how little artists can sometimes know about their own releases. The track would make it to the Deluxe Edition release in 2001. Source: Rock Of Ages (Deluxe Edition)

READ ON for the scoop on the rest of this week’s contestants…

Bryan Ferry: This Roxy Music lead singer included this cover on his 1973 solo album debut. The track features some very deliberately enunciated vocals. Source: These Foolish Things

Eric Clapton: This take features a bit less in the backup vocals department, employing the backup singers only in the chorus and not in the verses. At the conclusion of this live recording you can hear Eric mutter into the microphone, “That was the first we’ve ever done that onstage. We were a bit worried about it. But it turned out OK”. The recording is from 11-28-1978 at Victoria Hall. Source: Crossroads 2 (Live In The Seventies)

Marvin Gaye: This cover was originally released in 1968 on an album titled In The Groove. The album would be reissued later that year under it’s new title I Heard It Through The Grapevine, as that track had achieved mainstream success. Source: In The Groove

Michael McDonald: 2003 and 2004 saw the release of two albums filled with Motown covers by Michael McDonald. The first record went platinum and Motown II went Gold. These two discs remain the best-selling of McDonald’s solo discography. Source: Motown II

Paul Rodgers: The lead singer of Bad Company and Free supplied the lead vocals for this performance at the 50th anniversary concert of The Four Tops. Rodgers currently tours as the lead singer of Queen.

Susan Tedeschi: Solid backup vocals and nice B3 tone round this studio take out nicely. Tedeschi has also performed this song with her husband Derek Trucks in their 2007 joint tour the Soul Stew Revival. Check out this recording from The Archive for a listen to that. Source: Hope And Desire

Susan Tedeschi Video:

Checking in on last week’s The Devil Went Down To Georgia Cover Wars, it’s currently all tied up! We’ve got two members of Oysterhead wih their own versions of the song battling it out at 32% each. Can you help break the tie between Primus and Trey Anastasio?

Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever, Who Did It Best?(polling)