levi & renee under the covers
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Artist:
I'm not crazy about most Motown covers of then-current pop hits.
I'm not crazy about most attempts to recontextualize Motown hits with modern remixes.
But I do like this Quarterbar track from a 2006 collection of four remixes called "Quarterbar Gets Sad With Motown Classics," which lays almost tranceish, spare production under classic Motown vocals ("Tracks of My Tears," "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted").
Find them here:
http://sneakmove.com/2006/11/quarterbar-messes-with-motown.html
So for SUTC, Levi Stubbs sings The Left Banke's "Walk Away Renee," a poignant enough song to begin with, even more so now.
Locating MOG account...
Comments (8)
Really intriguing, I can't seem to link to the downloads from the link you gave us though.
Maybe that link expired. Try this:
http://www.slowdust.com/quarterbargetssad.html
Wow. That is the best version of the song I've heard. So nice.
That works!
I can'y get the Red Button to play.
I was reading somewhere in the last couple of days that the secret to getting such plaintive readings from Levi was pretty simple: he was baritone who was made to sing as a tenor. That aching, reaching sound has a lot to do with him singing out of his natural range. I really hear it here.
Ivylander,
I hadn't realized that, but then I read it in one of the obits, and it made so much sense: write and arrange the song so it pushes the limits of his range, and you get a hightened sense of drama. That's part of what made Holland, Dozier & Holland so great: they could craft a record to Diana Ross' vocal limitations, or to Levi's exceptional power.
That electronic backing track was completely unexpected. Quarterbar?