OMG, what can I say? Was that great or what?!

Now, you may ask, what has all this got to do with the title for today’s post? You see, you might say on impulse that some things are just plain unimaginable, like Dave Matthews singing The Sex Pistols, or Morbid Angel doing their version of “My Way”. You will argue that some combinations just won’t work, no matter how great the artist or the song is. But really, as we have just seen in that most excellent example above, when some thoughtful and clever song arrangement is combined with a great performance from the artist, anything is possible!

And this is the whole point: A great producer will always be able to recognize an artist’s unique sense and style, and adapt *any* song for him/her/them. He should be capable to take a song, tweak it here and there, perhaps slow it down a bit, add a swinging groove, lower the key signature half an octave, substitute minor 9th and 11th’s for those minor 7th’s in the verse, translate the main guitar riff on piano, and play it lazy lounge style, and finally add a backing choir to replace that wall of Stratocasters, and voila, we have the perfect arrangement for our artist. Now go back and try to determine how the main elements of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” have been adapted to the Paul Anka version.

The album In My Life demonstrates why the great George Martin remains one of the most revered producers of all time. This album perfectly illustrates his brilliant talent in achieving this goal, adapting the songs, in this case, all Beatles songs, to the various artists who performed here. Imagine Celine Dion singing an R&B “Here, There and Everywhere”, Goldie Hawn doing a slow “A Hard Day’s Night”, Jim Carey parodying Lennon’s “I am the Walrus”, Robin Williams doing an almost comedic “Come Together”, and Sean Connery delivering a touching, spoken-word version of “In My Life”. Look for this album (it’s very rare!) and have a listen. Just brilliant!

For some more examples, I recommend you to look for these albums:

• Various artists: Butchering the Beatles. Yngwie Malmsteen does “Magical Mystery Tour”, Alice Cooper and Steve Vai play “Hey Bulldog”, Billy Idol and Steve Stevens do “I Feel Fine” and more. A shocking, searing tribute to the Fab Four.
• Various artists: Come Together – Guitar Tribute To The Beatles. This time, a sublime instrumental Beatles cover album. Adrian Belew does “Blackbird”, Larry Coryell does “Something”, while Allan Holdsworth covers “Michelle”. Wonderful!
• Apocalyptica: Plays Metallica by Four Cellos. In this album, you can see how metal classics like “Master of Puppets” and “Enter Sandman” get translated for a cello quartet. I couldn’t really believe how “Sad but True” can be played by these guys until I heard it. Masterful!
• The Pavarotti & Friends 2 DVD. Ok, this one is not really a very good example. I mean, the great maestro Luciano Pavarotti couldn’t really give justice to the Bryan Adams song “All for Love” (originally with Sting and Rod Stewart). Still, a shocking rendition nonetheless!

For some of the more famous song examples, compare and contrast the following:

• Nothing Compares 2 U by Prince. Covered by Sinead O’Connor. Sinead took Prince’s hard-hitting funk and turns it into a ballad all her own. (Note: All Prince songs have been taken out of YouTube due to copyright.)
• Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack. Covered by The Fugees. The Motown R&B classic has been given new life with an infectious groove and Indian sitar flashes, but the basic elements of the original were retained.
• Crossroads by Robert Johnson. Covered by Cream. The 1937 acoustic blues tune of the man who sold his soul to the devil in the Mississippi Delta was turned into a blues shred-fest by Eric Clapton and company in 1968. (Incidentally, Eddie Van Halen considers Clapton’s guitar solo here as one of the greatest solos ever.)
• Separate Lives by Phil Collins. Covered by Stephen Bishop. Ok, this song was actually composed by Stephen, but his version wasn’t released until about a decade after Phil’s massive hit version. You’ll see the original duet stripped down to a bare acoustic track.
• Tainted Love by Gloria Jones. Covered by Soft Cell. The 1964 classic reincarnates into a new-wave hit in the 80’s but the arrangement remains largely untouched. The changes lie mainly in the heavy use of synths in the latter version.
• Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson. Covered by Alien Ant Farm. The hard-hitting dance R&B turns heavy metal. You’ll notice the arrangement wasn’t changed too much either.
• Kiss by Prince. Covered by Tom Jones. Oh man, which version is better? Tell me please!
• All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan. Covered by Jimi Hendrix. The folksy original is slandered and acidized, in a good way of course.
• Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder. Covered by the RHCP. Stevie’s funk becomes rougher and edgier, but largely remains the same.

Ok, ok… Now, as a final exercise, try to imagine how you can arrange for “chairman of the board” Frank Sinatra so he could cover Britney Spear’s “Baby One More Time”. Haha…