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Song Swarm: Papa Was A Rolling Stone
In Motown’s happy family it was common that the same songs would be recorded by different artists. So it is with Papa Was A Rolling Stone, written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. The Undisputed...
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Song Swarm – Like A Rolling Stone
There are people who would like Bob Dylan’s songs more if only they were sung by somebody else. I have some empathy with that view (as I do with the opposing perspective), so it is a little strange...
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Song Swarm – Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down
If you were to put me on the spot and demand that I choose one all-time favourite song, I suppose my default answer would be “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, the Kris Kristofferson version. One may argue...
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Song Swarm: These Boots Are Made For Walking
Two years ago I posted a mini-song swarm of 11 versions of These Boots Are Made For Walking. I have long planned to revise that post with a proper song swarm. A request by a reader to re-post the link...
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Song Swarm – Sunny
Bobby Hebb, the writer of “Sunny”, had a quite remarkable early life, which after 72 years came to an end in 2010. Born to blind parents, both musicians, Nashville-born Robert Von Hebb progressed from...
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Song Swarm – Hound Dog
RCA Studios, New York. Monday, 2 July 1956. Elvis turned up for his third and final recording session there to lay down the tracks for “Hound Dog”, the song’s eventual b-side, “Don’t Be Cruel”, and the...
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Song Swarm: By The Time I Get To Phoenix
This is a reworked and extended version of a post from March 2010. Back then it was 23 stops to Phoenix; now we have 81. By The Time I Get To Phoenix is not even my favourite Jimmy Webb song, much as I...
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Song Swarm: Girl From Ipanema
Once upon a time, The Girl From Ipanema was the ultimate square song. You’d hear it piped in the elevator before you entered the lounge where the piano player would tinkle out the most laid back song...
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Song Swarm: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer was written by Johnny Marks, to whom we also owe X-Mas staples such as Rockin’ Round The Christmas Tree and A Holly Jolly Christmas, as well as Chuck Berry’s Run,...
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Song Swarm: Blue Moon
I’m reposting this to mark tonight’s Super Blue Red Moon, which much of the world will be able to witness. The story of Blue Moon — its transition from a movie song that was rewritten several times to...
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