One of the Most Covered Songs in History

A few years ago the British newspaper The Indepedent published a list of the ten most covered songs in history:

1. Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
2.Yesterday - The Beatles
3. Cry me a River -  Julie Londen
4. And I Love Her - The Beatles
5. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
6. Imagine - John Lennon
7. Summertime - Abbie Mitchell
8. Blackbird - The Beatles
9. Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland
10. The Look of Love - Dusty Springfield

This blog post is about number 7 on this list: "Summertime". I have to admit I've never heard of Abbie Mitchell's version of "Summertime", nor had I ever heard of Abbie Mitchell before. But her rendition of the song is how Gershwin originally intented it to be, and it is indeed beautiful. In 1933 Gerswin wrote the opera Porgy and Bess and included the lullaby "Summertime". The character Clara sings this song at the start, and its melody can be heard several times throughout the opera. In 1935, when Porgy and Bess was first performed on stage, Abbie Mitchell played Clara's part. Mitchell recorded the first version of "Summertime", and 38,324 recordings of the song were made after Mitchell's version.

In 1936, Billie Holiday's cover of "Summertime" was the first that entered the American music charts. About two decades later, Ella Fitzgerald and Lois Armstrong also recorded an excellent rendition of the song. Their version became that popular, that most people actually think that Fitzgerald and Armstrong were the first who recorded this song.

Ella Fitzgerald and Lois Armstrong - "Summertime"

Since "Summertime" was recorded many times and by so many different people, it was done in an enormous variety of styles. Janis Joplin's version of the song is one of my favorites. She is one of few people who were able to add an extra dimension to an already beautiful song.

Janis Joplin - "Summertime"

I won't bother you here with all the 38,325 recorded covers of this song, but if you're interested check this website which lists them all. Miles Davis, Sam Cooke, Billy Stewart and Scarlett Johansson were among the many to record "Summertime"

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Little Girl Blue

As I said in my last blog, I have lots and lots of free time, so I can write whenever I want. As this will be a blog covering all kinds of music, I have decided to index my blogs, for you to be able to view something that you really like very quickly. When I started this blog I told you that I will be covering a great variety of music styles and that I won't limit myself to just one genre (as most blogs about music do). After giving it some more thought, however, I realized that my music preference is indeed also limited. I focus mainly on western music. Not that I am not interested in other types of music, it's just what I have been listening to most. This is not to say that in the future I won't show any African, Chinese, or Indian songs, just that my main focus will be on western music (that is American and European).

Janis Joplin. Many of you proably know her due to her famous Woodstock appearance all the way back in 1969. She is known for her Rock music, in which she blended a  whole lot of  blues. Some of her greatest hits included "Me and Bobby McGee", "Mercedes Benz", and "Down on Me". After singing solo for some time she joined Big Brother and the Holding Company from 1966-1968, and afterwards starting singing with backup group the Kozmic Blues Band from 1969 - 1970. After a short life full of sex, drugs and rock and roll, she overdosed on heroin in 1970 and died at the age of 27. Check out JanisJoplin.net to read all the interesting info there is about her life.

This next song is one of my favorites. It was originally written for the Broadway Musical Jumbo in 1935, but has been covered by a variety of artists throughout the years (including Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra and Linda Rondstadt). This recording was taped at the "This is Tom Jones Show", just a year before she died. I personally love listening to this version of "Little Girl Blue" with the volume all the way up. Her emotions are so raw, her voice so intense, and the song just simply beatiful. 

Janis Joplin - "Little Girl Blue"