The Puppini Sisters : We Have All the Time in the World

The Puppini Sisters are a vocal team (not actually sisters, although one is actually named Puppini) who perform swing music with close vocal harmonies, much like the Andrews Sisters and other similar acts. They perform all sorts of tunes, from old swing standards like "In the Mood" to more modern tunes like "Heart of Glass", "Walk Like an Egyptian" and "Crazy in Love", as well as some originals.

"We Have All the Time in the World", originally sung by Louis Armstrong, was written by John Barry for the soundtrack to On His Majesty's Secret Service. The lyrics were penned by Hal David, who was the other half of the classic Bacharach/David songwriting machine.  The song is played over the closing credits of the movie as James Bond cradles his dead wife, so in the movie there's a sort of sad irony to the lyrics.  But it's a gorgeous song with a lush melody that expertly straddles the line between joy and pathos. 

Here the sisters turn this hidden gem into a slow, stilted cabaret-style waltz in a surprising 5/4.  The song is primarily scored with an acoustic jazz trio, but it starts and ends with some plaintive accordion and is enveloped in the middle with sumptuous strings.  And of course they bring their gorgeous voices to bear on some exquisite harmonies which you won't find on the original, but which send the song truly soaring.

You can find "We Have All the Time in the World" on the Puppini Sisters' most recent release, 2007's The Rise and Fall of Ruby Woo. Everything I've heard off this album has been top notch, and it's at the top of my "to buy" list.

[You can listen to The Puppini Sisters' "We Have All the Time in the World" by navigating to the post "Song099" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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Ted Heath & His Music : Light My Fire

There are a lot of covers of "Light My Fire" out there. Just a ton. It's one of those songs that somehow became an easy listening staple, and every pop orchestra that ever tackled a rock song managed to cover it.

Actually, I know why. It turns out, the bands aren't covering the Doors, they're covering José Feliciano's Grammy-award winning cover from 1969. Usually you can tell, because they include José's little three-on-two breakdown at the end, as they do on this version.

The songs starts out soft, with some acoustic guitar, vibes and bongos. After a bit, the rest of the band comes in, nice and easy, but like Ike & Tina, Ted takes the beginning nice and easy, but ends the song nice and rough.

Well, as rough as you can get with this crowd.

The horn work is great, and there's not one, but two bongo solos, with another acoustic guitar break halfway through. Also, there's a little bit of organ to spice it up at the end. The arrangement is just impeccable; there's a little bit of everything to make you happy.

"Light My Fire" is off Ted's 1970's release, The Big Ones, which includes excellent covers of "Spinning Wheel" and "Nights in White Satin" among others. The record came out on the Phase 4 Stereo label. There are a number of excellent records on this label & they are distinctly recognizable by the big 4 on the cover. You can't really go wrong with one of these.

[You can listen to Ted Heath & His Music's "Light My Fire" by navigating to the post "Song036" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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Jon : Les Sucettes

Before 50 Cent and Lil Wayne there was Serge Gainsbourg. He penned a little ditty for France Gall called "Les Sucettes", which means, I'm pretty sure, "The Lollipops" in French. While ostensibly being about Annie's anise-flavored lollipops, it's actually full of erotic double entendres and dirty French puns, mostly about lollipops. Go figure.

Serge's popularity went through a little surge back in the late 90's. Like Bacharach before him and Leonard Cohen today, it seemed like anybody who wanted to be taken seriously as a performer had to cover a Gainsbourg tune. About this same time, John Zorn was curating a (sadly short-lived) series of compilations called "Great Jewish Music", in which he would choose a composer of Jewish heritage and get his stable of Tzadik artists to cover a slew of their songs. They handled Bacharach & Gainsbourg, and later Marc Bolan. Sadly, they never got to Paul Simon, Leiber & Stoller or Gene Simmons. Or Barry Manilow. Oh, or Neil Diamond!

Jon, as this artist is known, is another matter. She's Japanese and she plays a pump organ. And that's all I know, as "Jon" doesn't exactly Google well.

I think I promised somewhere that I wouldn't post anything I didn't actually enjoy listening to. And that's important, because there are people who like stuff simply because it's so weird and/or awful that you couldn't possibly actually like it. You should know that, if I offend your ears, it's not because I'm trying to somehow aurally gross you out. I really do enjoy listening to the music on some level. So, no Three Stooges Christmas albums or William Shatner singing Rocket Man, just music I enjoy and think is interesting enough that you should hear it too.

Jon definitely falls into that 'avant-garde' or 'weird' category. First, her voice sounds like a twee little six-year-old, which is somewhat appropriate (and creepy) given the nature of the song. Second, her organ sounds like it's dying of old age. You can hear every creak and moan, every push of the pedals and puff of air. You can almost hear the dust floating about in the dimly lit haunted-house of a room this must have been recorded in. And yet, that's what gives the recording it's appeal for me. The music isn't just in the song, but it embodies the Cagian idea that all aspects of the performance are part of the music; that the wheezes of a dying organ are just as musically important as the notes and lyrics Serge originally penned. I couldn't listen to a whole album of this stuff, but this tune is both fascinating and enjoyable. I hope when you listen to it, you get a chance to revel in the artifact and the atmosphere.

You can find the tune on the excellent Tzadik compilation Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg. Most of the rest of the tunes are far more traditionally musical than this one (though a few aren't). While you're at it, you should grab the Burt Bacharach one as well. You can skip the Bolan one. I believe they missed Marc's whole point with that comp, and as such, it's just not as good.

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Linda Draper : Mother's Little Helper

I said at the beginning, "The music should just be really good, or at least interesting." This one falls into the latter category. Don't get me wrong. It is good. I enjoy it, and I wouldn't put anything up here that I didn't like. But posting this song is more about giving you something different than giving you something great. I don't think this song rings with the same universal appeal that the previous posts might have had, so if you don't like it, I won't think any less of you. But you should still hear it, because it's cool.

I couldn't find much about Linda Draper. She's apparently a folk/indie singer, which means she's probably a singer-songwriter who either wants to be Tori Amos or Norah Jones. I haven't heard anything else she's done, as is the case with many of the covers I've heard, but I'm sure she's wonderful if you like that sort of thing.

Here though she provides a stripped-down take on the Rolling Stones' Mother's Little Helper. Draper lilts her way through the song with nothing but a little bit of double-tracking and a tambourine. Where the original rocks, this version sort of ... floats. The weird thing is, it doesn't really sound full enough to have originally been imagined as an a cappella recording. Even most solo vocals have a sort of weight that seems to be missing here. It's almost as if they instead took a song that originally had all the parts, bass, drums, guitar and whatnot, and stripped them out, leaving only the backing percussion and the voice. Or maybe it's just a matter of some weird equalization. Either way, the result is a flat, dark, empty take on the song, which resounds with the subject matter quite nicely and makes for a vaguely unsettling experience, like driving down your neighborhood street in a light snow at three in the morning: familiar, yet eerie.

Mother's Little Helper can be found on Linda's 2009 album Bridge and Tunnel.

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