Reflections From The Bell Curve: #59: The Mt. Rushmore Series
OK music lovers, time to assist your favorite blogger. My newest course - Musical One-Night Stands - will soon take its maiden voyage. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to supply me with the songs you would expect to hear in a course like this. The post above from August 2020 can get you started since the four performances therein - my Mt. Rushmore #59 - exemplify the caliber of material I'm looking for in this new class. Read the post, look at the one excellent comment, and then give this your best shot. You are NOT limited to four suggestions a la Mt. Rushmore. Two other considerations before you get started.
* Unlike the Mt. Rushmore post, your musical collaborations need NOT be just vocal duets. For example, two one-offs that will definitely be included in this course are the Bill Withers/Grover Washington Jr. collaboration (vocal/saxophone) on Just the Two of Us and the one-off singing quartet of George Benson, Jon Hendricks, Al Jarreau, and Bobby McFerrin on Freddie Freeloader.
* And, as the second example above shows, this course will include one-off collaborations by jazz artists and/or artists from any genre, provided the one-off performance meets the standard.
Although I haven't asked for much input from readers when developing past music courses, I decided this time to do so for primarily one reason. My music-obsessed brother has lost sleep on the occasions when I've asked for his suggestions. Figured it was time to give the poor guy a break.
Please note: If any song you suggest ends up making the final cut of this course, consider yourself a bell curve consultant. We'll negotiate your compensation at a mutually convenient time. Now get to work.
So your brother can sleep at night, Here are some that quickly came to mind:
ReplyDeleteEbony and Ivory - Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney
Under Pressure - Queen/Freddy Mercury and David Bowie
Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby and David Bowie
Who Says You Can't Go Home - Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles
Close My Eye's Forever - Lita Ford & Ozzy Osbourne
Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush
Dancing in the Street - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
Please Read the Letter - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Girl From The North Country - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash
You and Tequila - Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter
You're a Friend of Mine - Jackson Browne and Clarence Clemons
I Got You Babe - Sonny and Cher
You're The One That I Want - John Trabolta and Olivia Newton-John
You Don't Bring Me Flowers - Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond
Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John and Kiki Dee
Islands In The Stream - Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton
Say Say Say - Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson
Endless Love - Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
Body and Soul - Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett
Shallow - Lady GaGa and Bradley Cooper
Let's Make Love - Faith Hill and Tim McGraw
Love Hurts - Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris
Senorita - Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
I Know What You Did Last Summer - Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
Up Where We Belong - Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes
Songs from the John Fogerty Album "Wrote a Song for Everyone"
Fortunate Son - with Foo Fighters
Almost Saturday Night - with Keith Urban
Lodi - withd Shane Fogerty and Tyler Fogerty (John's Sons)
Wrote a Song For Everyone - with Miranda Lambert featuring Tom Morelllo
Bad Moon Rising - with Zac Brown Band
Long as I Can See the Light - with My Morning Jacket
Born on the Bayou - with Kid Rock
Someday Never Comes - with Dawes
Who'll Stop the Rain - with Bob Seger
Hod Rod Heart - with Brad Paisley
Have You Ever Seen the Rain? - with Alan Jackson
Proud Mary - with Jennifer Hudson featuring Allen Toussaint and Rebirth Brass Band
Or some of the Rick Rubin produced Johnny Cash duets:
Redemption Song - with Joe Strummer
Father and Son - with Fiona Apple
Cindy - with Nick Cave
Gentle on My Mind - with Glen Cambell
The Running Kind - with Tom Petty
Brown Eyed Handsome Man - with Carl Perkins
Like a Soldier - with Willie Nelson
I am not sure that they all fit your criteria. :)
Chris; OK, two comments on two different posts in one early morning - a definite record for you. And you broke the reader record for publishing the longest comment I've received in 11+ years of blogging. You really outdid yourself here. Thanks for all your ideas. From your list #1, I'd already settled on using both "Endless Love" and "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" in my course; both a little sappy but, top-notch performances by all four singers. There are also several others from that first list I'm still considering. I'm familiar with both the Fogerty tribute and the Rick Rubin/Johnny Cash project. From the latter, I'll definitely be checking out a few of those tunes to see if they would make the cut. Good work, boss.
DeleteGlad to be of service.
DeleteLoved Chris P.'s extensive list!
ReplyDelete"All the Way" a notable 1963 Frank Sinatra recording re-mixed with Celine Dion in 1999. Does this kind of thing count?
Steve; Chris's list, right? It's so comprehensive a few other people have commented offline to me that his list has intimidated them into silence! Glad you weren't muted by Chris's pantheon. As far as the Sinatra/C. Dion piece, I mentioned in my original Mt. Rushmore post that I'm looking for pieces when both performers were alive at the same time. If I hadn't made that distinction, the Nat King/Natalie Cole duets would have been surefire inclusions in the Musical One-Night Stands class I'm developing. Thanks for the effort. Always good to see a comment from you.
DeleteHere are a few to add to the pot:
ReplyDeleteCon te partiro - Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman
Leather and Lace - Don Henley and Stevie Nicks
Elton John and Britney Spears - Hold Me Closer (Rocket Man)
Thanks for throwing your hat in the ring, sweetheart. "Leather and Lace" was a lock from the day I first conceived of this course. Thanks for the ratification of my flawless taste in music.
DeleteGood morning, Pat. To begin, with Chris stating 'Here are some that quickly came to mind...' and then proceeding with a list that would rival the size of a Miriam Webster Dictionary, feeling intimidated is an understatement - LOL.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I wanted to offer something, so ...
1. Lita Ford/Ozzy Osborne - Close My Eyes Forever
2. Method Man/Mary J. Blige - I'll Be There For You/You're All I Need To Get By
3. Aretha Franklin/George Michael - I Knew You Were Waiting
4. Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush - Don't Give Up
Be well,
Bob
Bob; Don't know if you realized it, but the one comment I got on the Mt. Rushmore post from 2020 that I embedded at the start of this later post was from YOU. Be sure to go back and look at what you contributed back in 2020. In the meanwhile, thanks for the four additional suggestions you made here, two of which (#1 and #2) I have not heard but will be checking out based on your recommendation. As for your third suggestion above (G/ Michael/A. Franklin) that knockout was one of MY four from that same 2020 Mt. Rushmore post! It is, without doubt, one of the greatest "one-off" vocal duets of all time. We are officially mind-melding there and that performance will DEFINITELY be included in this newest course of mine, debuting later this year.
DeleteAnother great recent duet that is worth mentioning is Wasted Days - John Mellencamp with Bruce Springsteen from Mellencamp's album "Strictly A One-Eyed Jack" which came out earlier this year. Here is a link to the video which was filmed in New Jersey, some on Bruce's farm in Colts Neck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHLGZxlBpLA
ReplyDeleteChris; Thanks for two comments in one day and your continued diligence with these musical adventures. Will definitely check out the Springsteen/Mellencamp duet; sounds intriguing.
Delete1. Glenn Hansard and Eddie Vedder’s rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s “ Drive All Night”
ReplyDelete2. Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle— “ 0n My Own”
"Anonymous" (who I think I might know); Thanks for the contribution. I'm unfamiliar with the Hansard/Vedder one-off but I will surely be checking it out.
Delete