If I was at Stax back in the sixties and seventies and someone suggested that a Stax artist cover a Motown song, I'd feel it my duty to discourage it. More like "Get the fuck out." It's not like Stax had any shortage of songwriters, and those songwriters had Stax artists in mind when the wrote songs. Why bother covering Motown? But they did. Here's three.
Eddie Floyd (the "Knock On Wood" guy) covered the Temptations' "My Girl". It's good, really good. If you didn't know the song, you'd never guess that it was a Motown cover. Isaac Hayes, no stranger to covers, completely changed the vibe of Jackson 5's "Never Can Say Goodbye" turning it into a stormy night lovers slow jam. Then again, he could do that with any song. Margie Joseph did a great version of the Supremes' "Stop! In the Name of Love" replete with a long spoken word intro and all sorts of dramatic strings. It's less pop, more story than the Supremes. Somehow all three work without a hint of a Motown sound.
Eddie Floyd - My Girl mp3 at Internet Archive
Isaac Hayes - Never Can Say Goodbye mp3 at Internet Archive
Margie Joseph - Stop! In the Name of Love mp3 at Internet Archive
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