THE BUMMER ANNEX

Bill Withers passed away on Monday from "heart complications". I've no idea what "heart complications" means (heart attack?), but it wasn't the corona virus. Not that that makes it easier. Withers is a tough one. I'm not sure whether it's an age thing or not. I mean, I remember hearing him on the radio, and as good as his two biggest hits were ("Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine"), the third hit, "Use Me" is an all time favorite. A large part of the reason is the drums and clavinet, but it was written by Withers, sung by Withers and the phrasing is all his, and it is a stealthly funky masterpiece.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~ 

Listen:
Bill Withers - Lean On Me mp3 at Mis Reflexiones
Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine mp3 at Amps (?)
Bill Withers - Use Me (streaming) at YouTube 
Junior Wells - Use Me mp3 at Internet Archive
Holly Golightly - Use Me (streaming) at YouTube Pick to click.

DON'T EVEN TRY THE DRUMS AND CLAVINET THING

Rule number one in doing a cover is pick a good song. That could go any number of ways. You could pick an excellent song, based on the original version, because it's iconic in some way or another. You could pull it out of obscurity, either because it deserves to be brought to public attention, or because the earlier version doesn't do the song itself justice. Or you could pick a cover specifically because it is an unlikely song for you to cover. You get carried away with that, it could be one of those asshole attempts at irony. Is an intended attempt to be ironic still ironic? Remember white belts?

Out of all of the different types of covers, the hardest type to pull off is undoubtedly covering an excellent song, already close to perfect the first time it was recorded. You're only hope there is to reinvent it. Record it as if it was your own song, in your own style. Sink or swim.

Cover Me recently posted several versions of Bill Withers's "Use Me". If you don't know the song, you need to. Listen to it repeatedly. I've heard Withers's version a thousand times and it still amazes me. It's one of those near perfect songs. "Near" because perfect doesn't really exist. You think it does, but it really doesn't. Just fucking with you. Anyway, I sampled three of the versions and if the first I listened to wasn't any good, I wouldn't have gone any further. But Holly Golightly does reinvent it, and she does play it as her own. The second one I sampled, by Grace Jones, was also seriously tweaked. With Sly and Robbie as rhythm section, it's pretty much an electro-reggae version. The third one I checked was Jim White's, which has a certain vibe to it, like a soundtrack to someone being led to the gallows. That's an unintentional metaphor there. A real cool version was posted here a while back, so what the hell, the Outfit's version is down there too, a solid jam from Barbados.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Bill Withers - Use Me mp3 at The Giant Panther
Holly Golightly - Use Me mp3 at Cover Me If the link doesn't get you to it, go here.
Grace Jones - Use Me mp3 at Cover Me
Jim White - Use Me mp3 at Cover Me
The Outfit - Use Me mp3 at Soul Garage
Two more versions at Cover Me

SUGGEST FULL INVESTIGATION

This is a real bubbler, a total reworking of Bill Withers' "Use Me". It sounds like War meets Tower of Power meets Fela. One of those suckers that starts slow, and just about when you're thinking "I don't know about this one", it kicks it up a notch, and then another, and another. By the end of it, you're thinking, "I gotta hear that again!"

The Outfit were from Barbados, and may or may not have done time in Canada. The label, Wirl, may or may not be an imprint of Island Records. The Outfit may never have had a single photo taken of them. But they released a solid jam and a half. That is the sum total of what I learned from several web searches. (Thinks: Well, that gets me off the hook early.) 

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
The Outfit - Use Me mp3 at Soul Garage
Bill Withers - Use Me mp3 at The Giant Panther
The Outfit - Stop the World mp3 at Sir Shambling's

USE ME X 3 (PLUS ONE STINKER)

It's just one of those songs; Bill Withers' "Use Me," that is. When you listen to it intently, it can seem to improve with repeated plays. And, once you start dissecting it and picking away the different parts going on, it becomes hard not to hear them from then on. It's really worth it, to listen to the breaks, the clavinet, the seemingly effortless vocals. That there's only four instruments on a song that sounds this full, and no electric guitar (save the bass), is really testament to the arrangement and the production as much as it is to the singer and the song. And, as in reggae, part of the experience is filling in the gaps. It really pulls you in. It's almost impossible to think of a way to improve on Withers' laid-back-yet-funky tour de force. So, why would you try?

Surprisingly, a whole lot of people have. The Giant Panther has posted three of the attempts, along with the original on their well rounded blog. First, you have to get the original. That's a given. Then, you might try Grace Jone's reggae version, recorded with help from Sly & Robbie (two session players who know a thing or two about reinterpretations.) She plays it smart, avoiding the breaks and concentrating on the song itself. Then there's another version by a band called Coolbone, that's kinda interesting; if for no other reason than because it's got some neat horns on it (though I could do without the mid-song rapping). And then, then we come to Mick Jagger, whose effort is a laughable self-caricature. It's awful. No matter how small the mp3 is, and how little hard drive space it takes up (even if it gave you more disc space), it's not worth infecting your music collection. I tried to listen to it, I really did. He gets to the end of the first line, yelping "dooo-taaay," and I just lost it. It's possibly the most misguided cover I've ever heard.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Bill Withers - Use Me mp3 (right click title to save) at The Giant Panther
Grace Jones - Use Me mp3 (right click title to save) at The Giant Panther
Coolbone - Use Me mp3 (right click title to save) at The Giant Panther
Mick Jagger - Use Me mp3 (right click to save) at The Giant Panther