Tag: Bee Gees

Nina Simone: “To Love Somebody” (Cover of the Day)

Nina Simone performs Barry Gibb’s “To Love Somebody” at the Jazz à Juan jazz festival in Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, France in 1969.

In 2017, Barry Gibb was asked what was his favorite of all of the songs he had written. He reached back to a song that was released as a single fifty years earlier in 1967 to his wonderful track, “To Love Somebody.”

I’m not sure if anyone asked him about the number of great covers of the song, but certainly one of my favorite versions is the one by Nina Simone, who was born in North Carolina on February 21, 1933 as Eunice Kathleen Waymon.

Reportedly, Gibb wrote “To Love Somebody” with Otis Redding in mind. But unfortunately, Redding died before he had the chance to record “To Love Somebody.”

Nina Simone released a cover of “To Love Somebody” in 1971 on her album of the same name. But she was performing the song live long before that release. Simone does something different than Redding probably would have done. She definitely takes a different approach than the hit recording by Gibb’s Bee Gees.

Below, alone at the piano, she performs “To Love Somebody” at the Jazz à Juan jazz festival in Juan-les-Pins, Antibes, France in 1969. Unlike the Bee Gees version, her version never reaches the frenzy of passion that their original did.

Similarly, here she avoids the groove and rhythm of her own full-band 1971 release that also featured backing vocals. Here, instead, she brings a longing sadness to the tune. Check it out.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

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Arthur Alexander: “Every Day I Have to Cry”

Every Day I Have to Cry

Ever since I started this blog, I have been planning to write a post about one of my favorite singers, Arthur Alexander. I have been putting it off because I feared I could not do justice to his story. But since Arthur Alexander Jr.’s birthday is this week, the least I could do was to post my favorite Arthur Alexander song, “Every Day I Have to Cry.” And then maybe we will return to more of his music at another time.

Alexander — who was born on May 10, 1940 in Sheffield, Alabama –should be much more famous than he is. His songs have been covered by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, George Jones, Otis Redding, Bob Dylan, Dusty Springfield, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many others. The country soul singer began recording music in the early 1960s.  Some of his songs became well-known, like “You Better Move On” and “Anna (Go to Him),” the latter recorded by The Beatles.

Several singers covered “Every Day I Have to Cry” before Alexander got around to recording it. Steve Alaimo first recorded it in 1962, and the Bee Gees recorded it in 1965. Ike and Tina Turner covered it in 1966. Alexander finally recorded “Every Day I Have to Cry” in 1974.

Unfortunately, Alexander’s career never took off like it should have. After his 1972 album Rainbow Road found little success, he left the music business.  By the 1980s, he was working as a bus driver for the Center for Human Services in Cleveland, Ohio.

But as interest in his catalog begin to grow, he returned to his music in the early 1990s. In 1993, he released his first album in 21 years, Lonely Just Like Me. He kept his bus driving job as the album was released, but as the record began to gain attention, he prepared for a tour.

At the time of the album’s release, Alexander welcomed the renewed interest in his career “I’m finding out the seeds I planted all that time ago were good seeds. That’s really something – I was gone for such a long time.”

Alexander finally was on the verge of the success he deserved. But then, soon after the album’s release, he had a fatal heart attack and died on June 9, 1993.

Alexander’s birthday is a great day to track down and listen to more of his music, as are the other 364 days of the year. There are plenty of good seeds to find. One of my favorite albums is the special edition of his 1990s comeback album, Lonely Just Like Me, but it is hard to go wrong with any of his music. For more on Alexander’s career, check out this post by Richard Younger or this article on RCR. Or you may read his 1993 obituary in the New York Times.

What is your favorite Arthur Alexander song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Nina Simone: “To Love Somebody” (Cover of the Day)
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    Robin Gibb RIP: I Started a Joke

    Bee Gees Idea I Started a Joke Another giant of the disco era has passed away. Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees died today of colorectal cancer at the age of 62. Barry is the only surviving Bee Gee, as their brother Maurice died in 2003.

    A standout Bee Gees track is “I Started a Joke,” which was mainly written by Robin, who also sings lead on the song. The song was released in September 1968 on the album Idea. According to Wikipedia, some think the song is about the devil, but the more common interpretation is that the song is sung by someone who did something wrong and regrets it. In the video below of a performance at Festival Hall, a young Robin sings the song. RIP.

    What is your favorite Bee Gees song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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