My Favorite Music, Comic Arts, and Books | Con Artist Trickster

Dearest: Original "Apartment Version" by Buddy Holly and the Best Cover Version by The Black Keys (Music Monday)



Best Cover Version of Dearest for Music Monday)
In December 1958, Buddy Holly (born Charles Hardin Holley) bought a tape recorder and brought it to his apartment to make raw recording of his songs. Two months later, February 3, 1959 became the day the music died. A plane crash killed Buddy Holly along with three others, two of which were great talents in rock and roll, namely Ritchie Valens and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson.

In his lifetime, Buddy Holly had only released three studio albums, two as a solo artist and one as the member of The Crickets. He left some unreleased songs, including some unfinished studio tracks and the recordings he made personally using the tape he bought two months prior to his death. The original, raw, recordings of the tapes later are commonly known as “The Apartment Tapes.”

“Dearest” is one of the tracks in “The Apartment Tapes” and according to this site, it was recorded sometime between January 1-19, 1959. The good thing about the tracks in those tapes is the intimacy between Buddy Holly and the songs he sang. There was no rush or pressure from studio schedule or producer or other musician. He simply did what he could do best: singing the music he loved, albeit it was not always him who wrote it. “Dearest” was written by Bob Gibson, Ellas “Bo Diddley” McDaniel, Prentice Herman Polk, Jr. and in “The Apartment Tapes” Buddy Holly recorded two versions of that song: with acoustic guitar and the other with electric guitar. An overdubbed version was released as part of a posthumous album, Giant. Yes, the overdubbed result is great and all, but to get the true intensity and romance of the song, you absolutely have to listen to Buddy Holly’s original, raw records.
Buddy Holly's Original Version (with Electric Guitar)

In 2011, a tribute album was released under the title Rave On Buddy Holly. Various artists and bands contribute in this compilation, including Sir Paul McCartney, Patti Smith, Fiona Apple, Kid Rock, and The Black Keys. The last mentioned is a rock band from Ohio that consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). In this tribute album, that duo performs the best cover version (yet) of Dearest. Their rearrangement of the song is, as described by Jeff Gonick of Paste magazine, "beautifully minimalist." It doesn’t lose the original intensity and the ambience gives a remarkable sense of longing. Without overly dressing-up the original version, The Black Keys change the tone and atmosphere entirely, and in a very good way. This track is nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards (2012).
The Black Keys' Cover Version of Dearest

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the ACTUAL LINK POST here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice. PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!
Hope you enjoyed it. You may share it if you like.



Powered by Blogger.
 
Back to top Copyright © 2010 | Platinum Theme Converted by HackTutors Customized by BurNedBruNo