Thursday, May 3, 2007

Under the Covers

"Lose Your Dreams & You Will Lose Your Mind"

Our "Under the Covers" feature aims to bring you cool, possibly unknown, versions of your/our favorite songs, or at least some good ones we've discovered along the golden road.

This week's tracks come by way of the Rolling Stones. First is Franco Battiato's cover of the Stone's classik "Ruby Tuesday." KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic turned me on to this and I couldn't be more appreciative. The operatic background vocals and string arrangements on this are both bone chilling and hauntingly beautiful. Imagine how perfect this would've been in The Royal Tennenbaums, when Margo and Richie are in the tent. Regardless, it gets the cinematic treatment in Children of Men.

The second is another Stones classik, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" which is performed here by Ananda Shankar, nephew of world renowned sitarist Ravi Shankar. Ananada is famous for his fusion of Eastern and Western musical stylings, as well as his collaborations with Jimi Hendrix in the late 60's.

In case you can't remember the original "Ruby Tuesday," we've dug up a video of the Stones playing it live on Ed Sullivan circa '67. Keith on piano looking karazee as ever, sitting next to Brian Jones, on recorder! Cue screaming girls!

Ananda Shankar- Jumpin' Jack Flash
Franco Battiato- Ruby Tuesday

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