Drop

Cover version of the month #82

Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions cover The Jesus & Mary Chain

The Jesus & Mary Chain released Automatic, their 3rd album, back in 1989. The CD version added a couple of bonus songs; Drop and Sunray, on top of the 10 songs available on the LP version.

Drop is a beautiful song that the band would go on to rerecord for the Stoned & Dethroned album sessions and this version came out on the Sometimes Always CD single.

Sometimes Always, a duet with the divine Hope Sandoval, is one of my very favourite songs, so there is some synergy in the fact that a b-side of that song was the opening track on Bavarian Fruit Bread, her 2001 debut album as Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions.

Good God, I could listen to Hope Sandoval sing the phone book and feel moved. Hope's dreamy voice hypnotises me. Glockenspiel is sprinkled over a raw acoustic guitar and very gentle percussion and Sandoval comes in with vocals set to stun.

The way you drop

Is like a stone

Making out you're flying

But you've just been thrown

Drop is a beautiful song and Hope Sandoval adds dreamy qualities to make it almost lullaby like.

The original Mary Chain version is only 2-minutes long. Sublimely raw, Jim Reid's vocals have that elegantly wasted quality that he delivers so well over just a couple of chords, understated strings, light percussion and a Velvets-y lead guitar on top. Classic Mary Chain. The lyrics are imaginative, druggy, provocative and have a religious reference in the kiss off line.

I should have guessed

When I took that pill

Do I love her still?

Well, did Jesus kill?

I love the original, I mean, it's pretty perfect. But I also love the version from the Stoned and Dethroned era. It's a little more country blues, a little more groovy, sounding like the Mary Chain could well have taken a trip to Memphis with their Primal Scream buddies around that time. 

In short, Drop is a brilliant song, check out the links to the recordings below. All 3 are added to my Cool Cover Versions playlist. AND as a bonus check the live version from Creations Undrugged show at the Royal Albert Hall from 1994!

Drop JAMC original version

Drop JAMC Re-recorded version

Drop live at The Royal Albert Hall JAMC w/ Hope Sandoval

Drop Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions

All previous cover version of the month blogs are listed below. To listen, search for Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist, featuring all of the songs below, on Spotify or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

64. Lola

65. Lost In Music

66. My Little Red Book

67. Isn't It A Pity

68. Walk On By

69. Walk Away Renee

70. Tainted Love

71. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

72. Listen The Snow Is Falling

73. Mrs Robinson

74. He's Gonna Step On You Again

75. In My Life

76. Caravan Of Love

77. The Only Way Is Up

78. Dancin' Round & Round

79. With A Little Help From My Friends

80. Killing Me Softly

81. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Head On

Cover version of the month #54

David Hasselhoff covers Jesus and Mary Chain's Head On

Yes you read that correctly! I still sometimes wonder if I dreamt that last Autumn, Pitchfork, The Quietus and the NME reported that the Hoff had covered one of my favourite Mary Chain songs.

I thought I would check if it was all a dream for this months cover version of the month. Don't worry, I'll spend most of the blog talking about the original! This must be a strong candidate for one of the weirdest covers of a Scottish band/artist of all-time.

Head On was released as a single back in 1989, taken from the bands Automatic album (their 3rd) released the same year. In an era of multi-formatting to help chart position, Head On was released on 7 different formats, including 4 7-inch singles one week after the other with one coming with a cardboard box to house the set.

Head On is classic Mary Chain guitar pop with influences from the fuzzed up 50's style guitar riff through to the 80's drum machine and synth bass that drive and underpin the song. The song drips with Mary Chain cool; references to death, the stars and the sky, there is a guitar solo, breakdown, a build up, hey yay ay ays and yeah yeah yeahs. The song could easily last well under 3-minutes, but Jesus and Mary Chain realise they are the zone and take it on to over 4-minutes.

 There is a pre chorus and chorus that flow superbly.

And the way I feel tonight

I could die and I wouldn't mind

And there's something going on inside

Makes you wanna fell, makes you wanna try

Makes you wanna blow the stars from the sky

I can't stand up, I can't cool down

I can't get my head off the ground

In the video William Reid wears a Love t-shirt and Jim Reid clings to his mic stand as they mime to the song - looking super cool. Jesus and Mary Chain released many impeccable singles through their career and Head On is one of their best, certainly one of my favourites.

On to the Hoff, a guy I used to watch on Baywatch back in the 80's and early 90's when the Mary Chain were ripping it up. OK I primarily watched Yasmine Bleeth, Erika Eleniak and Pamela Anderson!

Hasselhoff doesn't stray too far from the original, adding a few handclaps. His voice struggles with it and to be honest I can't bring myself to listen to the full 4-minutes, once was enough. I kind of just wanted to check if I had dreamt this all up!

So you might want to just dip your toe in to check this really happened - David Hasselhoff covered Jesus and Mary Chain! He genuinely seems to love the song and there is also a live version on YouTube you can check HERE

Previous covers of the month

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?