Bridge Over Troubled Water

 

Cover version of the month #104
Artetha Franklin covers Simon and Garfunkel

One day in December I was driving through the rain when Craig Charles stopped me in my tracks by playing Aretha Franklin's version of Simon & Garfunkel's classic Bridge Over Troubled Water.

I was spellbound! There are covers, and then there are Aretha Franklin covers! See my May 2017 blog on her rip roaring version of Respect by Otis Redding.

Her 1971 take on Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water is a masterclass in reinterpretation—transforming an already iconic song into something deeply personal, profoundly soulful, and utterly transcendent. WOW!

The original version by Simon & Garfunkel, released in 1970, is a shimmering melancholic folk-pop ballad. Paul Simon’s lyrics, inspired by gospel music, offer comfort and solace, while Art Garfunkel’s angelic voice delivers them with a serene purity. It’s a song that builds delicately, layering piano, strings, and harmonies until it swells into a grand crescendo. 

Listening to the song on headphone, it feels intimate, like Garfunkel is talking to you, like he empathises and cares. 

Then comes Aretha!

Recorded just a year after the original, Aretha’s rendition brings the gospel roots of the song front and centre, making it feel less like a folk-pop hymn and more like a sermon from the pulpit - the full embrace of the gospel choir, a heart-on-sleeve declaration of love and support. 

Aretha’s version begins with a soulful organ, immediately setting a richer tone. Then there’s her voice—raw, powerful, and infused with deep emotional, backed by a heavenly gospel choir. There is no rush, there is a lengthy instrumental passage from 26 seconds through to 1-minute 30 seconds, with a slow, soulful, slightly jazzy feel.  

Then, just before 2-minutes, Aretha sings;

When you're down and out

When you're on the street

When evening falls so hard

I will comfort you

Listen to the way she sings so hard - Goosebumps! 

Aretha sings with the conviction of someone who has lived every word, every heartbreak, and every triumph that the song embodies. This is spine tingling, life affirming stuff - listen to Franklin's voice rise with ease. Listen to the section where Aretha and her choir sing see how they shine in tandem. OOOFFFTT!

And the arrangement! The backing vocals! And that voice! Aretha isn’t afraid to go big! The choir backing her feels like a congregation lifting her up, and the rhythm section injects a subtle groove that wasn’t there in the original. By the time she hits the climactic Like a bridge over troubled water, it’s no longer just a lyric—it’s a declaration, a promise shouted from the mountaintop. 

While the groove is slow and chilled and the backing vocals are arranged beautifully arranged, Aretha is on fire - wild, radiant and impossible to contain! And it is A M A Z I N G to hear. What a sound! What a voice! The closing 90-seconds are utterly sublime.

Interestingly, Paul Simon himself praised Aretha’s version, once calling it the definitive recording of the song. 

So, which version is the best? That depends on what you’re looking for. Need a quiet moment of reflection, or a need to appreciate the art of songwriting in one of its finest moments? Go with Simon & Garfunkel. Need to feel uplifted, empowered, and ready to take on the world? Turn to Aretha. Both are exceptional performances of a truly magnificent song.

When I look back at the list of 100+ cover versions that I have blogged on, this is one of the very, very best.

I do love cover versions. One of the many beautiful things about music is how songs can be reimagined, reshaped, and reborn in ways that make us fall in love with them all over again.

Bridge Over Troubled Water won 5 Grammy's in 1971. Aretha performed her version as Simon & Garfunkel collected their awards.

Both versions are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month blogs

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

82. Drop

83. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

84. Sympathy For The Devil

85. I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor

86. Love Will Tear Us Apart

87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire

88. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

89. Love The One You're With

90. Cum On Feel The Noize

91. Addicted To Love

92. Valerie

93. Ride On Time

94. Let's Dance

95. It Must Be Love

96. I Fought The Law

97. For What It's Worth

98. Do Your Thing

99. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

100. Don't Leave Me This Way

101. Shout!

102. God Only Knows

103. The Last Time

Never Ending Mixtape Part 34

Welcome to the latest additions to my Never Ending Mixtape playlist on Spotify. The mixtape approaches 1,000 songs with additions from favourite bands, brand new bands, recent releases, classics and new discoveries.

Last month I discovered Amazing Grace, the live album Aretha Franklin recorded at a church in LA over 2 nights back in 1972 backed by a gospel choir. It is astonishing. There are a few songs included in the recent additions and I look forward to checking out the documentary that will be released in cinemas next month. Check the trailer below and the songs on the playlist.

Elsewhere we have a couple of songs from BMX Bandits more recent catalogue, the raw and soulful Razorblades and Honey and the tug on your heart strings The Unforgiven, both are real favourites of mine with 2 of my favourite vocals from Duglas T Stewart. With Spring in the air (at the time of writing) we have the joyful Check My Heart by The Pastels and also Automatically Yours from their classic Up For A Bit With The Pastels album that I might write a future blog on.

There is new music from Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever who play Saint Lukes in Glasgow this July, also from Lambchop and from a local band Pocket Knife who I really like. They play Mono on Saturday April 27th and it is FREE entry. More new local music from a band called The Plastic Youth who sound very promising.

There are all kinds of gems to check; pop punk perfection from Buzzcocks, some Hacienda favourites after I re-read Peter Hooks excellent How Not To Run A Club, old school Dinosaur Jr, a beauty from Graham Coxon,  stunning northern soul from Carolyn Crawford, an extended Bittersweet Symphony from The Verve, early Aztec Camera and as I hadn't listened to Beck in a while there are 5 songs stretching across his eclectic back catalogue.

Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or click below. Dig in, enjoy. Read on for a full list of the latest additions.

Razorblades and Honey - BMX Bandits and Anton Newcombe
The Unforgiven - BMX Bandits
Automatically Yours - The Pastels
I Live For That Look - Dinosaur Jr
In the Capital - Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
Bittersweet Bundle Of Misery - Graham Coxon
Check My Heart - The Pastels
Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't Have) - Buzzcocks
Keep Stepping (Never Look Back) - Carolyn Crawford
Climbing Higher Mountains (live) - Aretha Franklin
Never Grow Old (live) - Aretha Franklin
How I Got Over (live) - Aretha Franklin
My Sweet Lord (live intrumental version) - Aretha Franklin
Witchi Tai  To - Harpers Bizarre
Never My Love - The Association
Custard Cream - Pocket Knife
Crosswords or What This Says About You - Lambchop
Many Faces- James
Moving On - James
Bittersweet Symphony (extended version) The Verve
Express Yourself - N.W.A.
Your Love Is Taking Me Over - SK Project

Runaway - The Salsoul Orchestra
Theme For Great Cities - Simple Minds
Love Sensation (Shep Pettibone 12 inch mix) - Loletta Holloway
We Could Send Letters - Aztec Camera
Twisterella - Ride
Jack-Ass - Beck
Nobody's Fault But My Own - Beck
Get Real Paid - Beck
Guess I'm Doing Fine - Beck
Heart Is A Drum - Beck
Comfort - The Plastic Youth

Respect

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

Aretha Franklin's barnstorming stomp through Otis Redding's Respect must surely be a candidate for the best cover version ever.

The original, released in 1965, has pounding drums and a pleading vocal by Otis who doesn't really care what his girl gets up to, a long as he gets that respect when he gets home.

The horns soar, Redding's voice is rich, soulful and stretched brilliantly to make you firmly believe that respect is what he wants and needs. The section at the end where he just vibes on the song shouting got to, got to have it and goes on to practically sound like he is frothing at the mouth with the give it to me, give it to me, give it to me baby, everything I need.....

And it's all over in just 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Sensational. If you don't own it, or if you haven't checked it out, then please do search for Otis Blue, the incredible album that this features on.

And then over to Aretha in 1967. Dear doctor, listen to her voice. The temp is higher, so is Aretha's voice and she twist the lyrics ever so slightly so there is no doubt that she is in charge. The song became an anthem for Civil Rights and Women's Rights and Redding was so impressed with Aretha's version that he introduced it as the famed Monterey Pop Festival as 'the song a girl took from me, a friend of mine, this girl, she just took this song.' Check it out below - what a performance!

Franklin certainly did. Backed by sisters Erma and Carolyn, she flies and soars through the song, barely pausing for breath. Listen to the way she sings Oooooh your kisses are sweeter than honey and then all I want you to DO for me

Franklin demands attention, demands respect, she is on fire, ripping through the song. The  R E S P E C T section is sublime, leading to the brilliant sock it to me, sock it to me backing vocals.

What a song, what a singer, what a cover version. One of the very, very best.

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

Five for Friday Part II

Well I did warn that my 'Five for Friday' posts could become regular. 


This week I've been listening to a wide variety of music, so this is a rather eclectic and eccentric mix.


Last night i was driving home from playing football and there was a BBC Radio 2 show on with Paul Gambaccini waxing on about several songs, including this, from 1987 when I was 13. I've probably not heard it since then, but the mark of a great pop song is that it stays with you.


Hey, I did warn you that this was going to be eclectic and eccentric. This is pure pop, George Michael w/ Aretha Franklin 'I Knew You Were Waiting For Me'.

Changing pace ever so slightly, over the last couple of days I've been reacquainting myself with Underworld's stunning compilation 1992-2002. I could easily write a blog on that album alone, however for now, check out this sublime piece of electronica; '2 months off'. 

Underworld are not getting any younger, yet they are still creating amazing music, check back through my blogs from November 2010 for a review of them on fire at the Barrowlands.


Last Sunday I dj'd for the first time in a long time at an event my friend Craig was putting on. I can't confess to knowing all of Gil Scott-Heron's output, however I do own a few of his albums and in honour of his passing I kicked off my set with this stone cold classic. 'The Bottle'.

I always get a little kick when I DJ if someone comes up and asks me 'what was that?' and that happened with that song. No wonder, it flows along so well, the lyrics are deep and meaningful, it is soul, jazz, poetry....sublime.


Another album I have been listening to is 'The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society'. Released at a time where music was 'far-out' and experimental, The Kinks went about things a little differently with this concept album about all things English. 

'We are the Village Green Preservation Society' is full of lyrical delights like;

We are the Village Green Preservation Society

God save Donald Duck, Vaudeville and Variety

We are the Desperate Dan Appreciation Society

God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties

Ooh what to end with. Well I'll go for another track i played during my DJ set and another one that caused people to ask 'what was that?'

I actually played the Ritchie Havens version of this song, but here is the original by Lamont Dozier in all its glory - sheer class. This is 'Going Back To My Roots', one of my all time favourite songs.  Enjoy.