![]() ![]() Suzanne Vega's a cappella "Stay Awake" goes against its suggestion. and the three Roche sisters on "Little April Showers" works surprisingly well because they approach the song with the genial formality of a Christmas carol.Īnd some songs just don't work. On the other hand, teaming Natalie Mechant of 10,000 Maniacs, Michael Stipe of R.E.M. Some songs are conceptually sound but placid in their execution, including the Replacements' sloppy "Cruella DeVille," Buster Poindexter's exotic "Castle in Spain" and James Taylor's languid "Second Star to the Right." Having Sinead O'Connor do "Someday My Prince Will Come" (with a wig, perhaps?) and Betty Carter jazz up "I'm Wishing" does nothing for these two "Snow White" classics. And Los Lobos' tropical version of "I Wan'na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)" from "The Jungle Book" is very much the equal of the original featuring Louis Prima and Phil Harris. NRBQ's "Whistle While You Work" matches rock's happiest-go-lucky band with a potential theme song, while Aaron Neville's ballad reading of the "Mickey Mouse March" makes you wonder why his voice is still one of America's best-kept secrets. ![]() They include Garth Hudson's instrumental "Feed the Birds" (from "Mary Poppins"), in which Hudson's keyboards and accordion evoke the melancholy of a tango and the hope of a hymn, and Syd Straw's "Blue Shadows on the Trail," in which an overlooked singer gives an overlooked song a loping cowboy-trail reading that both Roy Rogers and Patsy Cline might have loved. There are other superb Disney interpretations on producer Hal Willner's "Stay Awake" (A&M Records, all three formats). Sun Ra and his Arkestra do much the same with "Pink Elephants on Parade," an appropriate fusion of technicolor imagery and cinemascope sound: Ra's avant-garde version of the Duke Ellington Orchestra gives the tune an expansive arrangement without abandoning its implied silliness. ![]() Bonnie Raitt's interpretation of "Baby Mine" is part lilting lullaby, part R&B confession, and as she sings atop Was (Not Was)'s relaxed groove, Raitt makes the song very much her own without obscuring its enduring charm. ![]()
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