It’s “Record Relays: the series that features rare superstar collabs and hits from vinyl, cassette, and CD – and remembers the artists.
This set of Record Relays?
One artist handing off to the next….
in artistic collaborations?
Sounds like it could be the soundtrack at a coffeeshop or bookstore.
That may sound like a slam, but I mean it in the nicest way: It’s a pleasant collection – with a few surprises:
James Taylor & Mark Knopfler
“Sailing to Philadelphia”
The title track to Knopfler’s 2000 set, it’s also a track on Taylor’s October Road limited edition. The lyrics tell the tale of the men whose surveying work established what would be known as the Mason-Dixon line. Knopfler’s guitar work and Taylor’s harmonies shine.
James Taylor & Art Garfunkel
“Crying in the Rain”
This is unavailable on Spotify, but its video is on YouTube, with the World Trade Center prominent in the background.
A 1993 remake of an Everly Brothers hit, this version failed to chart in the U.S., although it did pick up some play on adult contemporary stations.
Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon & James Taylor
“Wonderful World”
Garfunkel and Taylor were far more successful with this 1978 Sam Cooke cover, also featuring Garfunkel’s erstwhile teammate Simon. Another track unavailable on Spotify, but here’s a YouTube link.
It went Top 20 pop and No. 1 AC (still known then as “easy listening”).
Paul Simon & Phoebe Snow
“Gone at Last”
1975 was Phoebe Snow’s breakout year.
Not only did she hit the pop Top 5 with her solo hit “Poetry Man,” but she earned a Top 30 follow-up with this collaboration, the first single release off Simon’s Still Crazy After All These Years.
Dave Mason & Phoebe Snow
“Dreams I Dream”
Alas, Snow’s career stayed low-key after that. This No. 11 AC duet in 1987 from Mason’s Two Hearts CD marked the best chart showing for either artist after their ‘70s heydays.
Dave Mason & Michael Jackson
“Save Me”
Who knew that, between Off the Wall and Thriller, the eventual King of Pop would provide backing vocals on this track from Mason’s 1980 album Old Crest on a New Wave? It hit No. 71 on the Hot 100 and crossed over to R & B, where it peaked one notch higher.
Michael Jackson & Justin Timberlake
“Love Never Felt So Good”
Crass cash grab? Irresistible pop?
Both?
This posthumous Jackson track from the CD Xscape, remixed to add Timberlake’s vocals, became a Top 10 pop hit in 2014. It gave Jackson at least one Top 10 hit each decade from the ‘60s (“I Want You Back” entering the top 10 the final week of 1969) through the ‘10s.
Reba McEntire & Justin Timberlake
“The Only Promise That Remains”
Country star McEntire released a 2007 “Duets” collection, and this track with Timberlake bubbled under the Hot 100. Some critics felt it wasn’t enough of a duet, but I rather like Timberlake’s subtler approach here.
Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson
“Because of You”
The big hit from McEntire’s duet CD was her remake of Clarkson’s Top 10 pop hit. The duet with Clarkson became a Top 5 country hit. Although I prefer Clarkson’s solo version, this one isn’t bad.
Kelly Clarkson & Vince Gill
“Don’t Rush”
A track on Clarkson’s Greatest Hits – Chapter One collection, this went to No. 23 country and No. 87 on the Hot 100 in 2012. I like its pop-meets-country groove, and Gill’s guitar adds a little snap.
Michael McDonald & Vince Gill
“Matters of the Heart”
The original on McDonald’s 1993 Blink of an Eye CD is a solo, with Gill on backing vocals. But the single elevates Gill’s presence.
The track garnered AC play but failed to chart.
Michael McDonald and Toni Braxton
“Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)”
This Thom Bell-Linda Creed composition was the first Top 40 hit for the Stylistics. McDonald and Braxton covered it on his 2004 collection Motown Two.
Toni Braxton and Babyface
“Hurt You”
Two decades after breaking through on the Boomerang soundtrack hit “Give You My Heart,” Braxton and Babyface reunited for a 2014 album called Love, Marriage, & Divorce. This was its first single, a No. 1 adult R&B and Top 20 R & B hit.
Madonna and Babyface
“Take a Bow”
With a seven-week stay at No. 1, this is Madonna’s biggest Hot 100 hit, released in 1994 at the height of Babyface’s production and writing career and featuring his backing vocals.
Annie Lennox, Madonna, et al
“Sing”
This track, from Lennox’s 2007 CD Songs of Mass Destruction includes vocals from about two dozen women including Gladys Knight, Faith Hill, Joss Stone, Bonnie Raitt and Melissa Etheridge. Most contribute to the chorus, while Madonna sings solo on the second verse.
Despite the powerhouse lineup, the song – a fundraiser for global HIV & AIDS awareness – didn’t hit the Hot 100 and only made the Top 30 AC.
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart
“The Fool on the Hill”
The former Eurythmics reteamed for a Grammy salute to the Beatles by performing their take on the Fab Four’s Magical Mystery Tour track. You can see the performance here on YouTube.
Joss Stone and Dave Stewart
“Picnic for Two”
Stewart and Stone co-produced her fifth collection,2011’s LP1, and the extended version of the release featured this duet track. It’s a loose, bluesy slice of pop.
Les Paul, Sting & Joss Stone
“Love Sneakin’ Up on You”
The 2005 collection Les Paul & Friends features this take on Bonnie Raitt’s Top 20 hit from 1994. The cover is quite faithful to Raitt’s version, and Stone’s vocals are so dominant that Sting gets lost in the mix.
Toby Keith and Sting
“I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying”
Sting’s original from his 1996 Mercury Falling collection is as country as he’s ever gotten.
A year later, Toby Keith covered the song, Sting joined him as a guest, and the collaboration went to No. 2 country and No. 84 pop – 10 spots higher than Sting’s solo version.
Wayman Tisdale and Toby Keith
“Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up”
Yes, it’s a country singer providing vocals on a cover of Barry White’s Top 10 R & B & pop hit from an album of an NBA standout-turned-smooth jazz bassist (2008’s Rebound).
It ought to be a trainwreck – but it’s a credible update.
Here’s the Spotify set:
Which is your favorite? Your least?
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So nearly a full house on my bingo card. I know a grand total of one of these; Madonna & Babyface. That takes care of what my favourite / least favourite is.
A lesson that there is still much for me to do in immersing myself in US music. Then again, even the ones with Brits involved I haven’t heard. At least the artist names are almost all familiar – Dave Mason and Wayman Tisdale being new to me.
I am a bit surprised that Dave Mason is new to you, with him being British and all. Must be a generational thing. I was a huge fan of Traffic, and I liked quite a bit of Mason’s solo stuff as well. He had one huge hit in the US post-Traffic, but I’m not sure how it fared with the Brits.
https://youtu.be/h16DmdQvxB0?si=g22zxjJft7Gbhe5S
Thank you for the background info. I’ll upgrade Dave to being vaguely aware of him. Now I know he was in Traffic I recognise the name from there. Looked through his solo discography he was far more successful in the US. Not one single or album made the UK charts.
Zero. That’s a first for me with this series. I don’t even remember “Take a Bow”, except by name, because Tom covered it.
Take a Bow is my favorite Madonna #1. Lovely.
Well done, Chuck. Notes from this corner:
– I remember the Garfunkel, Simon & Taylor thing being sort of an event; bigger than the cover itself.
– I thought I remembered Simon and Snow doing “Gone At Last” on SNL, and found a photo for proof.
– It takes a certain courage to work your way through a Motown covers album not once, but twice. Michael McDonald pulled it off; his version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” is amazingly decent. Mining some PIR stuff for the Stylistics cover was equally inspired.
– Requesting 1/4 point each for “Fool” and “Love Sneakin’ Up,” as I know the originals.
– Curse you, Sting. Yet another time you deftly broke my heart with a turn of a phrase.
– And lastly, I was today years old when I learned:
With a seven-week stay at No. 1, this is Madonna’s biggest Hot 100 hit.
These relays always make me marvel at Mr. Small’s massive music memory. Seriously, these cover such a wide range of artists. I only knew 2 of them. “Take a Bow” was one and Paul, Art, and James’ “Wonderful World” (co-written by pre-fame Herb Alpert) being the other.
I knew 4 of these. I absolutely loved the Phoebe Snow/Paul Simon collaboration. Wore it out (literally, I had it on cassette). I also loved the Taylor/Knopfler duet, and liked the Taylor/Simon/Garfunkel song. Not as crazy about the McEntire/Clarkson as I thought the original was better. Absolutely like the Sting solo version better, although I admit that I can’t be fair. Toby Keith’s jingoism just turned me off so much that there is no way for me to be impartial.
I often find myself ignoring reality and compartmentalizing when I’m listening to an artist whose political views or personal failings I’m not a fan of. I was going to make a list, and it’s up to seven names, so maybe that’s a sign that I should just leave it there.
Moreso than I realized, there have been a lot of such artists whose music still makes me want to sing along and tap my foot.
The funny thing about Toby Keith is that he was actually a registered and voting Democrat. The cynic in me says that he was clearly pandering to an audience, (“Courtesy Of The Red White And Blue”) – but the rose-colored-glasses me says that he was also trying to show that he could listen to both sides. As ever, the truth might be somewhere in between.
In any event: “Who’s That Man” renders me into a puddle of soup every time. No wonder Sting did the colab.
” The park is full of Sunday fathers… ” Sheesh.
It’s funny: My original version of this set included Keith as part of a mix with Jason Aldean, R. Kelly, Kid Rock, et al. But I just didn’t like what was coming together, so most of them were jettisoned. Keith made the cut largely because I like the Tisdale and Sting collabs.
Wonderful World by Sam Cooke: More than 660 million streams on Spotify, his top performing track by far
Wonderful World by Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon and James Taylor: Less than 4 million streams
I thought the original was more popular, but I had no idea how massively more popular it is. Mind blown once again
Thanks, all. I’ve updated the Spotify list to include the correct Joss Stone/Dave Stewart track as well as Annie Lennox’s “Sing” and the Les Paul/Joss Stone/Sting track. Not sure how I forgot them when creating the list, but whatever — it’s updated!