Meshell Ndegeocello is talented, I love her work, go buy something.
That said, Meshell is a damn cover hero. On her new album Devil’s Halo she covers “Love You Down” by Ready For The World (and crushes it). On the tour supporting Devil’s Halo she covered “Dirty Mind” by Prince (and crushes it - the video doesn’t do it justice). On her album Bitter she totally flipsJimi Hendrix’s “May This Be Love” (and crushes it). (These are the faves that I can readily remember - I’m sure between touring and her studio recordings there are more.)
“Make Me Wanna Holler” is a shout-out to Marvin Gaye’s song “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)”, which has also been covered by artists such as Sarah Vaughan, The Impressions (sans Curtis Mayfield, I do believe), Etta James, John Mayer, et al.
Meshell’s version is good.
Marvin’s version is really good, too.
Make me wanna holler The way they do my life This ain’t livin’, This ain’t livin’ No, no baby, this ain’t livin’
This version, performed by The 5th Dimension, is a stone cold jam. A little bit of a slow burner, but once it gets goin? Hooboy.
Marilyn McCoo, the song’s lead singer, smashes. Originally written for Keely Smith, many have covered this song, including Barbra Streisand, Sheryl Crow, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Dionne Warwick; there’s a reason The 5th Dimension’s version is the most popular.
I don’t know how in the world to stop thinking of him, Cause I still love him so. I end each day the way I start out, crying my heart out
Continuing my current Burt/Hal geekery is this jam by the Stylistics. A friend once noted there’s something nice about a group of guys sweetly singing a love song.
A lot of people try to write complicated music really well; more people should try writing non-complicated music really well. This song doesn’t jump out at you as overly complex - it’s just kinda pretty.
