Now, I loved me some Luther, but it's well known that he covered a lot of songs. Why didn't he get criticized when other artist get dogged for for that? Mary J. Blige, for example, is often raked through the coals for her significant amount of covers.

Did he get a pass because he took a song and made it his own?

PurpleCharm said:

YES LORD!

He made them his own. THATS why it was ok.
For instance, for YEARS, I didnt know that SINCE I LOST MY BABY was a Temptations song. He put an interesting spin on Dionne Warwick's A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME(tho she showed out on her version too). His version of LOVE WONT LET ME WAIT and Stevie's CREEPIN were good too!

LoveAlive said:

I didn't find out until this past Tuesday, while watching American Idol of all things, that his duet with Martha Wash on "I, Who Have Nothing" was originally recorded by someone from the UK. I didn't have a clue that it was a cover...and that happens to be one of my favorite songs by Luther.

PurpleCharm said:

They must've been referring to Shirley Bassey who had a single in the U.K. in '63
Her single wasn't released in the U.S. until '64.

Ben E. King's definitive version was released here in '63 prior to her U.K. release.

Great tune.

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431
[Edited 3/24/07 15:39pm]

because he's primarily known as a singer. he did quite a bit of songwriting, but that really wasn't his major contribution to popular music, outside of a handful of classing offerings.


but then again, the same holds true with MJB, so i don't know why she'd be getting raked over the coals for it either.

Shiiiiit,,,,if thats the case, then throw Aretha into this discussion since she's MORE notorious for covering so many songs.

But like its been established already, its a matter of putting a unique and different spin on what you cover.

PurpleCharm said:

For starters, Luther Vandross was a highly regarded singer, songwriter and producer who was more than capable of creating his own hit songs. Additionally, Vandross put his own creative flair into a lot of remakes (such as taking elements of two songs and mixing them together) and a lot of his covers were album tracks, not released singles.

Most of the artists who catch flak for remaking songs tend to be mostly unproven, not as respected as recording artists or simply add nothing to the covers to make it remarkable. Acts like Vandross and Aretha Franklin are so regarded as talents by the community at large who proved themselves with their own material.

Personally, I don't hear too people blasting Mary J. Blige for covering songs (although I have heard people mockingly laugh about her covers). Like Vandross, she has had a lot of hit songs of her own that her career is not based on a cover song.
[Edited 3/24/07 16:29pm]

It's exactly as you and the others surmised, but also Luther's cover actually sold the album more so than the hit records. It got to be such a bankable comodity they teamed him up with Cheryl Lynn for a cover of "If This World Were Mine". I'm not sure what else rocked on INSTANT LOVE, but this made it worthwhile.

Also remember this whole album of covers . Although kind of blah, the smart posthumous move would be to reissue it and extract all his covers into one collection. i've made Luther tapes like this before, so I'd definitely cop this!

I love Luther, he is irreplaceable.

theAudience said:

Thanks

PFunkjazz said:

Yeah, I didn't care for the covers on the covers album, but I love pratically all the covers he had on his regular albums.

likeley cause you had people like Michal Bolton at the same tiem doing the same thing

PFunkjazz said:

They issued a cd of Luther covers about 10 years ago. It is called Always and Forever: The Classics.


1. A House Is Not A Home
2. Since I Lost My Baby
3. Superstar/Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)
4. Creepin'
5. Anyone Who Had A Heart
6. I (Who Have Nothing)
7. If This World Were Mine
8. Going Out Of My Head
9. Going In Circles
10. Knocks Me Off My Feet
11. Love Won't Let Me Wait
12. Always And Forever
[Edited 3/25/07 7:08am]
[Edited 3/25/07 7:09am]

daPrettyman said:

Thanks. I must find that cd.

I didn't know that Anyone Who Had A Heart was a cover.

PurpleCharm said:

You're kidding, right!? It's a Bacharach/David song originally done by Dionne Warwick.

BTW, Roberta & Donny also recorded a great version of "I (Who Have Nothing)."
[Edited 3/25/07 7:53am]

nm
[Edited 3/25/07 8:10am]

AlexdeParis said:

Perhaps somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was, but at this moment I am not able to recall that bit of info.
[Edited 3/25/07 8:18am]

PurpleCharm said:

"Covers" was like any Luther Vandross album since the 1990s -- it was crossover-oriented because he started attracting (and catering to) an audience outside of his soul music core following. His remake of "Endless Love" with Mariah Carey (the lead single) was indicative of where Vandross was musically at this stage, and some songs like "Always and Forever" and "Going in Circles" (The GAP Band's remake of The Friends of Distinction chestnut was superior) should have been left alone.

IMO, the best Vandross covers are the following:

* "A House Is Not a Home"

* "Bad Boy/Having a Party"

* "Since I Lost My Baby"

* "If This World Were Mine" with Cheryl Lynn

* "Superstar/Until You Come Back to Me (Tha's What I'm Gonna Do)"

* "Creepin'"

* "Anyone Who Had a Heart"

* "Love Won't Let Me Wait"
[Edited 3/25/07 10:30am]

Najee said:

While I don't particularly mind the cover of "Endless Love" and I am not overly fond of his version of "Creepin'," I otherwise agree wholeheartedly.

Edit: Somehow, I forgot to mention one of his very best covers: "If Only for One Night."
[Edited 3/25/07 10:50am]

PurpleCharm said:

THE MAJORITY OF LUTHER'S COVERS ARE BETTER THAN THE ORIGINAL!

Najee said:

I wholeheartedly agree with that quote.

I like your list, but I would replace "Love Won't Let Me Wait" with "I, Who Have Nothing." For some reason, I never cared for his cover of "Love Won't Let Me Wait."

Najee said:

Which explains why I had totally neglected his CLASSICS collection; even LOO-THA took a misstep or two.

Najee said:

I think you hit the nail on the head as funkadelic would say. I have no problem with covers in and of themselves, its when someone butchers/degrades or just plain doesn't add anything to a cover version, or when they make a hit out of a cover because they aren't good enough to write their own songs. I especially hate a lot of narrow-minded people in my generation or younger whose knee-jerk reaction is to prefer whatever newer version of a song they hear first and sometimes even proverbially closing their ears to the fact that the song wasn't original and not wanting to hear the original version....and just because I'm already in mid rant, I think I'll list off some covers that really piss me off (including hip-hop songs with a prominent sample...to which my attitude in general is the same as covers)

Behind Blue Eyes (The Who)-Limp Bizkit: they completely excise all of the subtlety and complex emotions of the song, as well as the gradual building of tension into the hard-rocking climax, basically turning the song into a ballad sung by a braindead frat boy whining about how's he's actually sensitive
Imagine (John Lennon)-Tool
Don't You Worry 'Bout A thing (stevie)-John Legend-in this case I just resent it when a movie decides to use a recent cover version by a trendy new artist rather than the original classic for the soundtrack...plus I resent that John Legend is seen as a genius, I think mostly because lots of people have forgotten Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway
Lady Marmalade (Labelle)-Xtina et al.
Love Reign O'er Me (The Who)-Pearl Jam (I don't really have a problem with Pearl Jam but Eddie Vedder's voice is just not suited for this song)

The same people who "raked MJB over the coals" for her covers are the people who did not appreciate her versions.

In Luther's case, he was great at interpreting songs and "making them his own" (that same old American Idol argument).

all I gotta say is Disc One:

jacktheimprovident said:

I was just listening to Jade's version of "Do, Me Baby" yesterday, from their live cd and I was very surprised when I realized that they sung it like Melisa Morgan's version and not Prince's.

jacktheimprovident said:

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

CinisterCee said:

I love that collection!

AlexdeParis said:

Funny, so did I and it's one of my favorite songs by Luther Vandross.
[Edited 3/25/07 16:02pm]

PurpleCharm said:

Well, Luther Vandross' version isn't nearly as sensual as Major Harris' version (which had singer Barbara Ingram's noticable orgasmic moaning in the song). I thought Luther did a good job with it, in his typical fashion. I give him credit because he didn't try to ape Harris' version, which a lot of artists may have done.
[Edited 3/25/07 16:09pm]