Fall Monday Playlist #17 - Cover Versions part 1
Apart from the odd exception, cover versions didn't play much of a part in The Fall's repertoire in the first decade of their career. This changed in the mid-80s, when 'Rollin' Dany' (a Gene Vincent song) was released as part of a double A-side and 'Mr Pharmacist' appeared on Bend Sinister. Thereafter, the 'obligatory cover version' gradually became a familiar sight on Fall albums, all but a very few containing at least one.
Of course, there were also several Fall tracks that weren't quite covers, but certainly leaned quite heavily on other artists' songs, but we'll get to them in subsequent posts...
Black Monk Theme Part 1
Monks were an unhinged 60s garage rock band who had previously gone under the unlikely moniker of The Torquays. ‘Theme’ is a cover of ‘I Hate You’, a song from their 1966 album Black Monk Time. Good as the Extricate version is, it's surpassed by the Peel session take, which features a thumping glam-rock rumble from Funky Si.
Bourgeois Town
A cover of blues legend Lead Belly’s ‘The Bourgeois Blues’. Smith quoted the song in performances as far back as 1985, suggesting he’d had it in mind for a while. It got 73 live outings 2001-04.
F-‘oldin’ Money
A spirited cover of Tommy Blake‘s1959 rockabilly tune. It was a long-standing live favourite, being played 136 times 1998-2006. Also featured on the very first set of Fall in Fives.
Funnel Of Love
Although it's the weakest link on 2010's magnificent Your Future Our Clutter, 'Funnel' is still a tidy enough little cover. The original was by Wanda Jackson, who achieved some success in the late 60s and early 70s mixing rockabilly and country. The Fall gave the song a more psychedelic-pop feel and added a bit of gusto in the forceful staccato middle eight.
Gotta See Jane
Having secured their highest ever chart position with his 'There's A Ghost In My House', the group returned to R. D. Taylor 14 years later on Are You Are Missing Winner. ‘Jane’, co-written by Eddie Holland of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame, was a top twenty hit for Taylor in 1968. The Fall's version bobs along amiably enough, but it's a little one-dimensional in comparison to the emotive, atmospheric original.
Hungry Freaks, Daddy
‘Frank Zappa, that’s what you lot should be listening to. You might learn something’ said Smith to his musicians during their 1981 US tour. 'Hungry Freaks, Daddy' was the opening track on The Mother of Invention's 1966 debut album Freak Out! The Fall performed the song live 35 times between 2006 and 2014, and it featured on the excellent live album Last Night At The Palais.
I'm A Mummy
Two versions of novelty single ‘The Mummy’ were released in 1959, one by Bob McFadden & Dor, the other by ‘Bubi & Bob’. McFadden was an impressionist and voice-over artist who voiced several US cartoons in the 60s and was also the voice of Snarf in ThunderCats. ‘Dor’ was a pseudonym of poet and songwriter Rod McKuen. Nobody seems to know who Bubi & Bob were. Despite the difficult circumstances of the Levitate’s creation, the group sound like they’re having a whale of a time on this one.
I'm Going To Spain
Steve Bent was an actor who appeared on several British soaps. In 1976, he entered New Faces, performing ‘I’m Going To Spain’, which described his desire to emigrate and escape from his boring factory job. The song (which included such memorable lines as, ‘the factory presented me with some tapes of Elton John / they packed me up some sandwiches / and I hate them, yes I hate the cheese and pickle’) would later appear on the Kenny Everett-compiled The World’s Worst Record Show.
Some find The Fall's version touchingly plaintive; others consider it a woefully tuneless mess.
I Can Hear The Grass Grow
Arguably one of the group's most successful covers, the original was recorded by Roy Wood's The Move, best known for the psychedelic pop of ‘Flowers in the Rain’, the first ever song played on BBC Radio 1. The Fall's take is sharp and direct; Smith makes a relatively concerted effort to deliver the song conventionally, although this has the usual hit and miss results melodically. He even affects a pleasingly Jagger-ish swagger on the ‘get a hold of yourself…’ sections.
Just Waiting
The original was recorded by Hank Williams in 1953 . Unusually, Smith actually adds melody to the song: Williams’ version is delivered as spoken word, whereas MES adds a wry, lop-sided tune. He also amends the lyrics in his inimitable fashion: ‘the cretin is waiting for U2 to come on MTV again / but the producer is waiting for the blonde bird’.
The Fall's cover first appeared on Code: Selfish; this live version (it's unclear when or where it was recorded) appeared on the 1996 compilation album Oswald Defence Lawyer.
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