Versus!

No news is good news. Well, not really, because I've had no news of the block of EPS foam I ordered and have to pick up in Brooklyn, and I've got the rocker template and stringer cut for my next personal board, and I don't want to wait anymore! I might shape a fish soon, just to get some practice in and maybe sell, maybe surf it, I don't know. In the meantime I've been getting some stuff done around here, like working on an old Zenith record player I picked up at the thrift store (had to send the idler wheel out to get replaced, there'll be pictures when I get it back together) and building new doors for the shop (ever since Henry chased a cat through the shop and burst through the bottom of the door, they just haven't been the same). Soon more boards will be built, I promise!

Versus!

First up, we have Screamin' Jay Hawkins' wonderful rendition of "I Put A Spell On You," released in 1956...

...and the same song, done by the inimitable Arthur Brown, on his 1968 album The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
     Ok, so this is kind of a tough call. Both artists seem to exist in their own crazy world, Arthur Brown explicitly and with Screamin' Jay the insanity is implied.Arthur Brown's version has the really sweet organ which was a key element to his signature sound, and his version is definitely heartfelt. But I'm going to have to say Screamin' Jay wins this bout. First, he wrote the song. Second, look at this video of him doing the song I just found after posting the one above:

Screamin' Jay, hands down. 

Versus

I've been meaning to do this for a while: a semi-regular mostly-irregular posting called "Versus," in which two artists doing their versions of the same song are pitted against each other to see whose version wins. The first entry was going to Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Arthur Brown, doing "I Put A Spell On You," but that's going to have to wait.



Mickey and Sylvia's "Love is Strange"...



...and Buddy Holly's version. Unfortunately for Mr. Holly, the strings kill his version. Supposedly (according to the comments on the YouTube page) the strings were dubbed in after his untimely death at 22, so they can't be held against him at all. Supposedly there's a demo version that is more bare-bones, so I'll have to seek that one out. But in this case...

MICKEY AND SYLVIA WIN!