February 27, 2008

COVERED UP

The "Some of My Favorite Cover Songs" Section...
MANY RIVERS TO CROSS


















This here has been one on my all-time favorite songs ever since I first heard Linda Ronstadt sing it in 1975. Back then I had no idea who Jimmy Cliff (writer of the song) was, or that a handful of other folks had already covered it.

Jimmy had written the song and included it in his 1969 album Jimmy Cliff, he also included it in the soundtrack album for the 1972 film "The Harder They Come", in which he also starred. It is one of the few tunes that Jimmy added organ to (giving a nice gospel feel), and Rolling Stone Magazine included the song in their Top 500 Songs of All Time (#317).











The song is loved by millions, and covered by nearly as many! Here is just a sample of artists who have recorded Many Rivers: Stanley Turrentine, 1974; Harry Nilsson, 1974; Martha Reeves, 1974; Lorraine Ellison, 1974; Linda Ronstadt, 1975; Chelsea, 1977; The Walker Brothers, 1977; Desmond Dekker, 1980; Joe Cocker, 1982; UB40, 1983; Elvis Costello, 1988; Toni Childs, 1989; Cher, 1993; Oleta Adams, 1994; Tom Tom Club, 1996; Bill Withers, 1998; Ian Moore, 1999; Heather Nova, 1999; The Blind Boys Of Alabama, 2002; Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, 2002; Jimmy Barnes, 2004; The Brand New Heavies, 2004; Soweto Gospel Choir, 2004











Below are a few versions of this wonderful tune for your enjoyment, plus Desmond (The Isrealites) Dekker covering Ob-La-Di,Ob-La-Da (he is THE Desmond in the song), and the Melodian's Rivers of Babylon (another song I learned by Ronstadt) off "The Harder The Come" (Deluxe edition)....if you like what you hear, go out and buy the CDs!


















The Banana River & Indian River Photos
by Java John


Many Rivers To Cross - Linda Ronstadt


Many Rivers To Cross2.mp3


Many Rivers to Cross - Harry Nilsson and John Lennon


many.mp3


Many Rivers To Cross - Joe
Cocker


Many Rivers To Cross.mp3


Ob la di -Ob la da Desmond Dekker


DesmondDekker_OblaDi.mp3


Rivers of Babylon - The Melodians


riversof babylon.mp3



JIMMY CLIFF

THE HARDER THEY COME

LINDA RONSTADT

JOE COCKER

HARRY NILSSON

DESMOND DEKKER

THE MELODIANS

2 comments:

boyhowdy said...

John, loving the site, and today's post was exquisite. Keep it up!

Also: trying to figure out how you got the cool box.net miniplayers for streaming, but the box.net site doesn't seem to have them for mp3 files. Am I missing a step? Is there a resource you can direct me to for this? Please help!

Mississippi Songbird said...

Thanks for posting these.I love Linda Ronstadt!