The Great Pretender

I have been obsessed with records lately. Not records like, most jellybeans consumed while simultaneously knitting and riding a water buffalo. Although I did hold that record for two weeks. A special fuck you to Larry Bicklestein. I know he was doping, grace like that is just not natural. Anyway, I am talking about vinyl, the musical kind of record, the kind that is filled with wonderment and fabulousity. Although, I guess Larry's record contains both of those aspects as well. But, that's beside the point. So, I have a pretty wide range of musical tastes. My record collection ranges from Austrian electro clogging to four full records of just the sounds of a badger being tazered and an albino banging two pots together. I will make you a copy of the badger one, it's fucking fantastic.

Today we are going to look at two versions of the same song and decide who did it better. This is a totally subjective thing. Obviously tastes differ, moods differ, number of restraining orders differs. The music that sounds good to you depends on lots of things. What kind of hat you are wearing, whether or not you are in a skipping mood. Are you wearing any pants? That sort of thing. For me personally when I don't have pants on I always gravitate towards Polka. You might be more of a pantless samba kind of person. What I am trying to say is there is no right or wrong answer. These are just opinions.

Today's challenge is between Sam Cooke and the Platters. These are two of my favorites in the world of music.

The Platters are responsible for some of my favorite songs and they possess some of my favorite voices in music. Their song, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" makes my list for top five best songs ever. That is one of the only songs that I can definitively put on that list. I think of other artists to put on there but it becomes hard for me to pick a song. That might have to be another entry.

 When listening to this song listen to the power of his voice, the control, the melody. He kills it, it's drenched in emotion, it soars when it needs to, to me it is just a perfect example of how to sing. I think the orchestration is done well, the backing is not overbearing, I like the fact that when he sings he sounds like a man. I feel that too much modern R&B sounds whiny. The dudes sound like whiny bitches, the runs sound more feminine, the music is more corny. Someone could argue that this sounds like old people music, and they could be right, that would be that opinion thing again. But I think this is just more pure, more timeless, it was a great song then and it will always be a great song.



Sam Cooke to me is vocal perfection. If I could marry a voice I would marry his, I have actually proposed to it several times. I think it's out of my league though, that bitch won't even return my calls. I don't even know what else to say about his voice. Sam is just...he is just the shit. My favorite. Oh yeah so a little warning, it is pretty fucking hard for me to pick a non-Sam version of a song as a winner if Sam has sung it. Listen to his version of "Love Me" when he sings the words "Love Me" I just swoon, am I wrong?

If you don't know about Sam you should. Buy his music, the guy was great. Basically invented soul, wrote a lot of his own music, had his own label. He was amazing, sorry, I am gushing. But look at this guy, he was one smooth bastard.

Alright, so on to the comparison part. First up The Platters.

This was the first version of this song I heard. I really liked it. It seems like the Platters approached it as the singer is pretending to be happy even when he is singing. The arrangement is lively the horns or trumpets portray the boastfulness of the singer. The bravado that he has to wrap himself in to sell the fact that he is not heartbroken. He tries to convince himself that by acting like he is fine he will be. You can catch glimpses of how he is really feeling in the way he sings but the song seems more upbeat to me. At least in comparison to Sam's. Sam's version is way toned down.


The arrangement is more minimal and subdued. Sam himself sings as if he knows he is not fooling anyone and you can feel the heartbreak in his lyrics and voice. I think it is far more effective in evoking the heartbreak of the song but it really depends on which way you want to take it. Should the Great Pretender be pretending while he sings, should the song be continuing to pretend? Or should it be an acknowledgement of the farce that the singer is perpetuating? Yeah you can go either way and I honestly have a hard time choosing which path I prefer. You would have a hard time agruing either song is a bad song or rendition.

In the end though I think that Sam's version is prettier, more emotional, and I like the arrangement more. With it's stripped down arrangement and softer vocals it makes the Platters arrangement seem overblown, like it has been turned up too loud. Sam's voice is allowed to be the star, his sadness more prominent over the more minimal arrangement. You focus more on his singing, the lyrics, and the emotions come through more without the blaring horns and backing vocals. But again, the Platters version is a totally legitimate approach to this song as well. That's what I like about these comparisons, the way that the artists can change the entire feel of the song, create a different view, feeling, emotion. The same Lyrics can be turned around and say something completley different with a different arrangement, vocal refrain, and style. I told you Sam would win. Weigh in below.

Who Wins?
	Sam Cooke
	The Platters
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