Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Jealous Guy Times Two

John Lennon's song "Jealous Guy," from his Imagine album, is one of his most popular solo songs, even going top 40 in 1988 during the "Oh no he di-int, Albert Goldman!" days. While I liked it well enough, I always thought it could have been done better. Come to find out, I wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Roxy Music did a cover as a tribute to Lennon shortly after his death, going to number 1 in the UK (their only #1). As with so much of later Roxy Music, there's a smooth sophistication that works well, and Bryan Ferry is able to look and sound appropriately hangdog.



What I never realized was that the song could use a little crunch. Thank God Lou Reed found the need and filled it. This is from October 2001, in a John's birthday/9/11 tribute, and considering how few covers Lou's done, it's great to see him take a near-standard and make it all his own.

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