Derivative tribute to Whitney Houston

As we mourn the passing of Whitney Houston, we want to showcase the songs that you may or may not know were remakes that she made her own. Everyone knows Whitney’s “Greatest Love of All”. But did you know that George Benson did it first?

Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You” deservedly topped the charts and stayed there for weeks upon weeks. It was a cover of a Dolly Parton tune, and her version is great in its own right:

And, of course, Chaka Khan sang the original version of “I’m Every Woman”. A beautifully pregnant Whitney Houston asked her along for the 1992 cover version she released for The Bodyguard soundtrack:

To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance…
Albert Einstein

Derivatives: Common meets Etta James

We were saddened to hear of Etta’s passing this morning. Today’s Derivative is dedicated to Etta, and to her incalculable contribution to soul music.

“Thisisme”, from Common’s sophomore album, Resurrection (1994)…

…samples Etta James’ “Something’s Got A Hold on Me”, from 1963’s Etta James Top Ten (“Something” was one of 3 new songs released on the record).

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…One day it too will pass on its legacy through the seeds it dropped to the ground. And as the wind carries these seeds throughout wherever they might move, a new life will begin for each one of them as they stand as a monument to the one that came before…

Miles Davis: Charlie Chaplin + Marvin Gaye + Jimi Hendrix + James Brown

Lucky Thompson’s Green Dolphin Street

JazzTonic thanks Lucky on behalf of A Tribe Called Quest

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There is nothing new under the sun, but there are lots of old things we don’t know.
Ambrose Bierce