I’ve been looking forward to this one. I’m not sure the Amy Winehouse Mix CD gets deeper into the unexplored than today’s track. “‘Round Midnight” doesn’t appear on any of Amy’s albums, but was the B-side to her 2004 UK single “Take the Box”, the second single from her 2003 debut Frank. It was produced by Salaam Remi and – as far as I can tell – is considered in many places to be a cover of the Thelonious Monk jazz standard by the same name. This is what I want to explore.
The simplest definition of a cover song that I can find is a new recording of a previously released song that someone else wrote. I put the link to Amy’s “‘Round Midnight” above. Take a quick listen. Here’s a link to what I believe to be the most popular version of “‘Round Midnight” that Thelonious Monk ever released. There are several, but they all sound similar. This was recorded in 1947 and released on Genius of Modern Music, Vol. 1.
“‘Round Midnight” recorded in 1947 by Thelonious Monk
Incredible song. No denying that. Possibly the greatest jazz ever recorded. Amy is not covering this song. They’re not the same song. Next I went to whosampled.com, my favorite source for answers when I can’t crack the origin of a sample or remake. Normally, not only can Who Sampled tell you exactly what songs were sampled, but they’ll give you a side-by-side of the two songs showing exactly when the sample appeared. With Amy’s version of “‘Round Midnight” it simply calls it a cover of the Monk version and says, “This submission was self-verified by a Gold Contributor.” OK, Gold Contributor, please show your work.
Sarah Vaughan performing “‘Round Midnight” in 1973
So far I’ve seen no proof that this is a cover and Who Sampled can’t give me any kind of reference to samples. I go next to songwriting credits. Amy Winehouse is curiously absent from the list. I see three names: Thelonious S. Monk, Bernard D. Hanighen, and Charles “Cootie” Williams. Jackpot! A quick Google search of Bernard D. Hanighen revealed that Bernie (that’s what his friends and I call him) and his writing partner Cootie teamed up to write lyrics for “Round Midnight” and it became a vocal jazz standard. I’m not going to sit here at my keyboard and declare that I’m some kind of vocal jazz expert, but I do know a thing or two about jazz. I’ve heard several versions of “‘Round Midnight” and I’m somewhat embarrassed to confess that I hadn’t heard a vocal version of it until now. I could just rewrite this entire post and act like I knew it all along, but this is more fun.
I’m gonna blame Who Sampled for this one. It should point to one of the dozens of vocal versions of “‘Round Midnight” as the source for Amy’s version instead of Monk’s. I would do that myself now, but I’m not a Gold Contributor, so my research doesn’t count. I did, however, prove that the internet can actually help you find facts if you’re willing to put in the work. Thanks, internet! Now that I spent 500 words figuring out what you probably already knew, I can move on.
Amy Winehouse’s version of “‘Round Midnight” has two advantages that none of the others had: Amy Winehouse and Salaam Remi. Amy puts her stamp on a song performed decades earlier by some of her heroes. Her vocals are flawless throughout, but “‘Round Midnight” allows her the opportunity showcase some angelic falsetto improvisation that we didn’t hear nearly enough of in her lifetime. With so much popular music in her catalog it’s amazing to hear her flaunt her jazz chops here. The work Salaam Remi does matches up beautifully with Amy’s vocals. He pieces together elements of the standard with a hip hop beat, some crazy additional percussion, and an outstanding horn section. The finished product is as close to perfection as a modernization of a jazz standard can get. Amy truly had a timeless voice and talent that could shine in any era.
Amy singing “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” in 2006
Since I can’t find a live version of Amy singing “‘Round Midnight” I’ll post her performing another classic. No disrespect to the others involved, but the instrumentation is a little too white guy blues for my liking and the dude who sings the second verse should’ve recognized game and let Amy take lead vocals for the entire song. All of that said, Amy brings the house down during the final verse and chorus. She alone makes this worth the watch. There are certain songs and artists that shouldn’t be covered. “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” is one of them. Normally the only person I want to hear singing that song is Marvin Gaye. I’ll make an exception for Amy.
That’s all I have for today’s edition of “Watch Charlie Perform Internet Research on Jazz Standards in Real Time”. Tomorrow we wrap up the week with a monster. My trip into deep cuts and B-sides ends today. The remaining nine songs on this mix CD are essentials as far as I’m concerned. More on that tomorrow. Peace.
mookiefantana 