Tony Palmeri's Media Rants: Ten Bold Cover Tunes, Part VI: Bring It On Home To Me Edition

In this Ten Bold Cover Tunes installment, we learn about and listen to covers of the late Sam Cooke's 1962 soul classic "Bring It On Home To Me." Before talking about it, let's listen to Sam's original.

"Bring It On Home To Me" is one of three Sam Cooke songs recognized by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the list of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.(The others being "A Change is Gonna Come" and "You Send Me."). Released as a single in the old days of vinyl, "Bring It On Home To Me" was actually the B-side of "Having A Party" and borrows its melody from Charlie Brown's and Amos Milburn's (1959) "I Want To Go Home." The song is not typically thought of as a duet, but the great Lou Rawls' backing vocals on the track most certainly contributed to its power and popularity. Years later Rawls released his own spectacular soul-funk version of the song.

Now Sam Cooke was such a breathtaking singer that he could have crooned the contents of a milk carton label and no one would have minded. Having said that, I've never quite been able to get behind the lyrics of "Bring It On Home To Me." It's kind of like the prototype "baby please come home" tune, expressing what became (especially in pop music) the standard mix of glossing over the problems that led to the breakup, hyperbolic promises and passive aggression. In the song, we never know why the relationship partner left (Abuse? Boredom? Value differences? etc. etc.). The singer "laughed" when the partner left, but apparently now in a fit of loneliness realizes he "only hurt himself." To get the partner back he's going to give jewelry, money, and is even willing to be the partner's slave until he's "buried in my grave." And that all sets up the passive-aggressive part: "I tried to treat you right, but you stayed out late at night. But I forgive YOU." So really, the singer says, this breakup was as much your fault as mine. Not surprisingly, many covers of the tune actually leave out the "I forgive you" part.

When I teach "The Rhetoric of Rock and Roll," one of the messages I try to get across is that you can reject the message of a song and yet still like or love it. The key is to THINK CRITICALLY about a musical message just as you would any other. No message gets a free pass just because it's accompanied by a gripping melody and a beautiful voice. Some years ago the Boston Public Health Commission produced a very good "song nutrition" scorecard that can help people (and not just young people) discover the extent to which a song urges healthy or unhealthy relationships.

Okay, enough lyric analysis. Between recordings and live performances, there have probably been many hundreds (if not thousands) of covers of "Bring It On Home To Me." I'm going to focus just on ten of my favorites. Numbers ten and nine (by Eric Burdon and the Animals and the Supremes) were released not too long after Sam Cooke's untimely death in 1964 and are notable tribute versions. The remaining covers, as we will see and hear, bring unique approaches to the song. So let's get to it:

#10: Eric Burdon and the Animals: One of the most important British Invasion bands of the sixties, the Animals were heavily influenced in all their recordings by American blues, R & B and soul. This was one of the last Animals' songs to feature the extraordinary keyboard work of Alan Price, and Burdon's vocals ooze with sincerity.

#9: Diana Ross and the Supremes: In 1965 the Supremes (featuring Diana Ross) released "We Remember Sam Cooke," a tribute to Sam featuring covers of his greatest hits. A song that's like a mini soap opera fit perfectly within the Motown ideology of the time, and the Supremes as usual did not disappoint.

#8: Eddie Floyd: As time went on the covers of "Bring It On Home To Me" became less tribute-like and added minor or major twists to it. The legendary Eddie Floyd (best known for his soul classic "Knock On Wood") released what I would call a disco version of "Bring It On Home To Me" in 1968--about seven years before anyone even knew what disco was. (Notice how Floyd reworks the lyrics to say "you only hurt YOURSELF" when you left).

#7: Aretha Franklin. The Queen of Soul released her version of the tune on her much underrated "Soul '69" album. Like most of the songs on the album, "Bring It On Home To Me" is given a Sinatra-esque big band arrangement. The big band coupled with Aretha's piercing vocals produces a stunning result.

#6: John Lennon. After years of dabbling in highly experimental, often psychedelic, and frequently self-indulgent rock with the later Beatles and in his early solo albums, John Lennon in 1975 got back to his roots with the "Rock and Roll" album. His cover of "Bring It On Home To Me" provides a clue as to what he must have sounded like at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in the days before the Beatles hit the big time.

#5: Rebecca Pidgeon. Actress and indie-rocker Rebecca Pidgeon adds a backstory to "Bring It On Home To Me" in the form of an original poem set to the melody of Auld Lang Syne. The mash up of the New Year's Eve standard with a classic soul tune is unique and appealing.

#4: Van Morrison. The classic rocker performs what is probably the angriest version of "Bring It On Home To Me," sung from what sounds like the perspective of a man who feels he got screwed over in a divorce settlement. Van sings, "I gave you all the money I had in the bank, now it's time for you to say thanks." And then, "I ain't gonna be a slave, when I'm dead and buried in my grave." Ouch! Tone and victimage aside, Van Morrison like Sam Cooke is just not capable of badly singing a song.

#3: Chadwick Stokes. This is a stripped down version of the song, with just Stokes on the acoustic guitar. Most versions of the tune minimize or don't at all capture the grief of the main character. Stokes emphasizes the grief. Of special note is the way he expresses the word "ALL" at around the 2:13 mark.

Chadwick Stokes: Bring it On Home To Me

#2: Roger Ridley and Playing For Change. This is probably the most remarkable version of "Bring It On Home To Me," in that it literally unites musicians from around the globe in a glorious jam. The late Roger Ridley, a long-time street artist from Santa Monica, CA leads off the tune with the most passionate vocal style west of the Mississippi. He's joined by equally compelling singers and musicians from Italy, Cuba, Japan, and other place. All of this was made possible by the Playing For Change organization, activists who support music education and many other causes.

#1: The Tedeschi-Trucks Band With Sharon Jones and Doyle Bramhall II. In this absolutely outstanding cover of "Bring It On Home To Me," two soul/blues legends (Susan Tedeschi and Sharon Jones) produce a searing duet that recreates the studio energy that Cooke and Rawls brought to the original. Derek Trucks' slide guitar solo is the definition of awesomeness, matched only by Doyle Bramhall's guitar theatrics a minute later. Just an incredible performance all around.