Tune du Jour: “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” – Neil Young
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes: Nils Lofgren vs. Jessica Manning vs. Psychic TV
VOTE, COMMENT, then KEEP ON KEEPING ON
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Note: My family is currently facing some challenges. We’ll be okay but we’ve got some things to work through. I enjoy doing these posts but they can be time consuming and I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it up. We’ll see but I may have to shut it down for a time.
The Original
Neil Young:
THE CLASH of Cover Tunes
Nils Lofgren vs. Jessica Manning vs. Psychic TV
Nils Lofgren:
Jessica Manning:
Psychic TV:
SPACE
Oh the disharmony! Much like Harlan County there are no neutrals here. It is your solemn responsibility to decide which cover song prevails. In other words … Which Side Are You On?!!?
Disclaimer: Votes cast from Florida may or may not be counted.
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I have a lot of respect for Nils Lofgren. He’s contributed on a lot of great albums and played in some great bands. And he no doubt has great love and admiration for Neil Young. He delivers his tribute to Neil with great passion. However, unfortunately, I simply do not like his voice. It does not work for me. A+ for effort but sadly a much lower grade for sound.
Jessica Manning delivers a very nice version of the song. Her voice is beautiful and the production is appropriately understated. An elegant version of an elegant song. JM came very close to getting my vote.
I love the creativity and delivery of Psychic TV’s cover. It strays from the sound of the original but stays true to the “feel” of the tune. Very good cover. But it is way too long. I wish they would have cut it down by about 2 minutes. Still, it is clever and effective and thus won my vote.
I don’t like the name “Nils”. It’s just weird. It’s not quite “Neil”, and it’s not a cool nickname, like Lenny Dykstra’s nickname “Nails”. It’s annoying. So that disqualified him from this competition. Psychic TV’s version was horrendously long. Six minutes! Sheesh. I gave it to Jessica Manning. A quiet, beautifully sung, mellow version.
All 3 are good enough. I like Lofgren the best. It works for me on a sonic level. He gets Neil. I like this whole album of Neil covers. The emotional aspect of the song comes through so well that it sounds like he wrote it and his voice is similar to Neil’s- high and thin, so he is a natural to cover him.