(I know) I'm Losing You

"Even the least of our activities ought to have some end in view" - Marcus Aurelius

 I recently traded a few mp3 songs with a friend, and loaded them onto the USB memory stick in the car.  Driving to work this morning, I heard a version of the song that is the title of this post that I hadn't heard in a long time.  All I remembered of this song from my youth was the intro.   The song was halfway finished before I recognized the melody!  

Which brings us to cover songs, or remakes.  This post discusses a few different versions of this one song.  In a year, probably half of the YouTube links to the music will be broken due to take-down demands, but hey it works right now!  All of these versions are great music, because the original is amazing music.

Here's the song that I heard on the way to work - The 1970 Rare Earth version.  Lots of fuzz distortion and wah-wah on the guitar, with a cool funk/acid rock feel:

There's the original 1966 Motown hit by the Temptations - the real deal.  Bluesy and soulful.

Rod Stewart did a funk version in 1971 which I like quite a bit.

 Lastly, there is an awesome soulful dance version by Uptown from 1982. 

Normally I prefer the original artist's version, and that's because I feel the creator deserves my admiration more than an imitator.  That said, there are a few songs - like the one above - that I like covers of quite a bit!

One cover song that I prefer over the original is "Mercury Blues".  Below is the original 1952 version by K.C. Douglas.

Steve Miller covered this (below), and I haven't heard it done better by anyone.

Another song that I prefer the cover over the original is the 1937 "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" by Sonny Boy Williamson.  His version has harmonica as the primary instrument, and his sound has quite a bit of dixieland influence.  It's a great song, but there is a version that I like a bit better.

Johnny Winter covered this song in 1969, and did an amazing remake.  

There are a few others that I prefer covers of, but these are probably the most famous tunes.