Man...here I am up since 3AM. Hasn't happened to
me in ages--not since Jean Carne singing Naima play back
in 1976. I was fast asleep when Jeveeta Steele singing
"Calling You" made my eyes pop open and I sat
straight up. I already bought Patti Austin's version several
years ago and found it hauntingly beautiful--naturally
I dug it out for this occasion. Upon some research
I found this blog which echoes my sentiments to a tee.
It's exciting really. I never heard of Jevetta before,
but after a few quick seconds am an avid fan for real!
This woman done made me get out from my covers
(pun intended) and now I'm still here at 5:18AM
going nutz over --covers--of this track. I love when
that happens...~edie
Calling You-Jevetta Steele
—Kalamu ya Salaam wrote:
It’s like this: some songs are owned by their creators. Trying to top the originals is almost certainly an exercise in futility. But y’all know we created the category of covers for a reason. Even so, in the case of “Calling You” going for covers verges on utter madness.
This is Jevetta Steele’s song. She wrote it. She sang it. End of story. Except… Well, ya know, maybe there is more than one way to call you.
Before we see/hear the covers let’s start with raising the bar above most everybody’s head.
First up is Ms. Steele doing the original for the soundtrack to the movie Baghdad Café (also on her album Here It Is). Jevetta’s voice. Man, what a voice. There is grit, there is sweetness. There is determination and naked yearning. There is a little accent difficult to place and crystal clear enunciation so you can understand every word. There is the fragileness of her call and (need I say it?) the steel strength of her vocal chords.
Jevetta don’t ever have to sing nothing else for the rest of her life, she got her page in the book of song. So here it is. The original. The standard.
play Patti Austin — Calling You
What follows are not all of the versions I could find. Indeed, most of the covers ain’t nothing but paper thin imitations, at best, but there were a couple that struck me and one that was a total surprise.
I never would have thought of it at first but it seems if you want the job done you better call mama—mama Etta James. Etta’s voice is exactly, precisely the last one I would have thought of for this song, especially in the twilight of her long career. She can’t reach that high no more. But then again that’s the thing about pros. What they lack in raw talent, the step or two they have lost, the high notes now beyond them, they make up for it with rope-a-dope cunning and craft.
On her 2006 All The Way album Etta plays with the song, right down to sounding like a trombone and an interlude ending. I actually enjoy this version even as I’m clear it’s not in the same category of otherness as Jevetta’s original. So, no, this doesn’t take the cake but it’s some hip ass candles. You gotta laugh and like it for what it is.
Calling You-Etta James
Gabrielle Goodman (from Until We Love) approaches this on the sly, like tacking against the wind in a sailboat. She’s in the stratosphere singing in what sounds like a soprano falsetto, if there is such a thing. Then there’s that percussion. Gone is the yearning. We’re no longer lost in the desert. We’re maybe in Navajo country, a black Indian chant. Gabrielle has gone into a trance and the “you” she is calling is the great spirit within. We’re on a mountaintop, the air is thin, her sound is wispy, alluring. Disappearing into the atmosphere. Again, like Etta James, Gabrielle Goodman offers an original take. She doesn’t so much top Jevetta, it’s more like a side step, a fancy move and then she passes. Even though it doesn’t go head on with Jevetta, we do get an interesting move and I like it for the atmosphere she creates.
*Note: I couldn't find Gabrielle's version to save my soul, so I'm substituting it with George Benson..I like it.
Calling You-George Benson
Next comes the first direct challenge. Jevetta did it as a ghostly R&B/Gospelish supplication. On Calling You Imani goes the jazz route. Everything is full throat. She hits the notes. I especially dig the backing trio.
Calling You-Imani
While I really, really dig the arrangement and love her voice, what I don’t hear is the utter desperation that Jevetta digs into on the out chorus. This is close but no ringer in the sense of topping Jevetta. Maybe it’s impossible because Imani has brought the goods and the critic in me says Jevetta still has it even though the jazz head in me really digs this version.
And now here comes Ms. Patti Austin, a lady who is one of the queens of studio recordings. She’s been on so many sessions covering so many different genres working with so many different producers it’s crazy, yet she has never become a noted soloist with plantinum sales. Always on call but never pushed as a star. In fact, I forgot about Patti Austin and then I heard her version (from Street of Dreams).
First thing Patti did was strip search the song. She ain’t got nothing but a lone little keyboard backing her playing that plaintive melody over and over with a wobbly vibrato. There’s no other instrumentation to lean on or hide behind.
I just didn’t remember that Patti had the voice to pull off this unplugged version, but damn if she don’t do it. Here we have it, a genuine challenge. Note for note, moan for moan. Jevetta’s voice is more distinctive, but Patti, oh my lord, she knows how to read a lyric, how to micro bend a note. She absolutely emotes like she’s trying to cry out across the desert. She sounds like she’s in agony, which, after all, is the point of the song. She’s calling for help.
Don’t bet against pros. This is just full body pain, an end of the rope plea. After hearing it, I go back to Jevetta and ask myself which one am I hearing more deeply.
I can’t really decide and that’s not a concession, it’s admission of how good both version are; a right hand, left hand thing. I don’t feel complete without both hands.
What do you think?
—Kalamu ya Salaam
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Comment by Edie Antoinette on May 4, 2009 at 1:27pm
Comment by enrico on May 4, 2009 at 12:57pm
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