If you ever change your mind about leaving Jim James behind…

My Morning Jacket covered Sam Cooke’s masterpiece “Bring It On Home To Me,” New Years Eve 2008 at Madison Square Garden.

We have a bit of an ongoing fascination with cover versions of this song ’round these parts.

Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke cover) – My Morning Jacket

The entire NYE show was a scorcher.

[top photo by the amazing Kyle Dean Reinford, poster photo via Brooklyn Vegan]

Someone bring it on home, already :: Sam Cooke gets covered

“Bring It On Home To Me” is probably my favorite song that Sam Cooke ever penned and recorded. Even though it’s self-flagellating sad sap fare, it always sounds to me like slow dancing barefoot on a dusty front porch somewhere. I am not alone in my love.

Spurred on by the recent cover that Britt Daniel (of Austin band Spoon) contributed to the Bridging The Distance album, I decided to borrow a page from Dodge and started investigating the high points and travesties in the history of covers of “Bring It On Home To Me.” The versions are legion. The good ones . . . are few. It’s nearly impossible to improve upon the original, so I was pretty hard to please with these.

WOULDN’T HURT TO ADD THESE TO YOUR COLLECTION
Bring It On Home To Me – The Animals (in their distinctive rising sun style)
Bring It On Home To Me – Britt Daniel (of Spoon) (clapping, egg shaker, minimalist)
Bring It On Home To Me – Eddie Floyd (big bassline, flirty keys, that Stax sound)
Bring It On Home To Me – Otis Redding & Carla Thomas (worth it just to hear Otis sing “bring your little self –fine foxy self– on home”)
Bring It On Home To Me – The Ramones (live, more sedate than I’d think – no “1234!”)
Bring It On Home To Me – Rory Gallagher (wailing fuzzy Stratocasters and blues harp)
Bring It On Home To Me -The Von Bondies (winsome garage-girl rock)
You Really Got A Hold On Me/Bring It On Home To Me – The Zombies (hey, that’s smoooth)

THE BEATLES GET THEIR OWN CATEGORY
Bring It On Home To Me/Oh! Darlin – The Beatles (snippet in studio, A/B Road, 1-27-69)
Bring It On Home To Me – Paul McCartney (from his Choba B CCCP album)
Bring It On Home To Me/Send Me Some Lovin’ – John Lennon (fantastic)
Bring It On Home To Me/Remember – George Harrison (messing around in the studio)

WHICH LEADS TO SOME MERSEYBEAT VERSIONS
Bring It On Home To Me – The Big Three
Bring It On Home To Me – The Merseybeats

THEN THE “EH” VERSIONS
Bring It On Home To Me – Al Christian (Georgia harmonica & gospel soul)
Bring It On Home To Me – Aretha Franklin (bring that big band)
Bring It On Home To Me – Back Porch Blues (sleepy harmonica and female vocals)
Bring It On Home To Me – Ben Mills
Bring It On Home To Me – Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band
Bring It On Home To Me – The Commitments (from the movie)
Bring It On Home To Me – Cool Jerks
Bring It On Home To Me – Dave Mason (of Traffic)
Bring It On Home To Me – Diana Ross & The Supremes (too cloying and sappy – no angst!)
Bring It On Home To Me – Dixie Chicks (pre-Natalie Maines, very twangy)
Bring It On Home To Me – The Drifters
Bring It On Home To Me – George Benson & Al Jarreau (contemporary gospel/soul-lite)
Bring It On Home To Me – James Cotton
Bring It On Home To Me – Lou Rawls
Bring It On Home To Me - Louisiana Red (dirty straight blues)
Bring It On Home To Me – Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels (beautiful guitar intro)
Bring It On Home To Me – Percy Sledge
Bring It On Home To Me – Robson & Jerome
Bring It On Home To Me/You Send Me – Rod Stewart & Faces (live)
Bring It On Home To Me – Sam & Dave (brassy Stax soul)
Bring It On Home To Me – Shirley Ellis (as we would expect, peppy and clappy)
Bring It On Home To Me (live) – Van Morrison (yeah, not so fond of this one, Van)
Bring It On Home To Me – Wilson Pickett
Bring It On Home To Me – Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band
Bring It On Home To Me – ZZ Hill (add a little rasp to it)
Addendum: Bill Janovitz (Buffalo Tom)’s cover

IN GENERAL I OBJECT TO REGGAE-LITE VERSIONS OF THIS SONG
Bring It On Home To Me – Cornell Campbell
Bring It On Home To Me – Jimmy Clarke

WHAT IS AND NEVER SHOULD BE
Bring It On Home To Me – Michael Bolton (no comment)
Bring It On Home To Me – Millie Small (deviant chipmunks on crack?)
Bring It On Home To Me – Rita Coolidge (Waaay too pretty and sappy)
Bring It On Home To Me – Rita MacNeil (0 for 2 on the Ritas. Showy gospel vocals that grate me)
Bring It On Home To Me – Sonny & Cher (because it’s Sonny and Cher)

. . . But the grandpappy OG sweet fantastic:

Bring It On Home To Me – Sam Cooke

Bring It On Home To Me (live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963) – Sam Cooke
(I think that the first time I heard this version was the first time I realized Sam Cooke wasn’t all sweetness, smoothness, and Cupid)

After screening all these cover versions, all I really want is Sam.
Dang, what a flawless song.

Happy birthday Sam Cooke

Today is the 75th birthday of Sam Cooke, one of the sweetest, purest soul voices I know. Born Samuel Cook in 1931, he added the “e” to the end of his last name later in life – he thought it added class. As a Browne-with-an-”e” myself, I have to agree. Classy.

Starting as a gospel singer, he gave the world 33 years of his music before he died in 1964 – the victim of a motel shooting whose details are still disputed. What a loss; think of all the beautiful music he still had inside.

There’s a sweeping new biography about Cooke out now, “Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke” by pop music writer and Elvis chronicler Peter Guralnick. I have heard excellent things about it, and intend (!) to read it this year.

I know I said this before, but Sam Cooke always sounds like slow-dancing barefoot in the kitchen, especially this song. It is absolutely my favorite by him:

“Bring It On Home To Me” – Sam Cooke