Riot in Cell Block #9
2014-02-17 22:22:32.023096+01 by Dan Lyke 0 comments
I've been a long time occasional listener to Coverville, and have recently been working on learning a bit more about music as I try to find tunes that I really like, that I think might resonate with other square dancers, and is fast enough to dance to (that last part is harder than you'd think).
Anyway, I was talking with Steve Minkin, who is our caller at Redwood Rainbows, and we got to talking about covers. His thesis was that white performers covering black artists usually were more popular, but worse. His "except" was contrasting The Robins version of "Riot in Cellblock #9" (YouTube) with Wanda Jackson's cover of Riot in Cell Block #9 (YouTube).
I can see why he appreciates Jackson, but something about the timing in that Robins version is pretty damned cool. Anyway, always interesting to hear two very different versions of a song we think we knew.