Songs Reproduced

[james]

What favorite albums would you like to have a producer of your choice put his touch on, keeping the original artist vocals?
It would be interesting if for example, Peter Asher re - produced these albums (while keeping original vocals):

Which Way To Main Street - Wendy Waldman
Sweet Harmony - Maria Muldaur
Gather Me - Melanie
The First Songs - Laura Nyro
Danny's Song - Anne Murray
Cherish - David Cassidy
Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell
The Lady's Not For Sale - Rita Coolidge
Cry - Lynn Anderson

[the Scribe]

I think it would be interesting to see the results from Quincy Jones producing any one of Linda's albums.

[erik]

While it is intriguing to think of what kind of an album Linda could create with someone like Quincy Jones behind the board, I don't think I have as vivid an imagination as everyone else might.

As for songs being re-produced, there have been remixed versions of songs that weren't really big hits before but did become ones the second time around (such as "Valerie" by Steve Winwood), and were actually good.

Another such example would be "Guitar Man" by El Jefe himself, Elvis. He had recorded this song, written by Jerry Reed, in Nashville in September 1967 as an acoustic country/blues number with Reed himself doing the 6-string honors. Sadly, because of the usual reasons (publishing conflict; Reed wasn't going to give any piece of the song to the Colonel), it wasn't terribly well-promoted, and only got up to #43 in February 1968, though, along with "Big Boss Man" and Reed's "U.S. Male", it showed that Elvis was getting away from the Colonel's not-so-secret recipe and back to where he once belonged.

Then in 1980, three years after Elvis passed away, his producer Felton Jarvis, who produced that original recording, re-mixed it, just speeding it up slightly, and getting Reed to come in and inject some ferocious Telecaster playing, and having a big drum sound on it. This time around, "Guitar Man" made it to #28 on the Hot 100 in March 1981 (and #1 C&W).

"Guitar Man" (1968 original):


"Guitar Man" (1981 remix):


Either version, in my opinion, is the Elvis that everyone wants to remember.