Cover To Cover: Stevie Wonder vs. Incognito - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing

THE STEVIE WONDER VERSION (1973):

Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing was a hit single from Stevie's 1973 album Innervisions, which reached no.16 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and no.2 on the R&B chart in the US.
It begins with an unusual spoken bit of dialogue, in which Wonder portrays a slick character trying to impress a woman with his worldliness. "Cause like I been to, y'know, Paris, Beirut, y'know, I mean, uh, Iraq, Iran, Eurasia... y'know I speak very, very, um fluent Spanish - 'Todo 'stá bien chévere' - you got that?"
The tune is in E♭ minor, starting with a Latin piano intro. The song's second chorus begins with Stevie taking the vocals up an octave with two vocal overdubs singing the same line. He also sings two other background overdub vocals, mimicking a horn line with the Spanish phrase 'Todo 'stá bien chévere' which, loosely translated, means "Everything's really cool."
While it isn't regarded as the standout song on Innervisions (no surprise that Living For The City takes that title), Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing is still an act of genius from a genius; a playful song that reflects the lighter side of the album.

THE INCOGNITO VERSION (1992):

Anyone that covers a Stevie Wonder song is usually on a hiding to nothing; over the years, I've come to experience a phenomena I call 'The Wonder Effect'. In other words, an artist covers a Stevie track and makes a good job of it, but in most cases their version pales in comparison to the Stevie version. There are however a couple of exceptions to this constant (another of which we will come back to at a later date), the track below being one of them.

Incognito's version of Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing was on their 1992 album Tribes, Vibes and Scribes; the track got to no.19 in the UK, no.46 in Germany and no.6 in The Netherlands. Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick did the wise thing and produced the song in the trademark Incognito style, replete with a subtle bass underpinning, his horns doing their thing when necessary and the gorgeous vocals of Maysa Leak bring Mr Wonder's lyrics to life. Despite that, the only parts of the song that pay homage to the original are the Latin-influenced piano chords at the start and Maysa singing harmonies in an unmistakably Stevie style.

THE VERDICT:

The fact that a Stevie cover can run the original so close is compliment itself; the fact that there have been times I thought Incognito's version was superior is no fluke nor trick of the ear. Some may argue that their version is too polished and takes away from the innate 'stevieness' that nearly every song he does has. Bluey and Maysa have stamped their personalty all over their version, and a bloody fine song it is; it is a song I still listen to on a very regular basis and still do not tire of it. On a different day, I may have given it to the Incognito version purely on the strength of Maysa' vocals; were this a contest based purely on vocal performance that's exactly what would have happened.

But - just - I would say the original is still the better version. Stevie's version is so underrated due to the phalanx of classic songs on Innervisions, but it has it's own unique signature, one that hints at a concept that I for one would love to have seen explored more fully - Stevie doing a Latin album. If you've never paid full attention to his version, then I suggest you play it often; it deserves your attention and will find a place in your heart before you know it.

That said, both versions will always have a place on my playlist.

-DW

Whitney Houston - Your Love Is My Love (1998)

Released as the fourth single from the album of the same name, it peaked at no.4 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, no.2 on the US R&B chart, and no.2 in the UK. It was later certified platinum by the RIAA.
As well as the UK, the single was extremely successful worldwide, hitting the Top Ten in nearly two dozen international markets. At over three million copies sold globally, it stands as Houston's third most successful single, after I Will Always Love You and I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me).


Written by Wyclef Jean and Jerry ‘Wonda’ Duplessis of the Fugees. Many think that I Will Always Love You is her signature, but this song now has an eerie, epitaphic feel to me, with lyrics like:

If tomorrow is judgment day
And I'm standing on the front line
And the Lord asks me what I did with my life
I will say I spent it with you


And:

If I should die this very day
Don't cry, 'cause on Earth we weren't meant to stay


The track has a feel reminiscent of Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry; it doesn’t make me feel sad, more a reflective mood. It also proved that Whitney could do more soulful material and ironically could have been a better direction to go to help disguise the fact that her voice at that point in time was not what it once was.

Whitney Houston & Jermaine Jackson - If you say My Eyes Are Beautiful (1986)

A song not featured on a Whitney album; this track was on the 1986 Jermaine Jackson album Precious Moments. Jermaine produced all of the duets they did together, another example of Clive Davis making sure she worked with experienced talent. If you listen to all of their duets, there’s a ‘Marvin & Tammy’ dynamic going on, and it isn’t contrived; Jermaine opened up about their affair in his 2001 book You Are Not Alone: Micahel, Through A Brother's Eyes. He said he was crazy about her that she had a profound effect on his life and that she had feelings for him; Michael would tease him about it. They broke off the affair as he would not leave his wife, Hazel Gordy, the daughter of Berry Gordy.

The video to Saving All My Love For You is apparantly an angry riposte to the affair ending, features Houston singing and recording with her married music producer, and falling in love with him along the way; that was a very deliberate metaphor. The release of the track was delayed because of this when it finally came out, her publicist warned Jeramine in advance of its release because of the potential damage it might do to his marriage.

Whitney Houston feat Roy Ayers . Love Will Save The Day (1988)

The fifth single from her second multi-platinum studio album Whitney; the single was released in July 1988. Produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez, who produced and remixed for the likes of Madonna, Michael Jackson, and the Pointer Sisters, the song is one of the uptempo numbers on the album that also includes I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) and So Emotional.
At this time, Houston had achieved a record-breaking string of seven no.1 hits, with four of those coming from Whitney. Love Will Save the Day did not become Houston's eighth consecutive number one, but continued her trend of hit singles by peaking in the US Top 10. The no.9 peak on the Hot 100 was Houston's lowest solo peak up to this time. The song also made the Top 10 without an accompanying music video. Houston had stronger performances on the charts prior to this song but it did remain in the top 40 for 11 weeks, and reached no.5 on the R&B Chart.
Internationally, the song mostly saw less success except in the United Kingdom, where it went Top 10 and Switzerland, where it went Top 20. It was a moderate hit in Germany, making 37; and was a minor hit in Australia, peaking at 77.

After her sudden death, Entertainment Weekly would rank the song no20 on its list Whitney Houston: Her 25 Best Songs and stated: "Though the single broke her streak of consecutive No. 1's, the Miami bass and spicy horns on this high-BPM dance-pop workout pointed to Houston's willingness to experiment and evolve."

If the vibes on this sound familiar, they should – none other than the mighty Roy Ayers performs them. I’ve no idea if Whitney and Ayers actually ever met, but could you imagine the two collaborating on an album?

Alas, we’ll never know.

There were lots of remixes back in the day (most notably by Jellybean himself), but I've chosen a more recent mix by Greek DJ John O. Valavanis, AKA Discobody on Soundcloud; sounds vewry 'period' and has some nice sample from other Whitney songs of the era.

Whitney Houston - A Celebration

As a fan of Whitney Houston's work from the very first time I heard her debut album Whitney, I'm still in a sense of disbelief, nearly two months on, that she is no longer with us. It is one of the reasons it has taken me so long to compose this. Its not a definitive history of her life by any means (there are plenty of websites and plenty of books that cover that subject) and I've concentrated on the positive, but hopefully you'll enjoy reading it. Some personal favourite tracks to come in the week.

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born Aug. 9, 1963, in Newark, N.J., and powerful female voices and the sound of choirs were in her ears before she could walk or talk. Cissy Houston, her mother, was a gospel singer and back-up singer who worked with the likes of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Dusty Springfield. Aretha Franklin and was the youngster's godmother, and Dionne Warwick and Dee Dee Warwick were her cousins. There was little doubt that young Whitney would follow their career paths.

1973: Whitney grew up as the youngest of three in Newark, New Jersey. Here, at the age of 10, Whitney was already performing in the junior gospel choir

In her family's basement - which was Madison Square Garden in her imagination -  she would belt out Respect and bask in the applause that she might have considered her birthright. By high school she was singing back-up for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls and had also embarked on a modeling career that put her in the glossy spreads of Seventeen and Glamour magazines.

1979: Whitney's mother Cissy was a notable gospel singer and close friends with Aretha Franklin, who taught Whitney how to perform

1979: Whitney spent her teen years accompanying mum Cissy on nightclub tours, occasionally joining her on stage 

At a showcase in Sweetwaters supper club in Manhattan -  she could sing at 19 but wasn't old enough to buy a drink - she was spotted by Clive Davis, the music mogul who has become legendary for his ear and his success in guiding the early careers of Rod Stewart, Carlos Santana, Barry Manilow, Alicia Keys and Kelly Clarkson. Davis saw in Houston a rare bundle of raw talent, beauty and pedigree. He spent two years and $250,000 to prepare and package her before releasing her 1985 debut album, Whitney Houston, which would became a mega-seller.

1985: Whitney was spotted by a photographer in the early 80s and went on to model for Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Young Miss. She also appeared on many TV adverts.

1985: Whitney signed with mentor Clive Davis's label in 1983, but didn't release debut album 'Whitney Houston' until 1985 

It became the first album by a new female artist to yield three No. 1 singles: Saving All My Love For You, How Will I Know and The Greatest Love of All. Critics moaned that the material was too flimsy for such a prodigious instrument, but Houston reveled in the success. She became a major crossover star and, with her gospel background and relatively wholesome aura, she was the rare female recording star who was young and attractive but not overtly sexualized on stage and on screen.

1986: Whitney's album was nominated for a Grammy and the her first singles All At Once and Saving All My Love For You dominated the charts

Houston's follow-up album, Whitney, in the summer of 1987, delivered hit after hit with I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me), Didn't We Almost Have It All, So Emotional, and Where Do Broken Hearts Go. For her career, her sales totals would become dizzying: By some accounting, she sold more than 170 million albums, singles and videos in the pre-digital marketplace.

1988: Whitney performs at the Nelson Mandela Concert 

1988: During the Summer Olympics, her song One Moment In Time, which was originally recorded for NBC’s coverage of the Summer Games in Seoul, went on to reach number five on the Billboard charts, earn a Grammy nom for Best Song, Film & TV and win an Emmy.

Houston's stirring rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner at the 1991 Super Bowl became a signature as well and a massive fundraiser for the American Red Cross. 

1992: Whitney crosses over into acting, starring in Hollywood blockbuster The Bodyguard:

1992: Whitney and Kevin Costner on the set of The Bodyguard. She releases iconic hit I Will Always Love You. Houston's version was a massive worldwide success, spending 14 weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, which at the time was a record. The single became her longest run at number one, smashing her previous record, which was three weeks with 1986's, Greatest Love of All. It is also the longest running number one single from a soundtrack album. It also appeared at number 68 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time.

1995: Whitney's acting career continues with a leading role in Waiting To Exhale:

She also had roles in 1996's The Preachers's Wife...

...and 1997's Cinderalla, although the latter two don't experience similar success to her earlier films. As an aside, she also was a producer on the Disney film The Princess Diaries:

1998: Whitney has the honour of giving Muhammad Ali the Courage Award at the GQ Award

1998: Whitney releases My Love In Your Love, her first studio album in eight years. It marked a change of direction towards R&B and dance and was highly praised across the world.

1999: Whitney performs at VH1's Diva's Live with Mary J Blige...

...and with Mariah Carey performing their hit duet When You Believe at the Annual Academy Awards.

In August 2001, Houston signed the biggest record deal in music history with Arista/BMG. She renewed her contract for $100 million to deliver six new albums, on which she would also earn royalties. She later made an appearance on Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special.

In December 2002, Houston released her fifth studio album, Just Whitney.The album included productions from then-husband Bobby Brown, as well as Missy Elliott and Babyface, and marked the first time that Houston did not produce with Clive Davis as Davis had been released by top management at BMG.

In late 2003, Houston released her first Christmas album One Wish: The Holiday Album, with a collection of traditional holiday songs. Houston produced the album with Mervyn Warren and Gordon Chambers. A single titled One Wish (for Christmas) reached the Top 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and the album was certified gold in the US. Having always been a touring artist, Houston spent most of 2004 touring and performing in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Russia. In September 2004, she gave a surprise performance at the World Music Awards in a tribute to long time friend Clive Davis. After the show, Davis and Houston announced plans to go into studio to work on her new album.

2005: Husband Bobby Brown starred in his own reality TV program, Being Bobby Brown (on the Bravo network in the US), which provided a view into the domestic goings-on in the Brown household. Though it was Brown's vehicle, Houston was a prominent figure throughout the show, receiving as much screen time as Brown.

2007: Whitney appears at a party in Hollywood:

2009: She releases the album I Look To You:

Performing My Love Is Your Love with her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown on Good Morning America:

Whitney performs number one single Million Dollar Bill on The X Factor:

2012: Whitney's last ever performance as she shared the stage at Kelly Price & Friends Unplugged in LA:

More than sales units, Houston had stepped to the centre of pop culture in a way that would make her a powerful influence on several generations of singers, especially Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson.