Nothing I love more than men doing duets. Something so interesting comes out, and it’s so rare nowadays (thank you, Robbie Williams, for carrying the torch!). (Check out the Youtube clip here for a truly transcendent example. And check out the duet between Jerry Lee Lewis and Tom Jones at the bottom of the link here. It’s fabulous: taking that male solo-star energy and pouring into the power of working with someone else who is equally dynamic.)
What happens here is these two fabulous individuals, both geniuses in their own right, are both showing off and peacocking for one another, as well as supporting one another’s awesomeness, pushing one another on. “SHOW ‘EM, SON,” Jerry screams at Glen at one point. It’s competitive and supportive in the same instant. Sexy. Entertainment gold.
Ye gods, Shelia! Sometimes I feel like you’ve raided my childhood jukebox. I have to tell you, the first LP I bought with my own money was Donnie Osmond. The second was Shaun Cassidy. The third, after those infatuations had run dry, was Jerry Reed. This song was on it. I love this clip!
How do you feel about Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller, Marianne Faithfull and Judy Collins?
I love your first LPs!! Those are awesome!
Jerry Reed was such a wild man. And BRILLIANT. You can pick his guitar picking out of a lineup. He played on a couple of Elvis’ tracks in the late 60s and all of those songs totally stand out.
I’m going through a pretty huge Waylon Jenning’s phase right now. He is absolutely the best. I love Roger Miller and Marianne Faithfull – and have a soft spot for Judy Collins because my parents had all her albums. She was definitely a constant presence in my house growing up.
Ever heard this one? Seems like a somewhat unusual combination, one of my favorite songs of all time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTiFinpXRcg
Patrick – I have heard that one but I had forgotten about it. It’s awesome!
I love those unusual combinations that just work. It’s one of the reasons I absolutely love watching the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame concerts – all these legends playing each other’s songs, or singing backup suddenly – like Bruce Springsteen singing backup to Darlene Love. Amazing.
Thanks!
So sexy! I love both their voices, I still get teary when I hear Glen Campbell’s Wichita Lineman, or Gentle On My Mind.
Barb-I loved Donny Osmond! My other big crush was Bobby Sherman-does anyone else remember him?
I know this is ridiculous – but Donny Osmond as “Joseph” in the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat was awesome. His version of “Close Every Door”? Thrilling! I think it’s on iTunes. I saw him do the show when I lived in Chicago and it was so wild – like, there’s freakin’ Donny Osmond!!
And Bobby Sherman. Hmmm. No. Don’t remember him – let me look him up.
Oh, I meant to mention the Tom Jones and Wilson Pickett duet you linked to-there is something about these duets that touches me, they seem so generous in a way. The give and take of them, the performers so often seem so delighted by the other person’s singing-like you said in your other post-joyful!
Maureen – YES, the generosity is what is so touching.
They are both so powerful in their own right – but they also can do the give and take. They let the other be awesome. It’s so great.
The saddest element of Elvis’ career for me, maybe even more so than his early death, was that he really didn’t do ANY duets. I mean, a couple here and there, but not really. He should have been doing duets with the big female stars of the day, or with Tom Jones – a good pal of his – it would have been ELECTRIC.
But he was just … sooooo much a solo star. His career (at the point he went back to live performing anyway) was soooo singular, it couldn’t really take anybody else sharing the spotlight. I think he would have loved it though.
Like, him and Dolly Parton? I wish that had happened.
I love duets! Bless Robbie Williams for being so dedicated to the old-school song-and-dance duet routine. He is such a charmer. I liked him before I saw him live but afterwards I LOVED him.
You make me realise how few guy-on-guy duets I have in my collection. Maybe because they so often happen live? Which is great because you get so many different kinds of energy that gets augmented by the liveness and the relationship between the performers. Combative, collaborative, sexy, funny, fun (that Hey Jude clip makes my heart soar!). Like, I always found it much spookier (and sexier) when Blixa sang Where the Wild Roses Grow instead of Kylie.
Jessie – you saw Robbie Williams live??? I am almost in tears of envy. I gotta get ON that. He is the best thing going right now. Well, for a while, but I just love the direction he has taken his career. He is old-school, an old-school entertainer. I adore him. Also, he has a tattoo of Elvis on his shoulder/bicep. So he’s okay in my book for that alone.
When did you see him??
Would love to know more about Robbie Williams–any recommendations?
Here’s an SPN slip for you–I just went to iTunes to look up Robbie Williams, and I accidentally typed in “Robbie Thompson” instead. Get out of my head, pernicious show! (anyone got an exorcism for Supernatural Creep?) For the record, there’s a gospel singer named Robb Thompson, and there’s something called the Robbin Thompson Band. No Robbie Thompson, singer, which confused me to no end til I came back here and saw what I had done. :-)
hahahahaha
Oh boy Robbie. Where do I begin??
His first albums are a solo artist are full of verve and pop energy – great tracks – great hooks – Life Through a Lens, and The Ego Has Landed – those are her first solo albums. The Ego Has Landed made him a superstar – with the track “Millennium” getting constant radio play (and is how I discovered him during my trip to Ireland in 1999. I was like: Who the hell is singing that song I hear in every store, on every radio station, from every open car window? That was Robbie.)
Once his stardom was established, he started doing more of his own thing – and putting out albums of Rat Pack swing classics. And it’s not a Michael Buble “hip” kind of thing – Robbie actually feels like he could have hung out with those guys, Dino and Frank and all the rest. He’s not ironic about those big band swing numbers.
So Swing When You’re Winning and Swings Both Ways are his two big-band Rat Pack albums – with him doing awesome duets with everyone from Nicole Kidman to Jon Lovitz.
He’s so prolific too – sometimes 2 albums in a year. I was not crazy about Rudebox – but have loved most of the other stuff. He is incapable of writing a boring song.
So that’ll keep you busy for a while!
Here’s something I’ve written about the glory that is Robbie.
http://www.sheilaomalley.com/?p=35239
I have two favorite Robbie anecdotes.
One: he is one of the biggest stars in Europe. His outdoor concert in Knebsworth broke attendance records – like, he beat the Rolling Stones who held the record before. He is also a very very naughty boy. :) During the height of that first wave of solo star fame, he was asked by an interviewer, “So, Robbie, what’s the most memorable thing a fan has given you?” Robbie replied, “Herpes.”
Two: He was addicted to pills and kicked that addiction. But he was often openly wasted in those early years of his career. He attended some swanky record-producer party in London, while hallucinating on mushrooms. He stood in a room, surrounded by a chattering crowd, staring at something as if transfixed, and Bono approached him. Asked, “What are you looking at, Robbie?” Robbie gestured before him: “Look at this painting! I mean, doesn’t it blow your mind??” Bono looked and then told Robbie, “Robbie, that’s a window.”
I mean ….
He could have been a casualty, but he got his shit together. And now he’s so huge that he does whatever the hell he wants. He’s a real showman. I always thought he would make a fabulous James Bond.
oh my gosh Sheila, it was amazing. This was at the end of his 8-month Close Encounters tour (2006) and he was feeling a bit punch-drunk I think, in the best way possible. It was my first ever stadium concert and like 1 in 12 people in my city rocked up for it and I was sitting in the boonies and he made me, me personally, feel responsible for singlehandedly restoring his faith in touring and people and music and the universe. Like I gave him the best night of his life. Absolute superstar quality. I’ll love him forever for making me feel that way. Switched between sincerity and irony as easy as breathing. Funny beyond belief. And a hilarious, fun, joyful kind of burlesque sexuality — I remember the first big scream of the night coming when he took off his scarf. He was in complete control.
You MUST see him if you at all can! Is he still pretty invisible in the US?
// he made me, me personally, feel responsible for singlehandedly restoring his faith in touring and people and music and the universe. //
Oh my God. Goosebumps.
Yeah, it’s weird – no real crossover in the US, it’s so strange to me. He’s such a superstar! But I’ll definitely keep my eyes open for any touring dates. I adore him.
Thanks–I’ll check out those swing albums!
Hella goosebumps!!