Last week saw the release of a 5 CD, 50 year retrospective of Bryan Ferry titled "Retrospective:Selected Recordings 1973-2023." If you're a fan, you most likely have most of what Ferry has personally selected for this boxed set, including a number of rarities like the extended version of "Mother Of Pearl" and some choice b-sides and remixes. It's a solid set, though of course, too many of my personal favorites were not chosen.
The one surprise for me is on Disc 5, a cover of John Lennon's "Whatever Gets You Through The Night," originally recorded in 1995 for an aborted Yoko produced tribute record. As much as I love Bryan Ferry's solo work, I have always preferred his original material over his interpretations, which too often are mired in melodrama and echo, or simply just misguided. But, I thought this Lennon cover was quite good, sounding a lot like "Siren"-era Roxy.
3 comments:
Blood boil time, Andy Edwards the drummer (who? he played with Robert Plant) "bloody hates" Ferry as #1 bloody hated https://youtu.be/CBJKJdPp7wg?t=563
I don't mind the music on that cover, but the lead vocals have too much vibrato and the falsetto backing vocals are annoying. I much prefer anything on These Foolish Things to this cover.
On the other hand, the Mick Ronson (cover of the day) is gorgeous!
- Paul in DK
I've mellowed on Ferry over the years -- I was not a Roxy fan until their moonlight and champagne period, and to this day I think "These Foolish Things" is the most offensive album of the 70s. But by "Dylanesque" in 2007, I came around. https://powerpop.blogspot.com/search?q=Bryan+Ferry Though I still think it's because he got better, not because I'd mellowed. 😎
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