"Covers, Samples, Reworks and Answer Songs"

In honor of the rainy weather that we have been having in June in New York City, this C.R.S.A. edition will feature "I Can't Stand the Rain."

I Can't Stand the Rain

Written and first recorded by Ann Peebles in 1973, it became her biggest hit reaching #6 on R&B charts and #38 on Pop charts. Since then, the sing has been covered by several artists, including a disco version by the group Eruption in 1978 and on Seal's 2008 album Soul. Tina Turner recorded the most famous cover version in 1984 for her album Private Dancer. Missy Elliot's debut single "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" from 1997, samples the song and she also uses the chorus as the chorus for her song.


Ann Peebles



Tina Turner



Missy Elliot - The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)



Official Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_5GXwbzuy0

"Covers, Samples, Reworks and Answer Songs"

Grandma's Hands by Bill Withers

Bill Withers recorded "Grandma's Hands" in 1971 about his own grandmother who recently died. It appeared on his debut album, Just As I Am, peaked at 42 on the Billboard charts. Since then, the song has been covered by several artists, such as Al Jarreau, Barbara Streisand, Simply Red, Livingston Taylor, The Staple Singers, Gladys Knight, Will Downing, Jeff Lorber, Take 6, Marti Pellow and Ron Kenoly. In 1996, Blackstreet sampled the beginning of his song for their song "No Diggity," which has been the most famous sampling of the song, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.


Bill Withers - Grandma's Hands (Acoustic)



Electric version




Blackstreet ft. Queen Pen and Dr. Dre - No Diggity

"Covers, Samples, Reworks and Answer Songs"

"The Twist"

"The Twist" is a twelve-bar blues song that was first recorded by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, an R&B group, in 1959. It was the B-side to the group's song "Teardrops On Your Letter." Although Hank thought it would be his hit, it received little airplay and was only a hit amongst R&B fans. In 1960, Parkway recording artist, Chubby Checker, recorded a cover of the song. His cover has similar vocal inflections to and the same arrangement as Hank's version. However, due to American Bandstand, the song this time was heavily promoted and became a huge dance craze. The song became number one on the pop charts and Hank's version also entered the charts again. Since it was such a big hit, it topped the charts again in 1962. The song regained popularity in 1988 when the Fat Boys did a cover version featuring Chubby Checker.


Hank Ballard and the Midnighters



Chubby Checker



Fat Boys ft. Chubby Checker

"Covers, Samples, Reworks and Answer Songs"

Ever wonder what the original version of a song sounded like or who created it? In this new feature, I will give you songs that have led to hit cover songs, been used as samples in R&B and Hip-hop songs, and led to songs that answered them back. Here we go:


Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise" was on his 1976 album, Songs in the Key of Life. The song was about how we as a society needed to change our social problems, and stop living in the past hoping that it could have been better, but to make a better future for our children. In 1995, Coolio sampled and rewrote some of the lyrics the song to create "Gangsta's Paradise," which was on the Dangerous Minds soundtrack and featured the R&B singer L.V. With this song, Coolio changed the lyrics to reflect the hard lives of inner-city black youths, which was very different from Wonder's more positive message.

Stevie Wonder - Pastime Paradise



Coolio feat. L.V. - Gangsta's Paradise