These Eyes (HaveSeenALotOfLovesButThey’reNeverGonnaSeeAnotherOneLikeIHadWithYou)

The Juno Awards are this weekend in Vancouver, so I figured it'd be a good time for some CanCon. Tonight I'm going to see Elizabeth Shepherd as part of JunoFest, the 100 Bands/19 Venues showcase over the next couple days. I recently found out a guy I used to work with at the library in Edmonton actually plays in the Juno-nominated band Souljah Fyah, so I want to check out their JunoFest gig tomorrow. I'm also going to the Songwriter's Circle show on Sunday, which features Hawksley Workman, Doc Walker, Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo, Jacob Hoggard, Ndidi Onukwulu, Sarah Slean, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. Busy music weekend!

A couple days ago I got an-email from a reader telling me to check out The Lost Fingers who have an album full of Django Reinhardt-style gypsy jazz covers of 80's songs. They actually did pop up on my radar last year, though I kinda forgot about them since their CD wasn't available outside of Québec until the end of January. But they've come a long way in a short time. Entirely based on their sales in Québec, The Lost Fingers (Django had two paralyzed fingers from a fire) were 2nd overall in 2008 domestic sales after only Nickelback. The band is up for two major Junos, Album of the Year and the Fan Choice Award. Unfortunately they're not on the concert schedule this weekend, but I heard they might be back here for the Vancouver Jazz Festival in the summer. I'm definitely rooting for them!

=================

The rest of this post is dedicated to covers of the classic These Eyes by The Guess Who, which predates the creation of the Juno Awards themselves by a couple years. I really got into The Guess Who in high school and remember coaxing my dad into driving to a show down in Red Deer around the time the original line-up reformed to tour the country (I had missed the Edmonton show).

Michael Bolotin - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
No, that's not a typo, it's by Michael BOLOTIN before everyone's favourite earbleeder changed it to Bolton. I've been on the hunt for this cover for well over a year, before stumbling on it in a used CD shop here in Vancouver that was closing down. Never before has someone gone to such great lengths to find an old Michael Bolton CD. Whether it was good or not didn't even enter the equation, I just HAD to find it. Obviously, it's not great, but it's not as awful as I expected. The real surprise was finding a half-decent covers of Dancing in the Streets and Rocky Mountain Way on the same disc. Fodder for a future post.

Ernest Ranglin - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
Nice instrumental version from Studio One session guitarist
Natalie Cole - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
Pretty cheesy, oddly reminiscent of The Bee Gees.
Alton Ellis - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
Sweet reggae cover
Jr. Walker & The All Stars - These Eyes [originally by The Guess Who]
This cover was a hit in the US just a year after the original was released

By the way, if you haven't seen Superbad, These Eyes is a key part of the funniest scene in the movie.

One last bit of related Guess Who cover madness:
Burton Cummings Sings Maggie May as Gordon Lightfoot [originally by Rod Stewart]