Norah Jones has a lovely voice, a pretty face, and a lot of popularity. People love Norah Jones. What's not to love?
Problem is that she really doesn't have much in the way of good songs. She's not writing most of her own material, and most of it is adequate at best. She needs some better songs to work with.
Here's your perfect solution: She could make an album Norah Sings Elvis Costello. Think of it in the tradition of the Ella Fitzgerald sings... series. With her unique voice and skills, she could add a lot to some classic songs.
Now, only some of Elvis' songs will make sense for her. She's not likely going to be wanting the more hardcore rock and roll, for example. I'm not sure how much sense she could make out of her performing "Alison."
On the other hand, there's an obvious hit single waiting to be picked as low hanging fruit. "Almost Blue" has never been a hit single. I bet a straightforward Norah Jones performance would be a huge pop radio hit.
So, then, let me throw a list of Elvis songs up against the wall, and you can judge which ones of them you think might stick. Some of them would certainly represent something of an emotional stretch for her, but they all make some kind of beginning of stylistic sense. She could take a whack at most or all of them, and see which ones work.
Almost Blue
Inch by Inch
Punishing Kiss
Toledo
Taking My Life in Your Hands
God Give Me Strength
Accidents Will Happen
Baby Plays Around
Everyday I Write the Book
Shipbuilding
I Want You
I Almost Had a Weakness
Poisoned Rose
Shot With His Own Gun
Sleep of the Just
The Birds Will Still Be Singing
The Delivery Man
After the Fall
The Judgement
Any King's Shilling
Indoor Fireworks
Either Side of the Same Town
Town Cryer
You Little Fool
The Only Flame in Town
The Long Honeymoon
Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
Damnation's Cellar
Article comments
1 - Bryan McKay
The thought of Norah Jones cutting an album of Elvis Costello tunes makes me cringe. I absolutely cannot stand her, and the thought of her covering one of my favorite songwriters is too much to bear. You did manage to pick out a nice assortment of songs, however, and maybe hearing someone perform them that was a little more capable and a little less irritating than Norah Jones would make for an interesting record. Although Elvis does have a unique and powerful voice, it would be interesting to see how a more talented jazz vocalist might interpret them.
2 - Distorted Angel
Well, I can see almost anyone with a decent pop voice singing any of the Costello/Bacharach collaborations because they don't sound entirely like Elvis to begin with. Having said that, Norah Jones bores me and I don't care to hear her sing anything, much less Elvis. Although she might do okay with a couple of the tunes from North, which, truth be told, are boring even when Elvis sings them.
Al, no one should ever cover I Want You. Ever. Take that off the list.
3 - Mark Saleski
al, did you like (or have you heard) the version of Almost Blue done by Diana Krall?
(and i don't agree about Norah not having good songs...but i'm too tired for an argument this morning)
4 - Al Barger
My, but have mercy with the hatin' on Norah. She seems like she'd be hard to hate on.
"I Want You" might be pushing the point, though. It'd be a big challenge to see if she could invest the song emotionally.
5 - SFC Ski
Norah Jones has a nice voice in a jazz-lite way, but I would hate to hear her do "Accidents Will Happen" or "Shot With HIs Own Gun" ( Why doesn't "Trust" get a lot more attention? It is Costello's last great album.)
6 - Al Barger
Hold on a second there, cuz. Trust the last great Elvis album? That was all the way back in 1980. Perhaps you've somehow forgotten Imperial Bedroom and King of America and (skipping ahead) The Delivery Man.
"Shot With His Own Gun" might be a bit heavy for Norah, but she might surprise us. She's got skills.
"Accidents Will Happen" however should be just perfect. I bet she could knock that one out of the park.
7 - Eric Olsen
Al, I think it's a very interesting - and coming from an Elvis freak-o-nature such as yourself - generous idea. I'm still not sold on the Elvis songwriting oeuvre rising to the highest levels, however. I find much of his gentler work desultory
8 - Distorted Angel
Al, I guess the problem with Norah (for me, at least) is that she's hard to hate, and hard to love. In other words, I don't get much of an emotional return on her voice at all. Some people have blamed that on her youth, but I happen to really love Janis Joplin, and young as she was, she really felt, and conveyed, emotion when she sang, so I think maybe it's the genre I'm not crazy about. I don't care much for Krall, either, although I think she has a fine voice. Maybe it's just the genre I'm not into -- and the female vocalists I really like tend to be few and far between. And now that I think of it, most of them are dead and not recording much these days.
9 - Eric Olsen
I love both Krall and Jones and find their smokey coolness to be extremely emotionally compelling, all the more so because of their subtlety
10 - Distorted Angel
Well, I wonder then if the appeal is more to male listeners? My husband likes both of them, as well...maybe there's a certain amount of sex appeal in that vocal quality that's lost on me.
11 - Eric Olsen
that could well be
12 - Al Barger
I'm not necessarily saying that Norah Jones is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but she's certainly a more than competent vocal performer within her genre.
I bet she'd be considerably more impressive, however, working with the catalogue of a major songwriter such as Elvis. Ella Fitzgerald herself wouldn't have amounted to that much if she'd been limited to singing overly polite, generic songs like "Come Away With Me."
13 - SFC Ski
Sorry, Al, by '82 or so, EC had lost me as a listener, and once lost, I usually stay that way. I think it was directly related to his firing of one of the best damn bassits on the planet, Bruce Thompson, who was the punctuation to his lyrics. EC by then had given me the impression of one who takes himself a bit too seriously, that is off-putting.
14 - godoggo
I'm sure the results would be utterly pleasant...
I've thunk some about what rock-era songwriters have done work that might be successful as vocal jazz " and, yes, there are quite a few superb jazz singers out there today, although they're not generally young pretty and white " and the top choice for me is Bowie. Oddly enough.
15 - godoggo
I pretty much agree with SFC Ski. The attractions (keyboard, too) were pretty crucial to the effectiveness of those early songs. Although I like that one pre-Attractions album too.
16 - RJ
Al:
Maybe you could send a few EC tracks my way via e-mail. I really haven't listened to much of his work, and what little I have heard did not impress me too much.
But I am openminded enough to change my opinion, if new evidence points out that by previous hypothesis was incorrect... ;-)
(Send me his best!)
17 - Darla
Neat idea. I would buy it. I'm a big EC fan too :) She would do a great job with Almost Blue.
18 - Al Barger
Often, it's not a question of a cover being necessarily better, but simply different. Interpretation rather than merely a carbon copy.
For example, I have a delightful bluegrass version of "Everyday I Write the Book." I don't know that I'd say it's better than the original, but it rocks.