Rhino’s Got You Covered: The Housemartins, R.B. Greaves, The Moments, and Etta James

It’s Wednesday, so it must be time to take another dip into the Rhino catalog and trot out a new quartet of cover songs that you may or may not have heard before. Let’s get started, shall we?

1.    The Housemartins, “Caravan of Love” (1986): If you’re from the UK or just lived there during the mid-1980s, then you’ve almost certainly heard this Isley, Jasper, Isley cover, since it actually topped the UK Singles chart. It can’t be found on either of The Housemartins’ studio albums, unfortunately, but it is available digitally, thankfully, so thank heavens for small favors.

2.    R.B. Greaves, “A Whiter Shade of Pale” (1970): The fact that this Procol Harem tune can be found on a compilation called ATLANTIC UNEARTHED should give you some clue as to how well-known a cover it is, but now that we’ve discovered it, we can’t get enough of it. Here’s hoping you feel the same way, and if you do, be sure to check out more of Greaves’s work.

3.    The Moments, “Rocky Raccoon” (1970): Beatles purists will be upset by at least two things when they check out this “White Album” cover – the shortening of the title and the tweaking of the lyrics – but most others will just be impressed that someone decided to tackle this track and try to make it their own.

4.    Etta James, “Only Women Bleed” (1978): One of the great R&B belters of her day, James’s 1978 album DEEP IN THE NIGHT found her tackling songs made famous by Janis Joplin (“Piece of My Heart”) and the Eagles (“Take It to the Limit”), as well as tunes penned by songwriters ranging from Kiki Dee (“Sugar on the Floor”) to Allen Toussaint (“Sweet Touch of Love”). For our money, though, you can’t beat her take on this Alice Cooper classic.