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Best covers of "Hello Stranger?"

luckluck 4,077 Posts
edited February 2006 in Strut Central
Folks: I love this song. The Darius and Frankie Zhivago covers are my favorites. What are some more that I should be on the lookout for?

  Comments

  • leolyxxxleolyxxx 446 Posts
    Massive cosign..

    I LOVE that Barbara Lewis original, one of the most played 45s at my place i think, isn't there like 10 reggae versions of this aswell?

    /L
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    Unknown
    There's a couple other very high quality Bahamian covers of that song (which I hear was popular in Jamaica and likely transported on the cruise ships that zoom back and forth) besides Frankie's.

    K in Canada.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Folks: I love this song. The Darius and Frankie Zhivago covers are my favorites. What are some more that I should be on the lookout for?

    Luck: the only "Hello, Stranger" I ever liked was Barbara Lewis' original (with the Dells on b/g vocals). However, since you, like me, live in Chitown, you should know that Carrie Lucas' version (from the 80's) is considered a stepper's classic.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    I've heard one or two other reggae versions but IMO nothing's touching the Frankie Z. version.

    Need... on... 7"...
  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    You???ve got to know, though, that any cover of this song is gonna fall short. Even Frankie. I mean, dude???s voice is fluid enough, and I do not at all doubt his sincerity, but he's always on top--he never really sounds like he believes in the possibility that he might lose this one. Barbara???s on some haunted, Sonny Til shit, always on the verge of being overtaken by this creeping fog of love, loss, and pride. Throughout the whole song, her voice is all melisma, all long rises and longer falls, into and out of the musical ether; only in moments does it stay above water and ring absolutely clear. She may or may not lose, but you just know that she???ll never exactly win, either. She knows, too. Frank sings like a dream, for sure, but Barbara sings through a dream. And that difference is all the difference.

    That said, The Capitols do an edgy little version. Flip of "Cool Jerk," I think. Half-dollar holler anywhere in the continental US. Perhaps even in Guam.
  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Very well put, james

    That song used to haunt me

    Never heard a cover version...
  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    uh, hello!? carter family. the harmonies on this version are chilling.
  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    uh, hello!? carter family. the harmonies on this version are chilling.

    Serious?

    I didnt' even know they were active that late in the game...
  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    uh, hello!? carter family. the harmonies on this version are chilling.

    Serious?

    I didnt' even know they were active that late in the game...

    It's not the same song.
  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    uh, hello!? carter family. the harmonies on this version are chilling.

    Serious?

    I didnt' even know they were active that late in the game...

    A revived version with Mother Maybelle and the daughters were still making records for Liberty and Columbia well into the sixties, but as James just said, this is NOT the same "Hello Stranger" as Barbara Lewis's.
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