Compared to What
Compared to What is a jazz standard written by Gene McDaniels that was first recorded by Roberta Flack on her debut album First Take in 1969.
background
The song was written by McDaniels around the time Martin Luther King was assassinated and McDaniels lived overseas for a period. It reflects the great social tensions in the USA in the 1960s, characterized by race unrest and the Vietnam War, and denounces the societal values of the USA, which in the author's eyes are perverted.
The song became an international hit ( Swiss Movement ) in the recording of Les McCann and Eddie Harris and sold over a million times. Due to the success of the Harris / McCann recording, Gene McDaniels received a contract with Atlantic Records , where he recorded two albums.
Coca-Cola used the song, recorded by Chicago rapper Common and R&B singer Mýa , for an advertising campaign entitled Coca-Cola .... Real . The song appeared on the soundtrack to Martin Scorsese's film Casino .
Cover versions
The song was recorded by many artists, such as Al Jarreau , Candy Dulfer , Klaus Doldinger and George Kahn. Dee Dee Bridgewater recorded the piece on their album Red Earth . Other cover versions are by Art Pepper , Coleman Hawkins , Stanley Turrentine , Frank Zappa , Paul Chambers , Les McCann , Eddie Harris and others. Also Gregor Hilden & Hans Riesop & The Tone Company incorporated the song on their eponymous album.
Reviews
Barry Kernfeld called the song "one of the greatest jazz-soul fusion tracks ever recorded" in his book The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz .
Web links
- Real, Compared to What: Anti-War Soul , by Mark Anthony Neal
- text
literature
- Barry Kernfeld: The encyclopedia of jazz in the mirror of the most important recordings ("The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz"). Scherz-Verlag, Bern 1993, ISBN 3-502-15370-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Blackwell Guide to Recorded Jazz, by Barry Dean Kernfeld . books.google.de. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
- ↑ George Kahn . www.allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved November 9, 2009.
- ^ The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz, b on Leonard Feather, Ira Gitler . books.google.de. Retrieved November 9, 2009.