Welcome to Songs That Were Covers on Rock and Roll Flashback. This series will
feature the songs that were covers of the original version. In many instances the original recording did not always become a hit. In some cases it would take at least one or more cover versions in order for the song to become a top hit. However, sometimes the subsequent covers also failed to achieve hit status. In this episode I will feature the four versions of “I Can Hear Music”.
Mention the song title and the version that some people might remember would be the one released by The Beach Boys, however it was not the original. Later in the early 1970s, a rock artist who would go on to worldwide fame also recorded and released a version of “I Can Hear Music”.
Beginning in the early 1960s, The Ronettes had achieved several hits, which included “Be My Baby”, “Baby I Love You”, “The Best of Breaking Up”, “Do I Love You” and “ Walking In The Rain”. Up until 1966, The Ronettes had recorded all of their hits at Gold Star studios in Hollywood, California. It was at this studio that Phil Spector recorded numerous artists, including The Ronettes while developing the famous “Wall of Sound”, which featured the musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. Interestingly, on “Be My Baby”, it was the first time Spector utilized a full orchestra string section in the recording.
By 1966, Specter began using other recording studios, which included United Recorders and A&M Studios. The Ronettes recorded a song written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector titled “I Can Hear Music”. The recording was released in October 1966, however it only managed to spend one week on Billboards Pop Chart peaking at number 100. Unfortunately for The Ronettes, due to the British Invasion, “I Can Hear Music” was their last release that just managed to enter the pop chart. Here is the original version by The Ronettes.
Three years later in 1969, The Beach Boys would be the first to cover “I Can Hear
Music”, featuring Carl Wilson singing the lead vocal. The song, was released on March 3rd as a single from the album titled “20/20”, and peaked at number 24.
Outside of the US the single experienced more success, becoming The Beach Boys’ ninth top ten UK single by reaching number 10. Surprisingly, the single was more popular across Europe and in other countries. In Australia it was number 13, in Chile it climbed to number 12, Germany came in at number 13. In Malaysia and The Netherlands it was number 6, and in Sweden it achieved the highest chart position at number 5. Here is a short sample of the Beach Boys’ version.
Later in August, The Beach Boys released the album titled “Stars and Stripes Vol. 1”, which was produced by Joe Thomas and Brian Wilson. The album was a collaboration by the Beach Boys and various country artists. One of the album tracks was the second cover version of “I Can Hear Music”, which featured American contemporary Christian music singer Kathy Troccoli singing lead vocal, along with The Beach Boys who provided harmonies and backing vocals on the track. Other country artists who also appeared on the album included Toby Keith, Ricky Van Shelton, Willie Nelson and Jimmy Webb who did the string arrangements on the “Caroline No” track. Due to the commercial failure of “Stars and Stripes Vol. 1”, a planned volume two album never materialized. It was also the last studio album that featured Carl Wilson, who later died in 1998. It is interesting that The Beach Boys released two cover versions of the same song during 1969.
Here is a short sample of Kathy’s version.
So far that makes three versions of the song, but there was to be a third cover released in June 1973 by Larry Lurex. One might wonder who was Larry Lurex?
Unless you kept close track of all the music of the early 1970s, this artist may have
slipped right by you. For those of you who have never heard of Lurex or even have
knowledge of who he was, it may come as a surprise once his true identity is revealed.
Larry Lurex was an artist name used by Freddie Mercury of Queen, for a 1972 music
project by engineer Robin Cable at London’s Trident Studios. The name was intended as a spoof on the stage name Gary Glitter, that was used by the English glam rock star, who had a hit in 1972 with the single “Rock and Roll Part 1 and 2”. The last name that Freddie used referred to the metallic yarn Lurex.
In mid 1972, Robin, began an experimental project at Trident Studios, in an attempt to emulate the "Wall-of-Sound" technique made famous by Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, California. At the time, Queen was in the Trident Studios recording their debut album. Robin then asked Freddie to record the lead vocals for the recording project. Freddie convinced Queen band members Brian May and Roger Taylor to participate by playing guitar, percussion and backing vocals as paid musicians. In 1973 the single, which was the third cover of “I Can Hear Music”, was released on a 7-inch disc by the EMI label. The recording makes an attempt to somewhat resemble the sound of The Ronettes’ original version. However, this version of “I Can Hear Music” did not manage to enter the UK charts. In the US, it only reached number 115 on the Billboard chart. Even though it was not a commercial success, Queen performed the song in their early concert appearances. We’ll conclude this episode with the Larry Lurex version, which featured Queen’s Brian May, playing guitar on the song’s ending.
This has been a look back at the three cover versions of the Ronettes’original recording of “I Can Hear Music”, on Songs That Were Covers.
