I’ve always sort of looked down on artists who don’t write their own songs. One of the first things I do when I buy a new album is check the liner notes to see who’s credited. Often a performer will have a co-writing credit along with three or four others and I wonder what exactly his or her contribution was to the process.
Why should I believe the words being sung if they’re just that — words being sung — and not the heartfelt thoughts and feelings of the person singing them? Aren’t these performers just pretty vessels spouting the melodies and poetry of behind-the-scene Cyranos?
On the other hand, look at Frank Sinatra. He didn’t write his songs, but he owns each and every one of them. I can’t imagine anybody would be a better interpreter or deliverer of the emotions contained in those tunes — especially the real tears-in-your-whiskey gut-wrenching stuff on Only the Lonely.
Shouldn’t singers be viewed in the same light as actors, who very rarely are responsible for the words they speak on stage or screen? What they bring to the table is the interpretive performance, and anything else is gravy.
I thought about this recently while listening to Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ for the 20th time since buying her album last week. The two guys who wrote that song intended it for Britney Spears but it was passed around and eventually landed in Rihanna’s lap (lucky song). I can’t imagine Britney Spears doing anything close to what Rihanna did with ‘Umbrella.’
Elvis Presley is, like Sinatra, an expert interpreter of other people’s songs… and, as with Sinatra, they cease to be other people’s songs when Elvis sings them. I don’t know much of Elvis’ work — just the same hits everybody has heard, though there are dozens of ’em — but I know enough to recognize him as a very special talent.
‘It’s Now or Never’ is one of my favorite Elvis songs. Its melody is borrowed from the aria ‘O Sole Mio’ and it’s a lovely example of what an expert performer can do with somebody else’s words and music.
Meet Me In Montauk 
Not to continue to rub it in, but on Costello’s Spactacle show, he had a fascinating extensivve discussion on the evolution of the songwriters emerging from the backrooms in the late 60’s to perform their own songs. Laura Nyro, Carol King, Randy Newman, etc…Elton also noted that the present day need/desire for the artist to write their own material when they are, really, not all that gifted as songwriters has resulted in an awful lot of mediocrity in the past 20 years or so. Still, having grown up in the era of the singer/songwriter, and not in the era of Sinatra and Elvis, I readily admit my clear preference for the songwriter performing his or her own work. Then again, to ignore or dismiss the work of Sinatra or Presley on that basis would be rather foolish and unfortunate. They are, as you said, great voices and great interpreters of others’ work. I would add Joe Cocker to that list as well as I have often liked his covers better than the originals.
Given our more recent discussion on pure vs. grittier voices, it perhaps will not surprise you that this particular Elvis crooner song is not among my favorites. I’ far prefer Jailhouse Rock, Suspicious Minds, All Shook Up and even Hound Dog over this choice.
I grew up loving Elvis Presley, and I have his greatest hits on my Ipod and find myself walking a little faster when I’m exercising with his music. This isn’t one of my favorites, but I’m so glad you included him on your song of the day! I don’t much care if the song is sung by the songwriter; I just want to hear someone sing it well; and as you pointed out Sinatra was the expert at interpertation and “owned” his songs.
For me, it comes down to the taste of the artist. A singer, like an actor, can choose so well that I will always not only enjoy the performance/interpretation but also know that I will appreciate the work (film/song) itself. Actors who are less choosy may give consistently great performances but those performances are housed in films I’d rather not watch. On the other hand, when you’ve come to trust the material an actor chooses, you’re practically guaranteed a great time at the movies.
I find Sinatra’s taste impeccable (j-i-n-g-l-e bells and all), but Presley’s not so much. So, while I enjoy many of his songs, I certainly don’t enjoy (or even seek out) them all. I’m not a fan of this particular song, though I agree that he “owns it.” I’d just rather he picked another song to “buy.” 🙂
I’m frankly shocked that nobody here is fond of this song. It’s got the melody of friggin’ ‘O Sole Mio,’ for Chrissake!
And why should that matter? First, you assume that I regularly listen to “O Sole Mio” (I don’t). Second, you assume that setting lyrics to the music/melody of another song is a good idea (not so, certainly not always). Third, you seem to forget that Elvis is most loved for being nothin’ but a hound dog.
Well, it’s a timeless melody and presumably a pretty darn good one. And I beg to differ that Elvis is best known for his hound doggishness… he’s equally well-known for being loved tender and for not helping to fall in love with you!