I’m not really looking for a bunch of examples of where an artist has covered a song faithfully although the lyrics conflict with their gender or sexual orientation. There was a time (in the 1990s, in think) when that was kind of a hip trend. I’m just wondering who was the first to do it on a pop record. Folk standards don’t really count. A lot of artists (especially woman) ignored gender when covering those songs.
I used to think Ringo was the pioneer with the Beatles rendition of “Boys”, but there are some obvious changes from the Shirelles version that I just never paid attention to before.
So far the earliest example I’ve found is a cover of Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” by Bryan Ferry in 1973, although the camp is probably intentional.
Are there earlier examples by other pop artists that most people have heard of? Especially one that isn’t being done for humor or shock?
I dunno if you’d count this as a “folk standard”, but Bob Dylan’s cover of “House of the Rising Sun” on his 1962 debut album seems to fit your criteria.
It is a folk standard but it is notable because it’s a male singer assuming the narrative voice of a girl. All of the folk song examples I could think of were female singers assuming the male role. I think that was quite a courageous creative decision for Bob to make in the early 1960s.
Of course sometimes it’s just a song, and the singer performs it as written.
Another question, though, is when a song written in a male key is to be performed by a female singer, or vice versa. I once worked with a drummer-bandleader who insisted that songs be played in the written key, even though some were clearly not comfortable for her.
Actually I think that while he was a quite good drummer, he may have been rather tone-deaf?
“Me and Bobby McGee” was recorded by at least 4* male singers in 1969-70, and they were about a female Bobby.
Then in1971, Janis Joplin sang it , with Bobby being male.
*Kenny Rogers, Roger Miller, Kris Kristofferson, Gordon Lightfoot
Angel from Montgomery by John Prine was written in 1971 in the female voice and sung by him. It was subsequently covered by Bonnie Raitt in the “correct” voice in 1974 and many artists of both genders since.
For a recent example, there’s the cover of Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car by Luke Combs. He keeps the lyric exactly as they were written, even though the song is clearly from a woman’s point of view.
One where the covering artist keeps the original lyrics even if they conflict with their own gender or sexual orientation. The Bob Dylan example above where he refers to himself as a girl is a pretty good candidate. In the Bryan Ferry example he sings about how his boyfriend Johnny is stepping out with Judy.
If it’s my song, I want the singer to sing what is written, not get creative with the lyrics or melody. Not that I can’t imagine contexts when that might be OK…
Isn’t it pretty common for the singer to request to transpose up or down a half step? Anyway, vocal range and tessitura is a reasonable concept.
Absolutely. And if it was originally written in a male range, you may need to shift it a fourth or fifth for a female singer, or vice versa.
Competent musicians won’t have any trouble with this. I never understood why this particular bandleader fellow didn’t get it… but hey, I was just a hired hand and they were his gigs, so I rolled my eyes and went along with it. Not playing with him these days, probably just as well…
