Angel of the Morning was a song that I liked but never really loved. Especially Juice Newton’s version.It’s just a little… to syrupy. It needs some grit. It wasn’t a song I’d crank up on the radio when it occasionally played. It’s been covered a lot. Olivia Newton John did it on her debut album. It was originally a hit for forMerrilee Rush in the late 60’s. She gave it the folk song approach. But added horns?? WTF?? Listening to it again, I can see why it was a hit (climbed to #7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100), but it just doesn’t grab me.
Recently I heard The Pretenders version. :eek: This is how the song is supposed to sound. IMHO Chrissie Hynde has that gritty attitude it’s been missing. * Hell yeah, I got laid last night and I enjoyed it.* No excuses. Just a woman embracing her sexuality. Chrissie Hynde even did an acoustic version on Friends. Just her and her guitar. I think in some ways it’s even better than the full Pretenders version. I wish they’d release this acoustic version. I bought the mp3 from the Friends soundtrack album (Amazon) and was disappointed that they added a piano track. Chrissie doesn’t need anything but that guitar.
Ok, I’m biased. I love Chrissie Hynde. I Love The Pretenders. But, they did a great job updating this old tune.
Now, we need to get Joan Jett to give Angel of the Morning a shot. It would be interesting to hear her take on it vs The Pretenders. I bet Suzi Quatro could give it some grit too.
It would have been better if she’d done in a key within her range so she didn’t have to mangle the melody on the chorus. It comes out pretty monotonous.
that’s assuming the tabs are accurate. I haven’t tried playing it. I need to play along with this one of these days. Easy I IV V progression. (well, close to I IV V Angel does have a B minor chord in it). Most of it is A D E a standard I IV V progression.
Okay so this is now driving me nuts. This is one of those songs that was playing on the radio when I was like four or five or six or so. When I hear songs from that time period, especially if I haven’t heard them in years, I get an almost physical, palpable sensation that I don’t know how to describe. It is probably the queasy dizzy revelatory feeling one would get from time travel.
But what’s driving me nuts is, none of the versions I just listened to on youtube seem to be exactly the right version.
What version would have been playing a lot on the radio around 1983?
Pull up a chair. the Wiki lists over 10 covers of Angel of the Morning. It’s even been covered in foreign languages.
Juice Newton had a hit in the early 80’s. Melba Montgomery about the same time too.
Melba’s version is really good too. I’d totally forgotten about hers. I need to listen to Melba’s songs again. It’s been years since I thought about her.
This is one of those songs that there isn’t really a** bad **version, (okay, maybe Bonnie Tyler) but I still prefer Merilee Rush and Juice Newton versions.
I couldn’t agree with you more about this. And I would never have thought of it that way before hearing it. But you’re exactly right–the song improves considerably with a bit o’ grit.
I would say she is. Seriously, I’m not having problems with the singing in the chorus, myself. To me, her approach sounds a bit “plaintive,” which I like for the material.
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I like her voice lots. It’s just that every time I’ve heard her interviewed over the years, I’ve found her a tad self-congratulatory about her role as a “rebel”. But maybe I just heard the wrong interviews.
the Wiki lists over 10 covers of Angel of the Morning. It’s even been covered in foreign languages.