Last night at the bowling alley, “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey & Boys II Men came on the video system. I hadn’t heard this song in years, and I’d never known whom the subject of the song was before I looked it up.
This morning, while I was in the shower, I found myself humming the tune to “Nightshift,” a song performed by The Commodores as tribute to the murdered Marvin Gaye and to Jackie Wilson. This song has always been a favorite of mine.
So I started trying to think of other songs that were written as tributes to other fallen musicians (or to anyone who had died, for that matter). The only other song I could think of was the Puff Daddy dedication to Notorious B.I.G.: “I’ll Be Missing You.” But surely there must be others. Educate me, Dopers! What other tribute songs are out there? Are there any that were considered bad songs?
Paul McCartney - Here Today (John Lennon)
George Harrison - Pure Smokey (Smokey Robinson)
James Taylor - Fire And Rain (to his friend Suzanne, from the mental institution, who died)
Are we counting only dead people? Because if not, four of the best tributes to anyone are:
Billy Joel - Uptown Girl (about Christie Brinkley while paying the ultimate homage to The Four Seasons)
The Tubes - Don’t Touch Me There (tribute to the production style of Phil Spector, arranged by Jack Nitzche)
Electric Light Orchestra - Hello My Old Friend (a tribute to the 1967 period of The Beatles and George Martin, based on “I Am The Walrus”)
Todd Rundgren - Good Vibrations (an exact replica of the Beach Boys record)
“Big Train From Memphis” - John Fogerty
“Black Velvet” Alannah Myles
“Sean” - The Proclaimers
“The King Is Gone (So Are You)” - George Jones
“The King Is Gone” - Ronnie McDowell
“Epitaph” - Blue Mountain
“Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way” - Waylon Jennings
“Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound” - Hank Williams, Jr.
“Family Tradition” - Hank Williams, Jr.
“200 More Miles” - Cowboy Junkies (contains some references)
“Has Anybody Here Seen Hank?” - The Waterboys
“Midnight in Montgomery” - Alan Jackson
Do they have to be dead at the time the song was written?
Joaquín Sabina “Y nos dieron las diez” (covered by Secretos as “Ojos de gata”, she-cat’s eyes) was a ranchera written for cat-eyed ranchera singer Rocío Durcal. They originally sang it as a duet.
Loquillo y los Trogloditas have, among others, “El fantasma de Elvis” (Elvis’ ghost) and “En Dino’s a las diez” ((meet you) in Dino’s at ten)
“Empty Garden,” Elton John (John Lennon)
“All Those Years Ago,” George Harrison (John Lennon)
“Cole, Cooke and Redding,” Wilson Pickett (Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke & Otis Redding)
“Under a Raging Moon,” Roger Daltrey (Keith Moon)