Introduction
Hi again – the ‘real’ Ziggy (aka Steve Maycock) here!! I asked Steve (Thorp) if I could make another contribution to my ‘Lament’ and thankfully he agreed. In keeping with my reputation and past history here, I feel compelled to draw up a ‘top 10 list’. I am indeed, as has been hinted here before, a bonafide listoholic.
(Editor’s note - check out Steve’s growing Ziggy’s Lists series HERE).
The theme selected for this edition is ‘’duets’. Now, I don’t want to get drawn into a gender war, but my list is going to represent “him n’ her” contributions. No him and hims and no her and hers. So, this means there’s no Simon & Garfunkel, no Paul & Barry Ryan (anybody remember them?) and no Windsor Davies & Don Estell. Neither is there room for…..actually I’m struggling to think of any female duets – ah, Barbara Streisand & Donna Summer. Maria Carey & Whitney Houston. OK, I own up - I had to Google those! Nor have I included this……
… now, and it may just be me, and while I have pondered it in the past, I have never carried out a survey. But I’ve always found a father and daughter combination performing ‘Somethin’ Stupid’ somewhat incestuous. I’m not comfortable with it – even with the cover pic if I was being totally honest. Perhaps it’s an age thing. “Somethin’ Stupid…and Illegal” I’d be inclined to describe it. Anyway, whilst I’ve drawn no further rules in compiling my list I have tried to stick to songs for two. Rather than a song for one being sung by two. Hope that makes sense. An element of call and response is what I’ve tended to prefer.
Warming up
Passing Strangers – Billy Eckstine & Sarah Vaughan (1957)
As a warm up, allow me a little self-indulgence. Passing Strangers is a very personal song for me. It was my Mum’s favourite. She passed away in December and had she not been adamant that she didn’t want a funeral, this would have been played at her service. To those ends I actually find it difficult to get through – but it takes me back to my childhood when the 7” single was a regular on our gramophone player. I visited the Motown Museum in Detroit many moons ago and was surprised to discover, whilst there, that Billy Eckstein recorded a number of discs for the label. Here he’s with the wonderful Sarah Vaughan and our single had Sarah singing the equally marvellous Smooth Operator on the flipside….it was a wonderful disc….
Wipe my eyes, then, and move onto the top ten…
Ziggy’s Top Ten Duets
10. Haunted – Shane MacGowan & Sinéad O’Connor (1995)
Mmmm, well I’m not deliberately trying to be overly maudlin here, but it is hard to listen to this without feeling a whoosh of sadness with the realisation that the two wonderful performers both left us far too young. Shane made it to 65; poor Sinéad was dead at just 56. The song was originally recorded for the Sid & Nancy soundtrack some nine years earlier, a film that, weirdly, I have never seen. The vocals were carried out solely by Cait O’Riordon of The Pogues for the film version – under The Pogues moniker – although there is a brilliant version by Cait and Shane together, which is on YouTube, even though I don’t think it’s ever had an official release.
On this one, as usual, Shane sounds like he’s in danger of falling off his bar stool, while Sinéad sings in that style where you know she means every word that comes from her mouth soul. I remember seeing The Pogues at Birmingham not long after Kirsty MaColl’s death. Cait O’Riordon partnered him for Fairytale Of New York and when Shane introduced the number with a snarled “this one’s for Kirsty”, my bottom lip went into overdrive and my eyes filled. I sometimes think duets, by their very nature, tend to be sad, reflective and sombre. Or maybe I’m just drawn to those that are.
9. Mockingbird – Inez & Charlie Foxx (1963)
On to number 9 and I’ve tried to liven things up a little. I first heard this around 1970, so it was already seven years old. And I was fourteen. I remember Eddie Hemmings bringing the single to play on the school record player one lunch time. Eddie had access to such things – he was the only black boy in school and his dad ran a West Indian club in Banbury – Scotty’s. Eddie was, and I’m sure still is, a lovely lad – bit of a rogue – he had a key cut to the said club, unbeknown to his dad, and on the odd occasion we’d skive off from lessons and go to the club, help ourselves to a bottle of coke, and blast out some reggae tunes.
This next little story is irrelevant to the track but worth reciting as it’s one of ‘those moments’ that will stick with me forever… The music teacher at the school was a Mr Barnett and at the end of his classes he would allow a pupil to bring in a 7” single to play. Being a classical man, he would then proceed to slag that week’s Top of the Pops tune to death. The discs would normally be something like Sugar Sugar by The Archies or maybe The Beatles or The Monkees. When it was Eddie’s turn, I’ll never forget the silent admiration that swept over the class when a heavy bass-line, followed by Derrick Harriott’s spoken intro, “yes my skin is black...but that's no reason to hold me back”, boomed from the speaker. Message From A Blackman was the song. It was years later that I discovered it had originally been a Temptations number.1
Anyway, back to the duet number 9: whilst many assumed Inez and Charlie Foxx were a married couple, they were in fact a brother/sister US R&B soul duo.
8. Jackson - Johnny Cash & June Carter (1967)
Four songs in, and all eight performers are dead; Johnny and June dying within four months of each other in 2003. Johnny was 71 when he died – I kind of thought he was old. The scary part being that I’m now in my own 70th year! The record came out in 1967, they were married in 1968, and in fact they were newlyweds at the time of the live recording here. If I was being totally honest, I prefer the version by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra but I didn’t want to double up on artists.
There was another superb version – by Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon, in the marvellous 2005 film Walk The Line. See the bonuses below.2
7. All In Good Time – Iron & Wine featuring Fiona Apple (2024)
Ah, two who are still with us, even though I always think Sam Beam from Iron and Wine looks like he’s stepped straight out of the American Civil War – the past one, not the impending one! He can do little wrong for me – I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him live on a number of occasions, including the only gig I’ve ever been to overseas, when I saw him play at Detroit’s Royal Oak Theatre in April 2008. It took me an hour to gain entry as I had no literal proof of being over 18. I was 52. I ask you!?
6. Some Velvet Morning – Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood (1967)
They were magnificent together. Yet, I always thought it was in a slightly disturbing way. Something never felt quite right – libidinous might be a good word for it. Not sure. Whatever word you’d use to describe those strange and surreal scenes in Blue Velvet. That’d fit the bill. That line of “some velvet morning when I’m straight, I’m gonna open up your gate”! Oh, maybe it’s just me! As I’ve already said, their version of Jackson was better than June and Johnny’s and their rendition of Sand would have been in this top ten had I opted for double ups.
5. Sometimes It Hurts – Tindersticks featuring Lhasa de Sala (2003)
….and following up with a Tindersticks track seems very appropriate. I thought for years that Stuart Staples singing style was heavily influenced by Lee Hazlewood, he even covered a couple of his songs. And then around the turn of the century he even started to look like him – no accident I suspect!
Whilst Tindersticks are an all-male band, they have produced a whole host of gorgeous boy/girl duets. Invitees onto their albums have included Isabella Rossellini, Carla Torgensen, Jehnny Beth, Ann Magnuson, Gina Foster and, as featured in my list, the late, great Lhasa de Sala. Poor Lhasa died from breast cancer at the tender age of twenty-eight.
Here’s a good little story. I went to see Tindersticks at their hometown venue of Nottingham’s Albert Hall. It was 8th June 2003, and I drove up alone from Banbury. I was 47, clearly getting paranoid, as I remember wondering what the age grouping of the audience was likely to be – would I look out of place - and I do remember taking my seat and thinking “Christ, I must be the oldest person here by a country mile.” Then, glancing around I saw a rather gorgeous looking woman and I remember well thinking “mmm well she is a stunner but she must also be around the same age as me.”
I haven’t finished yet!
Coincidentally, the ensemble opened the set with Lee Hazlewood’s My Autumn’s Done Come. When the band returned to the stage for their encore, Stuart said something along the lines of “this is Dying Slowly and I’d like to dedicate this to my mother who is in the audience tonight.” Instinctively I knew – I swivelled round to see that the object of my earlier musings was indeed Mrs Staples, as her companions gave her a pat and a little round of applause. “Jeez”, I remember thinking, “the only person here as old as me is the singer’s bloody mum.”
I’ve also seen Tinders at Hammersmith Palais, the ‘real’ Albert Hall, and London’s Festival Hall and on every occasion they’ve been magnificent. At the Hammersmith gig in 1999 they were supported by Arab Strap, who I do/did like, but often cite as being the worst live band I’ve ever seen.3
4. Good To be On the Road Back Home Again – Cornershop (featuring Paula Frazer) (1997)
…make way for a lady… While Paula Frazer has never, to the best of my knowledge, appeared on record with Tindersticks, she has ‘deputised’ for the album’s guests several times at their live shows. So there’s another nice link as the pop/folk/blues singer guested on Cornershop’s 1997 album When I Was Born For The 7th Time. Her wonderful contribution was to provide co-vocal duties with Tjinder Singh on the album’s finest track. And as the album included Brimful Of Asha I do not make that statement lightly.
It’s worth mentioning here that (IMHO) the album version of ‘Asha’ knocks Fatboy Slim’s jazzed up production into a cocked hat! Okay, I know it got to number one – which still remains one marvellous achievement, but believe me, it’s not a patch on the original. We could do with another Brimful Of Asha – or another MIA; something to remind/demonstrate to some that cultural diversity is one of just a few great things about Great Britain.
3. The Arncott – The National (featuring Taylor Swift) – 2023
Well, Steve has commented about my ‘list obsessions’, and he doesn’t know the half of it! I’ve been drawing up music lists for as long as I can remember! However, up till a couple of years ago, if somebody had said I’d one day include Taylor Swift in a ‘best of’ list, I’d probably have laughed. And yet how delicious is this? Well not very if the reddit website is anything to go by! Its descriptions vary….”dull”, “weak writing”, “awkward and cringey” “a huge bummer of a track”. But hey ho, it made #4 in my 2023 Top 100 and I’ve grown no less fond of it since. I find Matt Berninger’s grizzly vocals and Taylor’s vulnerable harmonies very compatible – beautiful and heart-wrenching even. The track was included on The National’s 2023 album First Two Pages Of Frankenstein and while I wasn’t aware of it prior to this song, The National and Taylor Swift have history. Matt and Taylor joined forces on Coney Island, from Taylor’s 2021 album, Evermore, produced by The National’s Aaron Dresner, who also carried out production duties for her 2020 album Folklore.
2. Goodbye – Steve Earle & Emmylou Harris (1995)
Spellbinding. First Passing Strangers, now Goodbye – I’m in danger of drowning in my own tears! There are half dozen wonderful versions of this on YouTube, spanning decades. I’m not sure that Steve and Emmylou have ever put it to disc, though. It did appear on Steve Earle’s 1995 album Train A-Comin’, and while Emmylou Harris did appear on the album, he sang Goodbye alone.
What I am sure of is this: if there has ever been a more heartfelt, heart-breaking song, then it passed me by. I must have played this a thousand times and it still turns me into a blubbering mess every time. Emmylou has what I can only describe as the ‘Midas Touch’ – she crosses over genres with utter ease – and flicking through my library now, I have her performing duets with all and sundry; ranging from Bob Dylan to Elvis Costello to John Prine to Mark Knopfler to Neil Young to Beck to – believe it or not – Roy Rogers! ‘Legend’ may be an overly used noun, but in the case of Emmylou Harris it hardly does her justice!
1. Two Can Have A Party – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (1967)
And finally….and this was a hard decision to make. There were six real contenders to take top billing. Five were by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell; the sixth by Marvin & Kim Weston. The utterly wonderful video that accompanies Ain’t No Mountain High Enough almost swayed me, but this has always been the real killer for me. As well as with Tammi; Marvin cut albums with Kim Weston, Mary Wells and Diana Ross, but in my book “Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell” were and are the greatest recording duo ever committed to vinyl. The chemistry conjugated by the two was just incredible. It’s hard to imagine when watching or listening to them sing together that they were never ‘an item’. The greatest love affair that never was (or was that Gram & Emmylou?). The huge ‘but’ of course is that the story is blanketed in tragedy. On October 14th 1967, whilst performing Your Precious Love together onstage in Virginia, Tammi collapsed into Marvin’s arms. Tammi had a history of migraines, but after she was rushed to hospital it was discovered that she had a malignant brain tumor.
Poor Tammi died in March 1970 having had eight unsuccessful surgeries. She was 24. And Marvin Gaye was never to be the same again. The impact of Tammi’s death was so profound that Marvin stopped recording, stopped performing live and became something of a grief stricken, depressed, drug abuser. And when he eventually returned, gone was the Too Busy Thinking About My Baby/How Sweet It Is To be Loved By You Motown-pop persona. Replaced by a more introverted, socially aware Marvin Gaye, who would record the likes of What’s Going On and Let’s Get it On. And if all that seems a bit downbeat, wait for it…Marvin’s own career and life was then cut short when, in April 1984, at the age of 44, he was shot dead by his own father.
So there we have it. No Ike & Tina, no Womack & Womack, no Dolly & Kenny, no Shane & Kirsty (together), no Elton & Kiki, ooooh no Sonny & Cher – or bloody ‘ell no Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell – and Jeez I forgot about Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglová.
Steve!!!!! Can I make it a twenty!?!?!
Answer from Steve T: not in this piece but a future duets piece would be very welcome!!! I’ve given you Falling Softly as a bonus though, as I love it too!4
Notes and bonuses
Bonus 1: Derrick Harriott’s Message From A Black Man is worth posting as a bonus. Like those kids in the music classroom, I (Steve T) I was mesmerised by the bassline when it first came on. And that vocal… The Temptations version is pretty special too…
Bonus 2: The film version of Jackson by Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon, from the film Walk The Line by Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon is our second bonus.
Note 1 from Steve T: I have a Tindersticks gig story from around the beginning of the century at the Hammersmith Palais. It might have been the same one that Steve (Ziggy) was at! I didn't see him there, though. The guy I went with was a work contact of my wife, Mary, and we shared musical tastes. He invited me to the gig and when we got there promptly left me, diving down to the front, while I stood drinking on my own at the back of the stalls (as I remember it, though accurate memory is not the stand out from that evening). Afterward we got a cab back to his place, he brought out some smokey substance or other and we played CDs, until my toes started curling. He suggested we went clubbing, I was very enthusiastic and rang my sister at 1 am in the morning to see if she was up for coming out to play. She wasn’t. Neither was I, turns out, as I passed out in bed not long after. He went out with his mates and I heard them coming back in at whatever o’clock in the morning. I heard one say something like “where’s that bloke you went to the gig with”, and the guy said, “ oh he passed out around 2”. The shame… Adult Life Lessons, right there…
Note 2 and Bonus 3 from Steve T: Ziggy (aka Steve) asked if he could have a top 20. He can, but the second 10 will have to be on a future post! In the meantime, the last track he mentions is also one of my favourites. Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglová originally appeared in the indie film Once in 2009 (which is excellent), and then on Glenn and Marketa’s first album as The Swell Season. Apparently they’ve been working again recently, and there’s a new album coming out in June called Forward!
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