The Original vs. The Cover – “Jolene”

For the next installment of The Original vs. The Cover we are giving some love to “Jolene” written by Dolly Parton. In fact, she wrote this song the same day she wrote “I Will Always Love You” which would make another great The Original vs. The Cover post. The song was recorded on May 22, 1973 and released October 15th of the same year which became her 2nd #1 solo song. The cover is from The White Stripes and we are going with the studio cover and not the live version as a tough comparison with the live track. The studio track was originally the B-Side to their song “Hello Operator” but was finally issued on their greatest hits album.

The song was inspired by a bank teller that was flirting with Dolly’s husband when the two first got married. Apparently it really bothered her. The physical description of Jolene and here name though were taken from a fan of hers that came running up on stage to get an autograph. The song has Dolly pleading to Jolene to not steal her man as she can’t compete with her beauty, but we know that Dolly and her man are still together today. So she won out in the end.

DOLLY PARTON:

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My Sunday Song – “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes

My Sunday Song #63 is from The White Stripes.  The song is “Seven Nation Army” and is one of their most popular songs.  It is off their fourth album, ‘Elephant’, and went on to hit #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks back in 2003.

What I love about The White Stripes is the quirkiness of the songs and the band itself.  The band only consists of two people, Jack and Meg White.  They were husband and wife at one time, but have since divorced.  The band is no more, but thankfully, their music lives one.

The song that resonated most with me from them was “Seven Nation Army”.  The song was a standout because of that bass line riff that starts off the song and plays throughout.  Imagine my surprise to learn that was not a bass.  The band doesn’t ever use a bass in their music.  They only use a drum and guitar.  According to Wikipedia, to get that effect, Jack White’s semi-acoustic, 1950s-style Kay Hollow body guitar was run through a DigiTech Whammy pedal which was set down an octave.  It is a really cool sound.

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