Category: QbyN – Deeper Under The Covers

Feature Song: “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing)”

Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (1899 – 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. He was born and raised in Washington, D.C. but was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra’s appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. He was a master at writing what were then called “miniatures,” which were used for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format. He wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions, making his extensive body of work the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, with many of his pieces becoming standards, like the featured song.

“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing)” is a 1931 composition by Ellington with lyrics by Bubber Miley, first published by Irving Mills. Widely accepted as a jazz standard, jazz historian Gunther Schuller characterized it as a “legendary and prophetic piece with a prophetic title.” In 2008, Ellington’s 1932 recording of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The song was composed and arranged by Ellington in 1931 during intermissions while performing at the Lincoln Tavern in Chicago. According to Ellington, the song’s title was the credo of trumpeter Bubber Miley, who was sadly dying of tuberculosis at the time. He died the year the song was released. The first recorded version by Ellington and his orchestra was for Brunswick records in 1932 with Ivie Anderson singing the vocals and trombonist Joe Nanton and alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges playing the solos. Ellington wrote that “the song became famous as the expression of a sentiment which prevailed among jazz musicians at the time.” It contains one of the earliest uses in popular music of the term “swing.”

As you can probably imagine, the song has been covered quite a bit over the years by the likes of The Mills Brothers (1932), Stephen Grappelli with Django Reinhardt (1935), Buddy Rich (1957), Louis Armstron and Duke Ellington (1961), and perhaps the most recognizable one, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington (1967), although technically speaking, these aren’t covers per se.  More recent covers belong to Diane Schuur with Stan Getz (1985), Chuck Brown (1987), Dr. John (2000), and my feature cover by Parov Stelar & Band (2015).

Marcus Füreder (1974), known professionally as Parov Stelar, is an Austrian music producer and DJ. He is considered a pioneer of electro swing, only fitting considering his cover of this song, and is one of the most internationally successful artists from Austria. In addition to his music, he is also known for his visual artwork, which has been shown in numerous galleries and exhibitions. His musical style blends electronic music with elements of jazz, swing, and blues, characterized by a fusion of modern beats, vintage sounds, and distinctive brass sections. He first gained recognition in the international and club scene in 2004 with the release of the EP, KissKiss, which was followed by the album, Rough Cuts (2006), which is definitely much mellower, but laid the foundation for his distinctive sound. Later tracks, such as “Catgroove,” “Booty Swing,” and “All Night,” really start to “swing!” These songs, as well as a few others, led to him becoming one of the most-streamed electro swing artists and played a key role in shaping the genre. Beginning in 2005, Selar brought his music to the stage with the Parov Stelar band, a blend of DJ and live instrumentation. I have watched entire concerts of them from all over the world and the music is infectious, making it very difficult to sit still, as you will soon see! To date, Parov Stelar has released over 20 albums and numerous EPs. The featured cover is from his 2015 release, Demon Diaries, which has 23 tracks. Musicians for that album include Michael Witner (guitar & bass), Markus Ecklmayr (Saxophone, aka “Max the Sax”), Jerry Di Monza (trumpet), and Christian Wirth and Johnny Sommerer (strings). Vocalists on the album include Anna F., Graham Candy, Anduze, Claudia Kane, and Lilja Blloom, who handles the vocals on the featured track. There does not appear to be a video of them performing the featured song, so I have included a live performance of “Catgroove” and “Booty Swing” mentioned above.

Enjoy!

“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing).” Duke Ellington 1932.

Bonus video #1.

“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing).” Dr. John live at the Newport Jazz Festival 2006. As always, Dr. John infuses the blues into the jazz.

“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing).” Parov Stelar & Band 2015.

Bonus videos 2 & 3.

“Catgroove.” Parov Stelar & Band live with Anduze on vocals at Sziget 2018.

“Booty Swing.” Parov Stelar & Band live at the “University Days” in (VEN) Veszprém 2011.

Los Angeles 2026

Feature Song: “You Can Call Me Al”

Paul Fredric Simon (1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, know both for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, later coming to prominence in the 1960s as Simon & Garfunkel. Their blend of folk and rock, which included such hits as “The Sound of Silence” (1965), “Mrs. Robinson” and “America” (1968), and “The Boxer” (1969), all served as a soundtrack to the 1960s counterculture. Their final album together, Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970), is among the best-selling albums of all time. Before becoming one-half of this folk rock phenomenon, he and Garfunkel had written songs under the moniker, Tom and Jerry. As a freshman in college, he met and worked briefly with a different, female partner he met in college, Carol Klein. They tried to earn some extra cash while studying by cutting some demos as a duo named The Cousins. Some of their songs were minor hits, but they didn’t make much money and their partnership was short-lived. The Carol Klein behind those songs soon became Carol King, and the rest, as they say, is history. Paul Simon and Carol King are responsible for some of the most iconic hits of the 20^th century.

As a solo artist, Simon has dabbled in many different genres, including gospel, reggae, and soul. His albums, Paul Simon (1972), There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (1973), and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975), all of which drew disserved acclaim and kept him in the public eye, producing hits like, “Mother and Child Reunion” (1972), “Me and Julio Down by the School Yard” (1972), and “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” When this song first came out, my brother and I used to sing it on the long chairlift rides up the mountain, coming up with some memorable additional lines to rhyme along with: “Just slip out the back Jack,” “Make a new plan Stan,” “Just drop of the key Lee, “Get off the bus Gus,” and “You don’t need to be coy Roy”…well, they were memorable in 1972. I doubt if either of us can remember them now!

In 1986, Simon released his most successful and acclaimed album, Graceland, incorporating South African influences. “You Can Call Me Al” was the lead single from that album, his seventh studio album, becoming one of Simon’s most successful singles. Written by Simon, its lyrics follow an individual seemingly experiencing a midlife crisis. The lyrics were partially inspired by Simon’s trip to South Africa and the subsequent experience with its culture. The song reached to top five in seven countries. The names used in the song apparently come from an incident at a party Simon attended with his then-wife Peggy Harper. French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, who was attending the same party and mistakenly referred to Paul as “Al” and to Peggy as “Betty.” The song begins with its protagonist wondering aloud why his life is difficult, while asking other questions. Simon structured the song’s lyrics in a way that listeners would be given the simplest information first, before getting abstract with his imagery in the song’s third verse: “A man walks down the street/It’s a street in a strange world/Maybe it’s the third world/Maybe it’s his first time around/Doesn’t speak the language/He holds no currency/He is a foreign man/He is surrounded by the sound, the sound (Ooh, ooh).” It is this third verse’s abstraction that moves the song from a generic portrait-like perspective to a personal and autobiographical one, which echoes his experiences from his journey to South Africa and became the inspiration for the entire Graceland album. Simon has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, has won 16 Grammys, including three for Album of the Year. Two of his works, Sounds of Silence (1966), as part of Simon & Garfunkel, and Graceland were inducted into the National Recording Registry for their cultural significance.

So how did I go from all this fame and recognition of an iconic artist and performer to a somewhat obscure cover band from Canada that I am sure many of you have never heard of? The short answer: “It’s what I do.” Besides, as a Canadian, how could I pass on a band called Dwayne Gretzky! They are labeled as North America’s premier party band, and after watching a few of their videos, including the one you’re about to watch, I can’t find any fault with that label. Celebrating classic pop and rock songs from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that unite people across generations, Dwayne Gretzky has delivered electrifying renditions of over 800 songs. Over the last 15 years, they have developed a fervent fanbase across Canada solely on the strength of their live shows – performing timeless classic hist with faithful precision and breathtaking energy. Even though the clip of this cover is not a live performance, that energy and joyfulness is on full display. The culmination of these live performances was the band headlining one of Toronto’s biggest outdoor venues, Budweiser Stage, to over 7,000 people in the summer of 2025. Don’t even get me started as to why it isn’t called Labatt Stage. Also, in the summer of 2025, the band launched their new YouTube series, Dwayne’s World, which has gone viral and caught the attention of music fans globally, expanding their audience across the globe. They are largely a rotating group of musicians featuring core members Tyler Kyte (bandleader, singer, guitarist), and Nick Rose (guitarist, singer), with different guest vocalists and players from the Canadian music scene.

Enjoy!

Paul Simon. “You Can Call Me Al” live in Tokyo 1991.

Dwayne Gretzky. “You Can Call Me Al’ cover. Filmed and recorded live at Dwayne’s World, 2025.

Los Angeles 2026

Feature Song: “Stand By Me”

There have been many outstanding (over 400) covers of this song done since its release in 1961, from Otis Redding, The Kingsmen (yes they did other songs besides “Louie, Louie!”), Ike & Tina Turner, and Ronnie Milsap, to Meat Loaf, to name a few, and the most recent cover (2024) from my featured artist, Stephen Wilson Jr. In a recent special features post, I talked about the different ways of learning about new music and artists, and how I came to Wilson, an artist I had never heard of before, was by “word of mouth.” Early last month I was at my granddaughter’s third birthday party and was talking to a dad who was there with his two kids, and we got to talking about music. He mentioned that he was really into this country-rock artist, Stephen Wilson Jr., for some personal reasons, and when I said that “country” in general was not my thing, he said something which immediately made me want to listen to this guy: “Don’t be fooled by what genre labels are attached to artists.” That night, I listened to the entire album and then went down the YouTube “rabbit hole” and found a live version of the cover, which is part of a longer performance/interview special done for, Live at the Print Shop, a popular YouTube series and podcast hosted by Adam Blank in a Georgia-based studio. It features live performances and interviews with both emerging and established artists. But, I’m getting ahead of myself, first the original.

Benjamin Earl King (1938-2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He began his career as one of the principal lead singers of the R&B group, The Drifters, singing the lead vocals on three of their biggest hit singles, “There Goes My Baby,” “This Magic Moment,” and “Save the Last Dance for Me,” which was their only US number 1 hit. I can hear you humming these tunes as I type! As a solo artist, King is best known as the singer and co-composer of “Stand by Me,” which became a top-ten hit two times: in 1961 and later on 1968 when it was used as the theme for the film of the same name. The film was based on a Stephen King story and was directed by Rob Reiner (RIP) L. King’s co-writers on the song were Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who went by the pseudonym, Elmo Glick, primarily because they thought it was funny and felt both their names were too long for a record label. The “Elmo” is a tip of the hat to blues legend Elmore James, and “Glick” is a nod to the character Sammy Glick from the Budd Schulberg novel, What Makes Sammy Run. King cited singers Brook Benton, Roy Hamilton, and Sam Cooke as influences for his vocals on the song. “Stand by Me” would ultimately be voted as one of the Songs of the Century, and along with “There Goes My Baby,” “Spanish Harlem,” and “Save the Last Dance for Me,” were named in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.”

Stephen Wilson Jr. (1979) is an American country and rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was raised in Seymour, Indiana along with his brother by a single dad. Wilson was very introverted as a child, and both he and his brother were introduced to competitive boxing by their father, culminating in Golden Gloves amateur boxing competitions, which Wilson attributes for his conquering of stage fright. His early performance career started as sideline to his career as a lab scientist, which I only found out after watching the full performance/interview video! He began his career as a full-time musician, taking a job with Big Loud as a staff songwriter in 2016. When his father passed away in 2018, he decided that he would honor his dad, who had always encouraged him to pursue his musical talent as a performer instead of behind the scenes, signing with BMG and releasing his first single, “Made for This,” in 2021, which was a duet with his wife, singer Leigh Nash. This was followed by a second single, “Year to Be Young 1994 (Unplugged),” in 2022. His debut album, søn of dad, inspired by the death if his father, was released in 2023 and was re-released in 2025 as a deluxe edition, which included additional acoustic live tracks, including a new rendition of the featured song, the first track on the album. During one of the interview sessions from Live at the Print Shop, Wilson opened up about the deeply personal inspiration behind his cover of this song, a track that he said has resonated with fans and helped him honor the memory of his late father. The connection to the song came to him while watch the movie mentioned above, and after his father’s death he began singing the song in his living room, eventually transforming it from a haunting tune into something more resembling a hymn. For myself, his live performance of this song is the epitome of an artist making a song his or her own.

I first listened to his cover on the album, and was instantly mesmerized by this rendition, which oozed soul, passion, and talent, both vocal and instrumental. Then I watched the live version and…I will let you fill in the rest, but watch the interviewer’s face as he is sitting opposite Wilson during his performance.  Enjoy!

Ben. E King. “Stand by Me” 1961 original.

Ben E. King. “Stand by Me” remastered version.

Stephen Wilson Jr. “Stand by Me” cover 2024.

I am including the full video of from Live at the Print Shop just in case you want ot follow me down the “rabbit hole!” You won’t be disappointed

Los Angeles 2026

Feature Song: “Iron Sky”

My introduction to my featured song, “Iron Sky,” came via a YouTube video I watched of Mo Jamil Andeniran performing the song for his blind audition on The Voice UK in 2017, which he ended up winning, and deservedly so as far as I am concerned. The passion and vocals of that blind audition were off the charts. I had forgotten about that performance for a while, but it popped back up recently and, after watching it again, I decided to do a little digging.

The original version of the song is by a Scottish singer/songwriter by the name of Paolo Nutini, and was recorded for his third studio album, Caustic Love (2014). The song has been described as a “slow burner,” with one publication describing it as being a “stirring blend of conscious-soul and deep-soul.” Paolo Giovanni Nutini (1987) is from Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, the son of an Italian/Scottish father and a Scottish mother. His debut album, These Streets (2006), peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart, and was followed by Sunny Side Up (2009), which debuted at number one on the same chart. Both these albums have been certified quintuple platinum. Five years later, he released the above-mentioned third album, which also debuted at number one. After a long hiatus, he released his fourth album, Last Night in the Bittersweet (2022).

I have listened to Nutini’s original of “Iron Sky” many times over, especially the live version recorded at Abbey Road on February 26, 2014, which I am sharing with you below. When I first listened to it in its entirety, it became apparent that the cover that first introduced me to the song was not only a shortened version, but missing a key passage, which in the accompanying video presents itself as a voice-over. The lyrics of the song are indeed very poignant with its central message of criticizing the greed, fear, and dehumanization perpetuated by dictators under fascist regimes, as he urges people to resist the control of “machine men with machine minds and machine hearts” and emphasizes the power of the people to create life that is free and beautiful. Sitting here at my computer in Los Angeles writing this, all I can do is shake my head and sigh! The missing voice-over is as follows:

To those who can hear me, I say – do not despair.
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed –
The bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress.
The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power
They took from the people will return to the people.
And so long as men die, liberty will never perish…
Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men
Machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!
You are not machines! You are not cattle!
You are men!
You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful
To make this life a wonderful adventure
Let us use that power – let us all unite.

If this sounds vaguely familiar to you, as it did to me the first time I heard it, you are probably a movie buff. This is the part of the final speech given by Charlie Chaplin in his 1940 film, The Great Dictator. At that time, it was considered a revolutionary moment in political rhetoric and cinema. The speech serves as a powerful humanist plea, in much the same way that Nutini’s lyrics of “Iron Sky” did seventy-four years later, and today, eleven years after the penning of this song, that plea resonates loud and clear.

Even though the two covers of this song do not contain this speech, the power of the lyrics and the passion needed to present them are present in their own unique way. The second cover by Toby Lee is one that I recently discovered when deciding to present this for my first DUTC of the new year. I first discovered this amazing guitarist the same way I discovered Mo Jamil (as he goes by now), watching YouTube videos. Toby Lee is a British guitarist who became a global sensation after posting a tribute video to B.B. King in 2015 when he was ten years old, followed by performing at B.B. King’s Blues Club that same year. In 2016, he played Zack in School of Rock at the New London Theatre. This was followed by performances with Ronnie Baker Brooks in 2017 and with Joe Bonamassa at the Royal Albert Hall in 2019. His acoustic cover of “Iron Sky” with two other guitarists was recorded in November of 2024, with Lee, now nineteen, displaying not only his guitar “chops,” but his vocal skills as well.

Enjoy!

Paolo Nutini. “Iron Sky” recorded at Abbey Road, 2014.

Mo Jamil Adeniran. “Iron Sky” cover from his 2018 album, Evolve.

Toby Lee. “Iron Sky” cover recorded at the We’re Not Worthy Farm, November 2024.

Bonus video. Since I mentioned Lee becoming a global sensation at ten, I felt a video showcasing that early talent was needed. The following is Lee performing live with legendary American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, Walter Trout. Trout has played with John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thorton, and Joe Tex, and was a member of Canned Heat and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Seeing him share the “shredding” duties at sixty-four years old with a ten-year-old is a must see. It’s long, but well worth it, especially near the end!

Los Angeles 2026