I forget exactly how I ended up at the Undercover Black Man blog and his self-explanatory playlists White Singers, Black Songs and Black Singers, White Songs. But check out the Etta James cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You,” which ditches the original’s disco drag in favor of a slow-burn blues approach. She never reaches the same level of hysteria Jagger did in his own version, but she doesn’t need to. She’s goddamn Etta James.
Honorable mention goes to Grace Jones for her faux-reggae cover of “Ring of Fire,” which is fascinating in a really fucked-up way. I guess that’s how I feel about most of the things she’s done.