Notes,

I agree about the Darin covers of "Mack" and "Baby". I think Bobby Darin also had great covers of "Lazy River" and "Beyond The Sea" ("Le Mer"). I'm probably in a tiny minority, but I prefer Bobby Darin"s cover of Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy", though I love Cole's too.

Originally Posted By: Notes Norton

...
Elvis Presley's version of "Fever" is better than the Peggy Lee or the Little Willie John versions.
...


Yes! Yes! Yes!

Elvis does Peggy Lee's version (I think with one more verse), but the things that make it the Elvis version for me are the amazing percussion (Buddy Harmon, I guess) and the significant improvement in fidelity. The percussion sounds surprising and wonderful, each time, to me.

The Elvis recording was the last one I got. Oddly, I got Little Willie John's version first.


Here's a cover of "Fever" that I also love. It's one of the strangest recordings that I have. Though completely different, to me it is the equal the Elvis record.

Elvis and Peggy Lee have a "cool" fever. Ray Peterson is burning up!

"Fever" was Ray Peterson's first recording. A few years later he had success with "Tell Laura I Love Her", "Corrina, Corrina", and "The Wonder of You". He never showed this vocal capability on those records. (I got a Bear Family CD of him.)

The close of Ray Peterson's version is astonishing to me. I'm probably the only one, but that's OK! I've never heard anything quite like it.

"Fever" Ray Peterson 1957
Cover