Let's Share: Duets!

Ryan is getting annoyed right now because I'm supposed to be working on cleaning up the animals we will be releasing tomorrow but somehow I've completely distracted myself by looking for great duets to bulk up our iTunes folder of the same name.

I started out wanting "he said/she said' songs.  I'm very partial to the kind of duet where it's like a dialog between the two singers.  Classic examples of this include:

"Tramp" - Otis Redding & Carla Thomas

Anything really by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

Anyone singing "Baby It's Cold Outside". [Also see my love for the Zooey Deschanel version of this here.]

More modern examples are:

"Fairytale of New York" - Shane MacGowan & Kirsty MacColl

"Hangover Days" - Jason Collett & Emily Haines [except it's Feist on the link]

"In Spite Of Ourselves" - John Prine & Iris Dement

"I've Got A Man" - Positive K

Then you have REALLY close version of this but it's a little bit more about trading verses than talking back and forth:

"Jackson" - Johnny & June Carter Cash

"You're All I Need To Get By" - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

"Portland, Oregon" - Loretta Lynn & Jack White

Then I started widening with my circle with girl/boy duets that aren't necessarily doing the "talking back and forth thing" or exclusively trading verses:

"This Mess We're In" - PJ Harvey & Thom Yorke

"Ramblin' Man" - Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan

And then I included same sex duets:

"Crazy Love" - Van Morrison & Ray Charles

"I'll Fly Away" - Alison Krauss & Gillian Welch

"Little Drummer Boy" - Bing Crosby & David Bowie 

And then bands plus another singer:

"Under Pressure" - Queen & David Bowie (again!)

"Middleclass Haunt" - Subtle & Dan Boeckner 

"A History Of Lovers " - Calexico & Sam Beam

"Wake Up" - Arcade Fire & Bowie (again!!)

And then you have the 89% of hip-hop songs that are duets.  I couldn't even start to get into those.  

Then Ryan and I got in a debate over whether a "Duet" counts if it's two singers in the same band or if it's only "real" when you have two performers together who don't usually play together. So Simon & Garfunkel, Hall & Oates, Mates of State,  Mitch & Mickey all don't count according to Ryan. Phew! It's getting complicated up in here.  

And now I'm completely off track.

I need to turn it back around to the "conversational duet". I'm going with songs I would actually enjoy listening to: (ie. I'm avoiding your cheesy Bonnie Tyler/Meatloaf type compilations). Anyone have any suggestions for some "he said/she said" songs?

Comments

[Gregular]

Here are some good ones:

The Lady Loves Me - Elvis and Ann-Margret from Viva Las Vegas
Come On Back, Jack - Nina Simone & ?, I don't know who the guy is
The Flirt - Shirley and Lee, they do some others
I Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher, gets me every time

[adrienne]

Personally, I feel duets are with people that don't usually sing together, mostly because it makes it so special.
Here are some I like:
"Islands in the Stream" with Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton
"Some velvet Morning" - Lee Hazelwood & Nanacy Sinatra
"Wild Horses" - Elvis Costello & Lucinda Williams
"When Something is wrong with my baby" - Carla Thomas & Otis Redding
"My Rifle, My Pony & Me" - Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson
"Spill the Wine" - Eric Burdan & War

That's all I got for now. That was fun!

[adrienne]

Whoops on Eric Burdan & War because Eric is singing the whole time while War is playing the music. Technically not a duet, but the song is so damn good I couldn't resist!

[D. M.]

There's also that "I've Seen It All" song by Björk with Thom Yorke also singing, which is like a classic call-and-response duet. From the Selmasongs soundtrack album.

[Cali]

A Fine Romance - Sammy Davis Jr & Carmen Mcrae (they have an entire album but I'm only familiar with the one song)

A classic call-and-respond.

http://www.rhapsody.com/sammydavisjr/tracks.html

[Jane]

Check out "Country Rhythm and Blues" for pairs who don't sing together under normal circumstances.
Thanks for the Kirsty MacColl song. Love her and had never heard it.

[Jane]

I can't believe I forgot "Slow Boat to China" with Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby. It never gets old.

[Rachel]

OZZY & LITA..Close My Eyes Forever