Morrissey A-Z: "Lady Willpower"

BookishBoy

Well-Known Member






We launch the L's today with this Jerry Fuller composition, made famous by Gary Puckett & the Union Gap and covered by Morrissey on his California Son album.

What do we think?
 
Brilliant. A superb cover, and it’s actually better than the original.
I love singing along to this song
Makes me feel happier than what I normally am...
 
A great cover and another excellent CS song. I don’t care much for the clearly synthetic horns, especially considering their prevalence in the mix, but they do add some drama, which feeds through Moz’s powerful vocal and the impactful drumming too. The addition of more layers as the song races towards its conclusion also keeps the musical ideas fresh and interesting. A live favourite, seemingly as well: it’s been played all the way up to the last Wembley show that I attended. Not my favourite from the album, but still fantastically enjoyable nonetheless.
8/10
 
always remember this from being a small boy way way back,voice is superb on this,one of the best on cali son.you cant say one version is better than the other because they are both great.
9 nows/10 nevers.VIVAMOZZ.
 
Doesn't seem like the audience found this intro quite as funny as I did...




Anyway, one of my faves from CS for sure.

well it was the time of free love.funny but it seemed to pass by the crowd.
 
No, sorry. To me, this song is as dull as dishwater. There are a few of those on CS. It makes me feel that CS was a missed opportunity.
 
I'm kind of in between the two camps, here. It's well done, I've always liked the original, the music sounds good but this sounds a bit too much like Morrissey karaoke for me - a straightforward cover of a straightforward song. Plenty of better covers on CS.
 
I really like California Son for what it is, but this is my least favourite cover he's ever done. I don't like the lyrics, the 'brass' section is overwhelming and it's just too loud and crude in my opinion.
I wasn't particular fond of it when it was released, the live version didn't improve it and now I usually skip it when listening to CS and if I never have to hear this again, I won't be mad.
 
It’s always been a song I’ve sung along to for many years, albeit it badly.
I was above averagely happy when I saw it was on CS. Morrissey does it a lot of justice.
Excellent effort and great original by Gary Puckett. His version has always seemed to be a popular playlist entry for radio stations, even to the present day.
 
I don't care for California Son at all but as an exercise it might have been a good thing for the band to record a bunch of songs by other people. I'm going to give it possible credit for leading to the Dog record. But if Morrissey had made a career of doing covers like this I'd have zero interest.
 
Relevant:



Not something I revisit often.
FWD.
 
Lady Willpower, like a number of songs on ‘California Son’, is a beautiful work that really should be left untouched – what can Morrissey add to Gary Puckett & the Union Gap’s version? Morrissey, of course, sings well – but musically this cover sounds like it has been spat out by an expensive computer – the synthetic horns and synthesiser attempting to mirror that 60s sound grates; it just seems to lack the analogue richness and vibrancy of the original. It is all rather… meh. I feel like this about pretty much the entire album, so was delighted with the change that came about with ‘I Am Not A Dog On Chain’ less than a year later...
 
I really like California Son for what it is, but this is my least favourite cover he's ever done. I don't like the lyrics, the 'brass' section is overwhelming and it's just too loud and crude in my opinion.
I wasn't particular fond of it when it was released, the live version didn't improve it and now I usually skip it when listening to CS and if I never have to hear this again, I won't be mad.
Yes! Loud, crude, overwhelming.
 
Well, I don't care much for the original to start with, and even less for this pumped up cover.

If the idea was to get a high-octane and lighter song in the middle to prevent boredom from sneaking in, they really should have opted for Rose Garden.
 
A fine cover and a great vocal from Morrissey. A few sensible and subtle lyrical changes, and this is a fine singalong tune.

California Son is a strong covers album and has a good blend between the obscure and the hits.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 78th from 264 solo songs.
 
A fine cover and a great vocal from Morrissey. A few sensible and subtle lyrical changes, and this is a fine singalong tune.

California Son is a strong covers album and has a good blend between the obscure and the hits.

In the poll on the Hoffman board it ranked 78th from 264 solo songs.

78th? That's quite shocking. But there are very few covers that I would rate higher than most of his original output, so...
 
Just without the catchy bit.

Morrissey cabaret.

This is the man who gave us Late Night Maudlin Street. I'm looking forward to that thread.
Don't judge the artist by his cover. It's miles away from his deeper stuff, it's karaoke, it's a silly memento to his youth and it's quiet enjoyable in a guilty, superficial way.
 
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