N***as Bleed to Naima's Love Song

"N***as Bleed"  Notorious B.I.G.  Greatest Hits
"N.W.O."  Ministry  Whatever: The '90s Pop and Culture Box
"Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor"  Juanes  Mi Sangre  (live and studio versions)
"Nadine"  Mos Def  Cadillac Records Original Soundtrack (7.11.11 - link is Chuck Berry)
"Nadir's Big Chance"  Peter Hammill  The Roots of the Sex Pistols (Mojo Disc)
"Nail Clinic"  Pavement  Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
"Naima"  John Coltrane  Giant Steps
"Naima's Love Song"  Betty Carter  Verve Unmixed 2
"Naima's Love Song"  Betty Carter/DJ Spinna  Verve Remixed 2

  Steve Jobs should be happy with me; this is the second time I have run off to the iTunes store after a cover version clued me to the fact that I didn't own the original of some song.  In this case Mos Def (in a disturbingly misguided casting choice) singing Chuck Berry's "Nadine." 

  Naima was John Coltrane's wife's middle name.  The Betty Carter song is from a 1992 album of hers, and puts her words over pianist John Hicks' composition, which is named not for Coltrane's wife, but for Hicks' daughter. The remix replaces the acoustic jazz with electronic instrumentation and so the original composition is all but lost.  Carter's vocals tend to track the bass-line, so all is not lost, but the remix becomes a bland mid-tempo electronica dance tune that seems to run on too long.

  Peter Hammill was a founding member of Van der Graaf Generator.  This alone would make him awesome, since this is one of the truly great band names in the history of rock.  This song predates and anticipates punk.  I have this track because several years ago, Mojo magazine began attaching a different mix disc  with each issue (each around some theme).  These cds (despite being a hit-and-miss grab bag) have become the highlight of the magazine at this point.  While the articles tend to read like a British Rolling Stone with their fixation on classic old rockers.  Every cover seems to be of an aged performer from the 60s and 70s (although on the subscription inserts, the covers are different, and include more recent artists, so I have this fear that the dinosaur covers are strictly for the American issue.  If this is true it makes me sad that this is how the U.S. is perceived).  The cds and record reviews have brought a number of new artists to my attention, however.

  Biggie had a great voice.