Surprisingly, the song lost none of its energy, in part because so much of what made the song enjoyable was Minogue’s playful delivery.It’s worth pointing out that the original by DeShannon barely factored into our discussion of the rest of the covers. Comedy pop group Big Daddy, who also covered “Nothing Compares 2 U,” recorded a version of “Bette Davis Eyes” for its album “What Really Happened to the Band of ’59.” Much like Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox does now, Big Daddy covered modern songs in a ’50s style, often pairing the words of one song with the instrumental of another track, forming a mashup cover of sorts. Her upbeat revamp took Cuomo’s synth riff from Carnes’ version and sped it up, but also Kyliefied it with layers of airy synth and “ooh ah ooh” vocals. Kim Carnes Mistaken Identity ℗ 1981 Capitol Records, LLC Released on: 1981-01-01 Producer, Studio Personnel, Recording Engineer: Val Garay Producer, Additional Producer: Marc Andrews Producer, Additional Producer: Donald Lynch Associated Performer, Vocals: Kim Carnes Associated Performer, Recording Arranger: Bill Cuomo In 1960, Myers signed with Liberty Records using the name Jackie DeShannon, as the executives at Liberty did not think the name “Sharon Lee Myers” would sell records. The album was a commercial failure.Years later, Weiss visited her friend Kim Carnes and shared some songs she thought she might like.
“Bette Davis Eyes” is the lead single from Kim Carnes‘ sixth album Mistaken Identity. The main subject of the song — the unnamed woman with “Bette Davis eyes” — is portrayed as a heartbreaker who uses people as sexual playthings and casts them aside:(*DeShannon recorded it as “crow,” whereas Carnes sang “pro.”)DeShannon’s jazz version evoked the piano and ragtime songs from a bygone era. The Bb can be played as an open chord or barre chord. "Bette Davis Eyes" is a song originally written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974, but made popular by American singer Kim Carnes in 1981 when it spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 and became Billboard's biggest hit of the year. There’s a trace of the arrangement from Carnes’ version, though much of what makes this version interesting is the layering of horns and percussion. Bette Davis Eyes was written in 1974 by Jackie DeShannon (Music) & Donna Weiss (Lyrics). Instrumentally, it sounded like Soundgarden playing the “Beavis and Butt-Head” theme song.Actress Leighton Meester, best known as Blair Waldorf from the TV show “Gossip Girl,” Brandon Flowers, lead singer of The Killers, played “Bette Davis Eyes”If Sexton Blake’s “Bette Davis Eyes” was tinged with sadness, then Marble Sounds’ was soaking in it, providing even more of a gut punch. The video starts with a leaning figure draped in black at the center of a dance hall. A shadowed silhouette of Bette Davis smoking a cigarette appears throughout the video.
Jackie DeShannon sang 'she knows just what it takes to make a crow blush', while Kim Carnes replaced 'crow' with 'pro'. She had hits with “Needles and Pins” by Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche and Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love.”But one of DeShannon’s most recognizable songs was a song that many people didn’t know was hers.In 1974, she teamed with singer-songwriter Donna Weiss on material for DeShannon’s next album, which would be called “New Arrangement.” Weiss had had some lyrics that she wanted help with turning into a song. Cleopatra Records released a re-recording of the song as a single in 2007. Bette Davis Eyes was written in 1974 by Jackie DeShannon (Music) & Donna Weiss (Lyrics).
The song was later popularized by Kim Carnes who recorded a version in Jan, 1981 with the single released from the album, Mistaken Identity on March 10, 1981. The instrumental differences were so subtle that it basically sounded the same, just with Paltrow singing instead of Carnes.
recorded “Bette Davis Eyes” for “Punk Remake: Vol.