Chris Isaak, Sweet Leilani - from "Baja Sessions" - a collection of really interesting covers. I love it because it introduced an obscure old song to me at least. It's a cover of a Bing Crosby song that he controversially introduced to a song contest (and won) and the song itself was considered a weird outlier at the time.
Isaak's version is gorgeous and different and much more relaxed and easy and evocative of Plumeria blossoms and the smell of Hawaiian nights. BTW "Baja Sessions" admits in a tongue and cheek fashion that at no point did they go to or record anything in Baja, but they just wanted it to sound like they were doing an ambitious concept album.
The original for Tiki overdone slack key charm:
SPEAKING OF CONCEPT ALBUMS GOING NATIVE - legend has it that after the Waterboys breakout rock album, Whole of the Moon, the record company thought they'd struck gold and sent the band to Ireland to record a rock album money printing super album, but the Waterboys got addicted to Irish Folk and recorded a folk album on the company dime. The result is AMAZING (Room to Roam) but probably not what the record company asked for. Their cover of twee folk standard "Raggle Taggle Gypsy" is ferociously good. It's the kind of song you'd play for a Celtic version of the Old Boy corridor fight.
Here's a deliberately antique version that shows off how the original sound may have been.
