Valerie (Live at the BBC) – Amy Winehouse

Happy Friday! Amy Winehouse, there isn’t a whole lot I can say about her that hasn’t already been said. One of my favorite voices and personalities of all time, but strangely enough my favorite song of hers isn’t even originally hers. Valerie, originally by The Zutons, and later covered by Mark Ronson, with lead vocals sang by Amy. This would lead into a musical partnership between the two that would give us the phenomenal album Back to Black.

While the Ronson version is great, I love the rendition of Valerie performed in a “BBC Live Lounge Session” from 2007. It’s a good bit slowed down compared to the radio cut of the song, but still retains its upbeat energy. Amy shows off her vocal abilities on all her songs, but I think this is about as close to perfect as you can get. She showcases her generational voice without “doing too much”. The band kills it as well, I really enjoy the guitar in this one and all the licks the player throws in as the song goes on. If you’re a fan of Amy or just enjoy soul music in general, a few years ago they released Amy Winehouse at the BBC and it has some really incredible stuff on it.

Since this version is already the “live” version, I’m linking an even more stripped down performance from the same year, with just her and a single guitar player.

Link to HQ audio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv7vQPuH_nE

Link to super stripped performance – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00tQB2itVlg

Link to Ronson version – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bixuI_GV5I0

Link to Zutons version – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3xpmfJp0Xc