I first found this band because of this song. This is my favorite Prince song by a long shot. They do a super cover of it with the rawness I like. They weren’t a band in the traditional sense, no tours, just a one-off gathering of talented artists who happened to be in the right studio at the right time.
The beginning of Hindu Love Gods started in the mid-1980s Athens scene, where REM were quickly rising. Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Bill Berry often participated in jam sessions with other local players. One of those orbiting figures was Warren Zevon. With REM, he found collaborators.
The name Hindu Love Gods first surfaced around 1984 when members Buck, Berry, and Mills backed up a local singer named Bryan Cook. That version fizzled, but the name stuck. When Zevon began working with REM’s rhythm section in the late ’80s, the name resurfaced, this time attached to something much more intriguing.
This song was written by Prince, and his version was released the year I graduated in 1985. This version came out in 1990 on the self-titled album. This song peaked at #23 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks. The album peaked at #168 on the Billboard 100.
Warren Zevon on Letterman
Raspberry Beret
I was workin’ part-time in a 5-and-dime
The boss was Mr. McGee
He told me several times that he didn’t like my kind
‘Cause I was a bit too leisurely
I always was busy doin’ somethin’ close to nothin’
But different than the day before
That’s when I saw her, oh, I saw her
Walk in through the out door, out door
She wore a raspberry beret
The kind you’d find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret
When it was warm, she didn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret, I think I love her, love
I’m built the way she was, she had the nerve to ask me
If I meant to do her any harm
So I put her on the back of my bike and
We went riding down by Old Man Johnson’s farm
Now rainy days never turned me on
But something ’bout the way the clouds and her mixed
She wasn’t too bright, but you know the way she kissed me
I knew she knew how to get her kicks, yeah
She wore a raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret
And when it was warm, she didn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret, I think I love her, yeah!
Raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret
And when it was warm, she didn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret, I think I love her
A raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret
And when it was warm, she didn’t wear much more
Raspberry beret, I think I love her
A raspberry beret
The kind you find in a second-hand store
Raspberry beret
…
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Got this album on cassette. Good live version, even though it’s only Zevon. Great song by Prince. Good one.
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I do really like this one…plus a great group of musicians doing it.
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I like this cover much better than the Prince version.
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It is more rock based…I like the looseness of it.
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Great cover. Pretty cool to have a quick rehearsal and then crank it out with the band live.
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Thats exactly what it sounds like and that is why I like it.
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The Boss and Zevon catch the same vibe on ‘Disorder In the House’
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I’m hearing it now…I don’t know if I ever heard it dude…sounds great. How the hell did I miss this?
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At one time Bruce wasnt over exposed.
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That’s a pretty good cover of it- different, like you say a bit looser, different enough to make it sound worth hearing without being too ‘out there’. Buck always wants to keep busy, some of his little side-projects like this & the Baseball Project had more talent than many big chart groups
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It does sound like they recorded the first take…that is why I like it. It’s so loose. I think Buck loves playing and it shows…he is a true musician…Dylan is like that as well. Plays constantly.
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absolutely. He’s also got a ridiculous collection (hey, if you sold 70 million plus albums youmight too!) of something like 25 000 albums. Somehow, god knows how, he seems to have heard most of them!
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GEEZ I didn’t know that! He must have a fireproof large place to house them. Damn…that is more than a Tower Record store.
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New for me. You can certainly pick out Zevon’s voice.
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Yes, I get what most of the commentators here are saying; its straight-forward and rockier and doesn’t have all the Prince squeaks and bells and whistles.
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And sometimes obbverse I really like that. Tomorrow I have another one that is just the…get out of bed and strap the guitar on kind of album as well. If you get emails you saw it…it was by mistake and I pulled it back this morning.
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Yep, we don’t want Pink Floyd production all the time.
I got an/the e-mail but with an ‘Oops, that page don’t exist’ sort of thing, so all is good.
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Oh goodness no
Cool…I think you might like it….
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Max, this song suits Zevon perfectly. Have been listening to some of his stuff this week.
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I just love the first take sound so to speak…very loose and yes it fits him. Prince would not agree… he hated people covering his songs.
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Did not know that about Prince. It’s too bad. There have been some stellar covers of them.
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p.s. very cool 2nd video
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Dang it, that’s one cool rendition! I only knew Prince’s original of “Raspberry Beret” – I think I prefer Hindu Love Gods! I just sampled each track of their self-titled October 1990 – they sounded great!
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I do as well Christian…it fit Zevon well.
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Warren Zevon is the gift that keeps on giving – thanks in large part to your exposure of him on your blog.
This version is an automatic new entry for me. It reminds me and sounds a lot like ‘Poor Poor pitiful Me’. Thanks Max.
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It’s a bit different than the original but I really like it. Thanks Matt
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Forget the Hindu Love Gods, there’s a cover of 1999 by Big Audio Dynamite or the cover of Kiss by Age Of Chance. I prefer the Big Audio Dynamite cover, the version of Kiss is difficult to listen to but still valid. I’ve not heard anything by the Hindu Love Gods but as I’m a sucker for a cover I shall dig this out.
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Finally got round to listening to this, it’s not to shabby, not really my thing but just because I’m not overly in love with it doesn’t mean I can’t recognise talent. In summary listenable but not high on my wants list.
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