A Beatles Cover Emerges From the Vault of Luther Vandross
Vandross’s take on the Beatles’ “Michelle,” taken from a casettee tape, is revived just in time for new doc and career-spanning compilation
When Luther Vandross unexpectedly passed away at the very young age of 54 in the July of 2003, while trying to rebound from a dilapidating health scare caused by a severe stroke and his own bout with diabetes, the word in the music biz was that his last album, Dance With My Father, would be the final songs to come from his lips. There was no extreme vault drip of unreleased material like Prince has experienced. No ‘XSCAPE’ like Michael Jackson. Or even the casual treasure finds that continue to populate the music bins from deceased icons like Elvis, Ray Charles or Freddie Mercury. The most they would find would be rehearsal tapes or demos, but no real finished material or scrubbed lost albums. Due to the focus and perfectionism that dominated Vandross as a producer, arranger and vocalist, the news came to no surprise.
But in the year of 2024, a miracle was born. While perusing through the belongings during a visit with Luther’s family, longtime friend and faithful backing vocalist Fonzi Thornton discovered an aged cassette tape in the pileup marked only with “June 1, 1989.” On it, a simmering cover of the Beatles’ “Michelle” first heard from 1965’s Rubber Soul. Fast forward to now and what we are gifted with is a mellow subdued jazzy rendition dressed in a Quiet Storm glaze. It is transformed into a ballad, a far cry from the midtempo folksy guitar plunks that sounded more humorous than serious in the Beatles’ hands. And it comes with all the toppings typical of a Vandross event: smooth backing vocals surprisingly done by himself, passionate crooning, infectious ad-libs and a backdrop of dreamy synths typical of a cozy ’90s soul slow cooker.
Luther is no stranger to a cover. Throughout his illustrious solo career, beginning with 1980’s breakout debut LP Never Too Much, he showed off his arranging superpowers on his rendition of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “A House Is Not a Home,” a song popularized by his idol Dionne Warwick. Subsequent albums revealed similar escalations with covers from Stevie Wonder (“Creepin’,” “Knocks Me Off My Feet”), Aretha Franklin (“Until You Come Back to Me”), Marvin Gaye (“If This World Were Mine”), the Carpenters (“Superstar”) and more from the Bacharach & David songbook (“Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “I (Who Had Nothing)”).
But “Michelle” feels different, even unexpected. It’s not the typical song Vandross would run to, especially with lyrics like “Michelle, ma belle/These are words that go together well.” Or even with the lines in French: “Michelle, ma belle/Sont les mots qui vont tres bien ensemble.”
No word on how this song resonated with the singer. But it’s quite possible that Vandross was drawn to its appearance on ‘Rubber Soul’ considering his own unique connection to “plastic soul” via David Bowie’s Young Americans. And there’s also its critical achievement of winning the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1967, beating songs like “The Impossible Dream and Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night.” At this point in Luther’s life, if recorded in June 1989 as the tape referenced, the Song of the Year category was too far away from Vandross’s grasp. Not like he didn’t try. “Give Me the Reason” and “Any Love” — big, original songs in Luther’s canon — were all nominated, but confined to R&B categories. It was only after his death that Vandross rose to such an occasion when “Dance to My Father,” a song co-written with beloved ‘80’s singer/songwriter Richard Marx, took home the top prize.
Promotional poster for ‘Luther: Never Too Much’
Released just in time for the Dawn Porter-directed documentary, Luther: Never Too Much, which arrives in select movie theaters this fall and in preparation for the television premiere on CNN, slated for New Year’s Day (January 1, 2025 at 8 pm ET), “Michelle” is a testament of Vandross’s greatness. Even on a vault track, dressed in a subdued, demure tapestry and possessing B-side quality, the track speaks more to Vandross’s mastery of making a familiar track all his own. “Michelle” isn’t expected to take the top prize next year, considering how tardy the song is from the nominating ballot process and just how far laidback the arrangement is. But it’s a blessing to hear something familiar again this far removed from his passing, considering just how prolific Vandross was in a genre that he dominated much of his career.
On record, Vandross earned 33 Grammy nominations and has won eight of them.
The song “Michelle” will be featured on the upcoming greatest hits compilation, ‘Never Too Much: Greatest Hits,’ and will be released on vinyl, CD and digital by Sony Music on December 13.
