Scarlett Johansson: "Summertime"
Lovely lady, Scarlett Johansson, is on the new compilation "Unexpected Dreams: Songs from the Stars." Scarlett opens the album with "Summertime" and is joined by Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Garner, Jeremy Irons, John Stamos, Lucy Lawless, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Teri Hatcher (among others). Audio samples are available here. This is what Pitchfork has to say:
[Via Pitchfork] Indie America's #1 Pinup Girl (mainstream's too, says FHM) does the responsible thing by covering dusty old "Summertime", rather than tackle a song with more cred. Had she taken on "Only Shallow" or something by Blondie, you'd be reading about thousands of hoodie-wearer deaths in tomorrow's alternative weeklies. With audio alone, "Summertime" probably won't even cause heart palpitations, as there's little in this version that's unique to Scarlett-- her enthrallingly deep speaking voice here transmuted to a fairly generic (if passable) "American Idol" jazz vocal.
As with most movie-stars-do-music projects, the main purpose here is proof of versatility, so everything about this standard is standard, from the stringy, sleepy arrangement down to the trills in her voice. Irony fetishists may enjoy a woman named Scarlett singing about cotton and Mammy, but the rest of us can wait for the video.
Comments
It was actually much better than i expected. She does have talent.
Posted by: Phoebe | May 9, 2008 02:00 AM
thanks for posting the pic!
Posted by: H. | April 29, 2006 02:53 AM
i actually kinda liked her rendition... this made it sound horrific, but she actually sounds quite lounge-esque
Posted by: Anonymous | April 26, 2006 01:41 PM
is this really worth a post?
Posted by: james dobson | April 26, 2006 12:47 PM