By far the best Capitol artist take on a Newman song was British pop star Cilla Black's cover of "I've Been Wrong Before" (Capitol 5414). Under George Martin's restrained arrangement, her vocal sets off the song's hauntingly beautiful melody and lyric: "You held me tight/And everything seemed just right/I couldn't ask for more/But baby, I've been wrong before..." Randy himself complimented the cover in a later interview. Other covers of merit: Dusty Springfield (Philips), Jerry Butler (Vee-Jay), and a gonzo reworking on H.P. Lovecraft's Philips debut album. For bootleg fans, Elvis Costello (who has credited Newman as being a significant early influence) cut an eloquent version of this song in the early-'90's (found on Paper Corn CD Barbados Mega Mixes, mistakenly titled "All I've Been Longing For"); the song was officially issued on Costello's 1995 release Kojak Variety, on Warner Brothers.
Wisdom and experience has enabled some great vocalists to suggest more by singing less; sadly, in 1965, Calvin Grayson was not among them. Few Newman covers boast the overreach of his take on "Big Brother" (Capitol 5308). Give equal credit to arranger H.P. Barnum for his kitchen-sink approach (dramatic drum crescendos, blaring horns, molasses-weight backing vocals) to an essentially modest song: kid's father ran off when he was two, so mom tells him to look up to his big brother. Toss in two morals: 1)"Everyone needs someone/They could look up to" and 2) "There ain't no one in this world except yourself/Who'll take care of you" -- and scratch any comic relief. Where it's conceivable a more gifted singer could do something memorable with such old truths, ramming them down the listener's throat wouldn't be an option. Toned down production help a later cover (Tower 197) by U.K. group the Persuasions (not the U.S. acappella group), but the song is simply not one of Randy's better efforts.
Another ill-fated Capitol cover was "If You Should Ever Leave Me", from the LP Jools and Brian (Capitol 136) by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity. To be sure, few 60's LPs have dated quite like this incoherent mix of British psychedelia, bad Booker T. covers and Petula Clark-like pop vocals. Awash in strings and suds, the Newman cover falls quite a bit short of the blurb description "magical and thrilling"; instead, Ms. Driscoll labors with some embarrassingly banal title couplets ("My heart would break if...", "I think I'd die if..."), and closes by repeatedly warbling "Never leave me.." almost pitch-free. Another one of a kind.