Good Duets

August 18, 2006 11:15 AM

What are some good duets?

As examples, I enjoy Johnny Cash's and June Carter's "If I Were a Carpenter" and the White Stripes's (mostly duet) "It's True that we Love One Another." The Indigo Girls ain't too shabby, either.

posted by callmejay to media & arts (43 comments total)

Don't Go Breaking My Heart.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:16 AM on August 18, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also.
posted by grateful at 11:23 AM on August 18, 2006

Portland, Oregon by Loretta Lynn and Jack White.
posted by pdb at 11:31 AM on August 18, 2006

Any list of the obvious would have to include Love Shack and Paradise By The Dashboard Light
posted by Navelgazer at 11:33 AM on August 18, 2006

Elton John released an album entirely full of duets.
posted by wackybrit at 11:35 AM on August 18, 2006

Close my eyes forever

A classic.
posted by bitdamaged at 11:38 AM on August 18, 2006

Sublime - Saw Red (with Gwen Stefani)
posted by Mach5 at 11:58 AM on August 18, 2006

There's Only You
posted by TheRaven at 12:00 PM on August 18, 2006

Folk duo Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer have at least two you should consider: "Kate and the Ghost of Lost Love" and "Tanglewood Tree." There are mp3 snippets if you click the "return to music page" link at the bottom of each page.
posted by musemaker at 12:02 PM on August 18, 2006

Clannad and Bono. My favorite duet ever.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:03 PM on August 18, 2006

Man, I feel like I should not admit this in public, but Emmylou Harris and John Denver *rock* Wild Montana Skies. Nothing gets me going on a run like that song. In fact, her whole Duets album is nice.

Gulf Coast Highway is a nice sing -- I the Nanci Griffith versions.

John Prine's album In Spite of Ourselves is all duets. It's a little old fashioned, for lack of a better word, but if you like Johnny Cash it might be right up your alley.

I also just bought and love Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler's new album All the Roadrunning.
posted by robinpME at 12:09 PM on August 18, 2006

Also, stuff Emmylou Harris did with Gram Parsons is pretty great.
posted by thirteenkiller at 12:10 PM on August 18, 2006

"Some Velvet Morning" by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazelwood
posted by smich at 12:11 PM on August 18, 2006

And I really like Kid Rock's duet with Sheryl Crow, "Picture."
posted by thirteenkiller at 12:11 PM on August 18, 2006

...Said Sadly by James Iha of The Smashing Pumpkins, recorded with Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt.
posted by erikgrande at 12:13 PM on August 18, 2006

I like Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, and Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (and, to a lesser degree, Marvin and Diana Ross, and Marvin and Kim Weston).
posted by box at 12:16 PM on August 18, 2006

Oooh, and if you like Indigo Girls, try out The Be Good Tanyas and the Wailin' Jennys (if you haven't already). They're both great multi-voice female groups.
posted by robinpME at 12:21 PM on August 18, 2006

Also Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway.
posted by box at 12:39 PM on August 18, 2006

I like Cruisin by Gwenth Paltrow & Huey Lewis from the movie Duets.
posted by radioamy at 12:39 PM on August 18, 2006

You really can not go wrong with Lois Prima and Keely Smith. Check out "The Wildest." Mmm, mmm, mmm. Man, is it good.
posted by captainscared at 12:50 PM on August 18, 2006

oops, in my eagerness to get in there, I should have checked spelling. It's "Louis" Prima.
posted by captainscared at 12:51 PM on August 18, 2006

Good Man Good Woman by Delbert McClinton and Bonnie Raitt is funky great tune that won a best duet grammy when it came out back in the 90's.

Mess Up a Good Thing by Ry Cooder and Chaka Kahn is another funky favorite.
posted by wsg at 12:58 PM on August 18, 2006

Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl on the Pogue's excellent "Fairytale of New York."
posted by kirkaracha at 1:01 PM on August 18, 2006

Any list of the obvious would have to include Love Shack and Paradise By The Dashboard Light

A list of the obvious should also include "You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore." And, of course, Simon and Garfunkel's entire corpus.

But how is "Love Shack" a duet? If you're thinking of the B-52's song, there are three vocalists on that.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:15 PM on August 18, 2006

Second the John Prine recommendation above.

Incidentally, upon first hearing that album, one of the tunes on there instantly reminded me of 'It's True that we Love One Another', the White Stripes tune you mention, can't remember the title though. Worth checking out if only for some plagiarism spotting.
posted by chrissyboy at 1:21 PM on August 18, 2006

Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds
Renaud & Axelle Red - Manhattan Kaboul
Marc Lavoine & Christina Marocco - J’ai tout oublié
.../...
posted by rom1 at 1:22 PM on August 18, 2006

Betty Carter and Ray Charles -- Baby It's Cold Outside
Reba McEntire and Natalie Cole - Since I Fell for You
George Jones and Tammy Wynette -- nearly anything
Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty -- nearly anything
Merle Haggard and Leona Williams -- The Bull and the Beaver

just a start
posted by fourcheesemac at 2:12 PM on August 18, 2006

Ballad of the Broken Seas, by Mark Lanegan and Isobell Campbell, is wonderful (especially if you're a fan of the Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra record).
posted by the matching mole at 2:16 PM on August 18, 2006

David Frizzell and Shelly West - You're The Reason God Made Oklahoma.

Willy Nelson and Waylon Jennings - Pancho and Lefty.
posted by Clay201 at 2:27 PM on August 18, 2006

Janet Jackson & Luther Vandross - The Best Things in Life Are Free. No, really.
posted by punilux at 2:29 PM on August 18, 2006

Elvis Costello and Gwen Stefani - "I Throw My Toys Around" from the Rugrats movie soundtrack.

Robbie Fulks and Kelly Willis - "Parallel Bars"

Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanel did a lovely "Baby It's Cold Outside"
posted by nicwolff at 2:48 PM on August 18, 2006

Definitely John Prine and in particular Wedding Bells / Let's Turn Back The Years with Lucinda Williams.
posted by jdl at 3:09 PM on August 18, 2006

"Two of Us" by The Beatles.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:39 PM on August 18, 2006

"Don't Know Much" -- Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:40 PM on August 18, 2006

"Pyar Hua Iqraar Hua Hai" Lata Mangeshkar and Manna Dey
"Girl From The North Country" Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan
"It Ain't Me, Babe" Joan Baez and Bob Dylan
"Los Angeles" X
"Asking for It" Hole with Kurt Cobain
"Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" the Vaselines
"You're All I Need" Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terell
"Sunshine of Your Love" Cream (Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce)
posted by Methylviolet at 3:59 PM on August 18, 2006

Get Big by Okkervil River
Your Ex Lover is Dead by Stars
and there may be a duet on the Decemberists album that's due to be released Oct 3 called Yankee Bayonet, but how could I possibly know that if the album hasn't been released yet? I must have read it somewhere.
posted by amarynth at 4:28 PM on August 18, 2006

Nancy Sinatra also has a sweet duet with her dad called "Something Stupid".
posted by of strange foe at 6:24 PM on August 18, 2006

"Hard Life" by Bonnie Prince Billy.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:15 PM on August 18, 2006

I like the Moldy Peaches, but not in a "wow, this is fantastic music" sort of way. Rather, it seems like the sound of the sort of duet that I would come up with if I started trying to sing songs with my girlfriend (we're not very good at singing...). Even then, some of their songs are extremely unlistenable to my ears. Maybe you'll like them, maybe you won't. Here's an example of a decent song by them in music video.
posted by msbrauer at 7:37 AM on August 19, 2006

Moldy Peaches kick ass.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:25 AM on August 19, 2006

I can't believe nobody's said "Jackson" yet. Probably the best Johnny and June song out there. Rubleseat does a great cover of it as well.

Wish Me Well (You Can Go To Hell) by The Bouncing Souls

The Dirty Glass by Dropkick Murphys is another good one.

Fairytale of New York is also a mefi favorite for good reason.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 5:02 PM on August 19, 2006

In my opinion, "Papa Was a Rodeo" by the Magnetic Fields is the ultimate duet (though it only becomes a duet near the end of the song).
posted by speicus at 5:56 PM on September 5, 2006

Oh yeah! And "Yeah! Oh, Yeah!" by same. Yeah.
posted by speicus at 5:59 PM on September 5, 2006