#five live

The Five Live EP contained 2 songs recorded at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992, as well as one Queen track with Freddie, and two additional songs taken from George Michael’s “Cover to Cover” tour. That tour, undertaken shortly after the Listen Without Prejudice album was released, found George singing mainly covers of songs by largely black or fellow blue-eyed soul artists. 

“Calling You” was originally recorded and performed by Jevetta Steele and included in the film Baghdad Cafe. Saw the film once as a teenager and was bored to catatonia. Was probably too young to appreciate it. “Calling You” stayed in my head to an extent, maybe because it was so haunting. When I finally purchased a copy of Five Live, I felt I’d heard “Calling You” before and just couldn’t place where.

George could sing the pants off of just about any song at that time (and could probably have sung the pants off of most people, too). I dare say his version of “Calling You” is far better than Steele’s original. It’s a stunning vocal performance, and his background singer (who performs the chorus) is no slouch, herself.

The version in the video below isn’t the one that appears on Five Live, but it’s just as good.

Queen & George Michael- Somebody to Love

from Five Live (1993)