Singer-songwriter Andrea von Kampen is a Nebraska native with a catalog of independent releases dating back to 2015. Her songs are inspired by the scenes and voices of her home state: the still, natural beauty of its landscapes; the incisive works of fellow Nebraskan writers like Willa Cather. Given von Kampen’s firmly rooted sense of place, its a welcome surprise to find her latest single journeying from the landlocked Midwest all the way to sunny Southern California — a West Coast Art-Pop trip of sorts.
Von Kampen has shared a cover of The Beach Boys’ “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder),” the moody album cut from Pet Sounds. In an introduction to the track, Von Kampen shares that she deliberately picked a more obscure selection in Brian Wilson’s catalog. “I’ve always wanted to cover The Beach Boys in a way that pays homage to the brilliance of… Wilson’s songwriting and arranging, while bringing a fresh perspective,” von Kampen writes. It’s a wise move. Without many interpretations beyond Wilson’s own to draw from, von Kampen finds ample room to dust off “Don’t Talk” through her personal, modern lens. Check out the cover below.
Check out many more covers of The Beach Boys.
Linda Ronstadt did a remarkable cover of this song.
it’s illuminating to consider skeleton of a complex song like this aside from its orchestral elaboration, as in the first half of this rendition. With the memory of the original recorded version as a guide, you can appreciate the fun/challenge of deciding how to describe that change from minor to monor seventh. Same goes for the reverse, i.e. how all that flesh is reduced to two hands and a piano.