I wish I had a deep, intriguing reason for writing about “Fools Fall In Love” (not to be confused with “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?”), but I don’t. A couple days ago I was thinking about how movies and books about long, tumultuous romances almost always end badly, and for whatever reason, this song popped into my head, and I’ve been listening to it since.
Smokey Joe’s Cafe: “Fools Fall In Love” (download)
The first time I heard this song, it was when I went to see the musical Smokey Joe’s Cafe, which isn’t so much of a musical as it is a revue of the songs of Lieber & Stoller. The woman who sings this version is B.J. Crosby, who also sings gospel (which comes as no surprise if you’ve heard her version of “Saved”). For this number, she would come out in this sparkling, royal blue dress, and they would just hold the spotlight on her. When it came to the last line, “shake the hand of a brand new fool,” she would raise her hand up. That image always stuck in my mind. Every time I hear this song, I feel like it’s being rushed a bit, and that it would be better served at more of a slow, ballad-like pace, but the quicker one still works.
Winston Francis: “Fools Fall In Love” (download)
I’m not really much of a reggae person, but I stumbled across this version of the song recently, and I rather enjoy it. The reggae characteristics are played down but, to me, they actually make the quicker pace of the song go over much better. The recording isn’t so stellar, but it makes for an interesting comparison to the other version.
